Beneath The Sands Of Egypt
Donald P. Ryan, PH.D
Morrow, Jun 29 2010, $26.99
ISBN: 9780061732829
American archaeologist Dr. Ryan provides a deep memoir focusing mostly on field work as he hopes to inspire future archeologists and others to learn more about humanity’s heritage. Dr. Ryan discusses his efforts in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings as he pays homage to Howard Carter and praises associates. He provides some insight to his student days, but it is his vivid description of field work that makes the biography worth reading as the armchair archeologist will feel they are welcomed by villagers, diligently cleaning a brick, or doing need grunt labor at an excavation site. Readers will be fascinated by a tomb “rediscovered” in 1989 with a small mummy later determined by when Egyptian archeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass to be the female pharaoh. B&W pictures enhance the tour, but what makes Beneath the Sands of Egypt compelling is the author’s enthusiasm for his subject as Dr. Ryan candidly provides why he cherishes his work whether he studies at the British museum or in the sands of the Valley of the Kings.
Harriet Klausner
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