cover image Pharaoh's Flowers: The Botanical Treasures of Tutankhamun, Second Edition

Pharaoh's Flowers: The Botanical Treasures of Tutankhamun, Second Edition

Heppner, Hepper, F. Nigel Hepper. Kws Publishers, $35 (150pp) ISBN 978-0-9817736-3-6

Ostensibly a botanical study, this insightful book goes behind the iconic gilded coffin masks to demonstrate the day-to-day humanity of young pharaoh Tutankhamun and his wife. Botanist Hepper, formerly of London's Royal Kew Gardens, first published this analysis of plant materials found in King Tut's tomb in 1990; the explosion of data since then necessitated this new edition, a luxe gift for armchair Egyptologists. Hepper categorizes the recovered plants according to their nature and uses (""Flowers and Leaves,"" used mainly for decoration; ""Oils, Resins and Perfumes,"" used for fragrance, embalming and gluing; ""Papyrus, Flax and other Fibrous Plants,"" for writing materials and fabrics; etc.), profiling the objects found and providing a detailed botanical description of each plant cited (plants with more than one use are carefully cross-referenced). Drawings, Hepper's own, are beautifully rendered, but the volume also contains photos of living examples, many in color. Updated references and a glossary of botanical terms round out this informative visually rich and emotionally engaging volume.