Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations

by Sam Kean

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Disappearing Spoon, a romp through the entire history of humankind—from 75,000 B.C. to the dawn of the modern age.

From the mighty pyramids of Egypt to the majestic temples of the Aztec, 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 clash of Viking swords? The breathless plays of an Aztec ballgame, and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?

History all too often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors’ daily experience, 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 carve ancient 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 archeologists on their adventures as they resurrect the lives of our ancestors, following in their footsteps at exotic locations across the globe, from remote Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads—and, in novelistic interludes, spins tales of the lives of people long gone with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research. Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning discoveries, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long past and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Archaeology, Audiobook, Anthropology, Historical

464 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2025

About the author

Sam Kean is the New York Times-bestselling author of seven books. He spent years collecting mercury from broken thermometers as a kid, and now lives in Washington, D.C. His stories have appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, among other places, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab”, “Science Friday”, and “All Things Considered.” The Bastard Brigade was a “Science Friday” book of the year, while Caesar’s Last Breath was the Guardian science book of the year.
from SamKean.com


(Un)Official Bio:
Sam Kean gets called Sean at least once a month. He grew up in South Dakota, which means more to him than it probably should. He’s a fast reader but a very slow eater. He went to college in Minnesota and studied physics and English. At night, he sometimes comes down with something called “sleep paralysis,” which is the opposite of sleepwalking. One of his books appeared in an iPhone commercial once. Right now, he lives in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master’s degree in library science that he will probably never use. He feels very strongly that open-faced sandwiches are superior to regular ones.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m in the tank for Sam Kean; he’s one of my favorite non-fiction writers—endlessly insightful, always entertaining. I don’t love the approach he took for this book, mixing in fictional narratives to try to add color and depth to his fascinating forays into experimental archaeology. But, there’s still much to learn and even more to be entertained by here, as Kean remains in the top ranks of popular science writers when it comes to imparting deeply engaging scientific and historical knowledge leavened with the occasional dad joke.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting, informative and super-fun read!
I really enjoyed the fascinating stories in this book. This was my first Sam Kean book but you can bet I’ll now be reading more from him!

A big thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the ARC. I’m thrilled I got the chance to dive into this one early.

[Kara Babcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the description of Sam Kean’s latest book. I love learning about history in various new ways! So I was pleased to receive an eARC of Dinner with King Tut from NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown and Company. Indeed, one cannot fault Kean for his scrupulous commitment to embodying experiential archaeology—this book reads like a Discovery channel series, back when Discovey channel was good.

Kean is upfront and warns us that the book is partially fiction. Each chapter is set in a different place and time in human history (or prehistory). He intercuts his modern-day exploits with vignettes about an inhabitant of that time period doing activities that he discusses in the contemporary parts of the chapter: hunting, navigating, tanning hides, going on a daring rescue mission across rotten sea ice—you know, the usual. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it, and the first few felt jarring. But I warmed to these narratives and the way they reminded me of my connection to these people of the past—our shared humanity. As Kean reminds us, all of these people were anatomically modern humans, identical to me and you in every respect save the time of their birth. Food for thought.

As far as his interviews and experiments go, they’re a mixed bag. Kean positions most of his interviewees as outsiders and mavericks, noting that experimental/experiential archaeologists get a bad rap by the mainstream ones. Some of the stuff he passes on sounds a bit dodgy to me, and it leaves me wondering how accurate (to the best of our current knowledge) is Kean’s depiction of the various cultures he fictionalizes herein.

So I would recommend this book with a grain of salt. While I have no doubt Kean did the research (sometimes to his own detriment!), he is ultimately a writer, not a scientist or an historian. Dinner with King Tut is interesting and occasionally illuminating, as long as you don’t mistake it for a more rigorous text.

Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archeology no longer only relies on the tedious labor of shifting sand and dirt for discoveries. Today, experimental archeology endeavors to “recreate the past.”

To understand what life was like for early humans and in past civilizations, Sam Kean ate insects and blubber, got a tattoo, made beer and bread, and gamely battered his body in an ancient Aztec game. He trepanated a skull and made a mummy. He tanned leather with deer brains.

Kean’s book is organized by an eras of history. To understand daily life in each era, he creates an accompanying fictional story and then describes the experiments that recreate the foods, culture, and daily life referred to in the story.

I loved this lively, entertaining, informative, and sometimes stomach-turning book. Kean is intrepid! I would not try half of the experiments he describes!

Kean begins 75,000 years ago in Africa. We learn about ancient bedding, the use of ostrich eggs to carry water, and flint knapping. At the same time across the globe in South America, people ate poisonous wild potatoes with detoxifying clay sauce and hunted vicuna and giant sloths with atlatls.

6500 years ago in Turkey finds humans farming and creating the first cities. The cities would not be familiar: the mud brick houses were accessed through a hole in the roof, and people walked across roofs to get around. Grain was ground on precious millstones sourced in the mountains; to prevent accumulated wealth, the stones could not be passed down through a family but were destroyed when someone died. The dead were buried under the raised beds in the houses.

Egypt 2000 years ago saw the rise of distinct classes. The Pharaoh’s tomb was filled with precious items and bread and beer, his body mummified. Experiments have discounted past ideas of how the pyramids were built and offers a new option.

Canoes that could hold 100 people were used in 1000 BC Polynesia. They were made without metal or nails, and the sails were made from tree bark. Amazingly, they spread to islands across thousands of miles over the Pacific.

