Dinner with King Tut
How Rogue Archaeologists Are Recreating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations
by Sam Kean
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Pub Date Jul 08 2025 | Archive Date Jul 07 2025
Description
Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses: The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame...and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?
History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors’ lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone rogue: They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea—all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights.
Beloved author Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe, from the Andes to the South Seas. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads—and, in novelistic interludes, spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research.
Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780316496551 |
| PRICE | $32.50 (USD) |
| PAGES | 464 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Stephen G, Reviewer
I loved this book. I had not previously known that the field of experimental archeology even existed. Sam Kean delves into the topic deeply, through the use of wonderful, evocative fiction about the era being discussed and through his active involvement in experiments. Kean uses his great sense of humour to describe these experiments and fortunately, it seems, no authors were injured during the production of this book. I love Kean’s writing style; conversational and friendly. Overall I thought that this was a great read. Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for the advance reader copy.
Rachel F, Reviewer
Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Recreating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean is a great book that blends fiction and nonfiction into a compelling read.
I dare anyone to read at least a chapter or two of this book and not be fascinated with history.
The author does a wonderful job of giving the reader a nonfiction introduction at the beginning of each chapter (time period and location of focus) and then creates a fictional story to give the reader insight and understanding to the time, place, and culture during the designated time. This really gives the reader a peak into the world as we know it at this time.
I really liked this, and I think other readers with a passion of history, historical fiction, and archeology will enjoy this too.
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Little, Brown and Company for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 7/8/25.
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