In the mainstream imagination, Ancient Egypt exists as an idyllic place where, for 3,000 years, wise Pharaohs governed a peaceful and plentiful kingdom. Historians, although skeptical of this image, have struggled to explain for rhe lay reader the realities of life for ordinary Egyptians. In Judgement of the Pharaoh, archaeologist Joyce Tyldesley meticulously recreates a series of crimes—from grave robbing, false embalming, necrophilia, and bestiality to a graphic recreation of the "murder" of Tutankhamen. These crimes and transgressions, which were all carefully recorded, provide an eloquent record of Ancient Egyptian atritudes towards sex and death, property and punishment. Inventive and humane, lucid and authoritative, this original work adds greatly to our understanding of how Ancient Egyptians lived. Joyce Tyldesley earned a doctorate in archaeology from Oxford University; among her many books are Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt, Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh, The Mummy, and Nefertiti: Egypt's Sun Queen.