A spine-tingling exploration of a venture as ancient as the pyramids themselves.
 
To secure a comfortable afterlife, ancient Egyptians built fortress-like tombs and filled them with precious goods, a practice that generated staggering quantities of artifacts over the course of many millennia—and also one that has drawn thieves and tomb-raiders to Egypt since antiquity. Drawing on modern scholarship, reportage, and period sources, this book tracks the history of treasure-seekers in Egypt and the social contexts in which they operated, revealing striking continuities throughout time. Readers will recognize the foibles of today’s politicians and con artists, the perils of materialism, and the cycles of public compliance and dissent in the face of injustice. In describing an age-old pursuit and its timeless motivations, A Short History of Tomb-Raiding shows how much we have in common with our Bronze Age ancestors.

A long-time resident of Cairo, Maria Golia is author of several critically acclaimed books dealing with Egypt’s present moment and past history. She is the author, most recently, of Ornette Coleman: The Territory and the Adventure, also published by Reaktion Books.

INTRODUCTION
One NEVER SAY DIE
Two GRAVE MATTERS
Three THE SEEKERS
Four DEN OF THEBES
Five A HOUSE OF MANY STORIES
EPILOGUE: WONDERING
Chronology
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index