Science books delve into Egyptian history

The book explores the debate surrounding Cleopatra’s provenance and beauty, uncovers the history of the now-submerged ancient city of Alexandria, home to Cleopatra’s palace, as well as Cleopatra’s cultural afterlife – how the myth was made and preserved.

A second book – 'Egyptian Mummies and Modern Science' – has also been published, this time written by a long-established team of Manchester scientists.

Edited by the Director of the KNH Centre, Rosalie David, the book aims to show how the team’s investigative methods are being used for new international research into disease evolution and ancient Egyptian pharmacy.

Highlighting the unique resource of Manchester’s Egyptian Mummy Tissue Bank, the book looks at the progress of ancient DNA research and the treatments available for conserving mummified remains.

“The main aims of this book are to show how biomedical and scientific techniques have led to a new understanding of some aspects of ancient Egyptian society,” said Rosalie.

“There has been a remarkable increase in the number of scientific studies on mummies over the past two decades and people are now aware of the information that can be gained from such investigations, in terms of explaining the cultural context of human remains and in adding knowledge to how disease has evolved from ancient to modern times.”

'Cleopatra – Last Queen of Egypt' by Joyce Tyldesley is published by Profile Books and is priced £20 (hardback).

'Egyptian Mummies and Modern Science', edited by Rosalie David, is published by Cambridge University Press and priced £60 (hardback).