The Egyptian Society Taunton joined Brendon Books for the 8th Taunton Literary Festival 2018 and we were delighted to have Dr Chris Naunton as our guest speaker for the event.

With his usual relaxed and friendly manner Chris talked to us about the perennial questions regarding ancient ‘Lost Tombs of Egypt’ – those which might yet be found.
Beginning by looking into why Egyptologists suspect there are many more to be found, he took us through the known Pharaohs and Queens – listing those whose tombs have not yet been discovered.

Chris showed how Egypt has provided the world with some of the most sensational archaeological discoveries in history: from Tutankhamun, to the ‘Royal Cache’ and the secret reburial of the mummies of pharaohs like Ramesses the Great.

We might think that there couldn’t possibly be any more discoveries like this, that archaeologists have surely found everything there is to find; however, Chris then went on to say that this is not the case.  He showed that large areas of even the most famous archaeological sites, such as the Valley of Kings, Saqqara, and Alexandria remain unexplored and the tombs of some of the great ancients; such celebrities as Imhotep, Nefertiti, Cleopatra and Alexander the Great, have never been found.

He talked at length about the dramatic Amarna Period, when on the death of Akhenaten his legacy was deliberately, all but destroyed, and therefore, there are tombs in the area of Amarna yet to be established.

The talk was fabulous!  Chris is an excellent and engaging speaker and the event was a great success, after which Chris was very happy to sit and sign the many copies of his book that were sold as part of the day.

The committee of the Egyptian Society Taunton with Dr. Chris Naunton

Thank you Chris – we very much look forward to having you back with us here at Taunton.