Book excerpt: It has been almost three decades since the first traveling exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasures drew nearly 10 million viewers and sparked worldwide "Tut-mania." Now, celebrating this priceless collection's new tour of Europe and the United States, National Geographic presents a jewel-like little book featuring more than 30 of its finest pieces. Based on the official catalog, captured in lavish detail and magnificent color, here are objects from Tutankhamun, whose tomb yielded the richest trove of all, and other 18th-Dynasty pharaohs. These superbly crafted artifacts offer vivid insight into the skill, artistry, and astonishing sophistication of Egyptian culture's golden age. Intricate jewelry glitters with precious gems, stylized statues summon ancient gods, lifelike busts bring long-dead kings and queens back to life, while vivid paintings and bas-relief panels depict not just great events but everyday scenes as well. Zahi Hawass contributes a concise history of Tutankhamun's world. The book also examines new research that provides unprecedented information about the boy king's life, his exact age, and the mystery of his death, highlighted by a unique forensic reconstruction that uses state-of-the-art CT-scan data to recreate Tut's face. A charming memento of a stunning exhibition, the "Souvenir Book gazes back across the millennia to show us the astonishing splendor of a great civilization at its pinnacle.