Up to half of Roman cities were slaves in 100 AD. Imagining an eruption like that if Mt Vesuvius, Kean weaves a story of a slave girl’s life. She wears a slave’s iron collar and her hair is harvested to sew into her mistress’s hair. We learn abut the public toilets with its shared sponge, how to make garum fish sauce, and how Roman concrete was self healing.

Back in the Americas in 500 AD, California tribes harvested acorns to process into meal. Tattoos represented more than ornamentation. Kean tries out various war clubs on watermelons.

Vikings in 900 AD raided Europe, targeting monestary’s riches. Experiments using ancient Viking salves show encouraging effectiveness that could lead to an alternative to antibiotics. Bodies preserved in bogs raise questions of why and how they died.

In Northern Alaska in 1000s AD, the Thule people lived in small settlements employing sophisticated use of limited natural resources. They used driftwood for furniture and sleds. Whale baleen on sled runners kept snow from building up. Reindeer antler goggles with slits prevented snow blindness. Whole seal skins became storage bags. And unfired clay pots became waterproof with blood and oil.

The technological advances of 1200 AD China were amazing. We learn about eunuchs and foot binding, alchemy and trebuchets.

In 1500 AD Mexico, the Aztec god required human sacrifices, but its civilization was brought down by smallpox carried by Spanish conquistadors. Nixtamalized corn meal tortillas and roasted insects were staples.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t really what I was looking for. It is a somewhat awkward hybrid of history, instruction from archeologists, experiments by the author (like tanning leather and tattooing) and fictional interludes as imagined by the author. I still don’t know what King Tut ate,but there was a lot of bread n Egypt,

A lot of the things that the experimental archeologists are studying in this book just don’t seem that useful to me (like eunuchs in China or grueling Aztec games). However, there is some interesting information here. 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Zach Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, impressive, wide-ranging account of how experimental archaeologists are trying to reconstruct the sensory world of the past through hands-on methods. Kean moves chronologically and geographically from early humans in Africa (75,000 years ago) to post-conquest Mesoamerica. Each chapter focuses on a particular civilization and the researchers who are trying, sometimes obsessively, to bring its material culture back to life.

The book works best when it leans into labor and craft: how things were made, how they decayed, and what that tells us about the people who made them. While not overtly political, Kean doesn’t entirely avoid questions of power, class, conquest, and collapse. One of the most successful aspects of the book is its blending of fiction with nonfiction. Kean's reconstruction of what life might have felt like in a given time and place in narrative form was really impressive to pair with the hard science of how we know those things. They aren’t overdone or sentimental, and they do a lot of work grounding the research in lived experience. It’s a smart structural choice that keeps the book from reading like a disconnected string of fun facts.

Some chapters are stronger than others, and there’s an unevenness in how much historical or cultural depth is given to each region. But as a whole, the book is well-researched, well-paced, and refreshingly fun!

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I like the author, but it turned out to be a fun surprise. This book is a mix of non-fiction research and fictional stories based on the research. I'm more of a non-fiction fan, but it was interesting to see how the author who researched the book interpreted it into a story. There is even a bit of personal experience mixed in that I also enjoyed. I would recommend this book to fiction, and non-fiction lovers alike and hope that we see more of this mix from the author in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I enjoyed it very much!

[TJ Macaluso · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I go to Italy in October I will find a place that sells authentic garum aka ancient Roman fish sauce and lowkey that’s now a priority over finding my distant relatives🇮🇹

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun and interesting nonfiction describing the author's experiences working with experimental anthropologists in attempts to recreate the customs, items, etc. of older civilizations and experience them firsthand. A few examples include stone knapping, eating bread and beer the way ancient Egyptians prepared it, trepanation, and there's even a bit about a poop knife. It ranges from Africa 75,000 years ago to Mexico 1500 AD. The author alternates the accounts of his personal experiments with fictionalized narratives of people who lived these experiences in order to put them into context. Very neat!

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Kean's "Dinner with King Tut: True Tales of Food, Drink, and History" represents a bold departure from conventional historical narrative, blending the rigor of archaeological research with the visceral thrill of hands-on experimentation. As the New York Times bestselling author of "The Disappearing Spoon" and "Caesar's Last Breath," Kean has carved a unique niche in popular science writing, but this latest work ventures into uncharted territory—quite literally getting his hands dirty in the pursuit of historical truth.

The book's central premise is both simple and revolutionary: to understand our ancestors, we must experience their world through all our senses, not merely observe their artifacts through museum glass. Kean introduces readers to the emerging field of experimental archaeology, where researchers don't just theorize about ancient life—they live it, taste it, and sometimes suffer through it.

The Structure: Fiction Meets Rigorous Research

Unlike Kean's previous works, "Dinner with King Tut" employs a dual narrative structure that proves both ambitious and largely successful. Each of the eleven chapters alternates between meticulously researched historical fiction and first-person journalistic accounts of Kean's adventures with contemporary experimental archaeologists.

The fictional sections follow various characters across time and geography—from a San hunter in Africa 75,000 years ago to an Aztec warrior facing Spanish conquistadors in 1500s Mexico. These vignettes, while invented, are built upon solid archaeological evidence. Kean takes pains to ensure that every detail—what people ate, how they slept, what they smelled—reflects genuine research findings.

The nonfiction portions chronicle Kean's globe-trotting quest to experience ancient life firsthand. He fires medieval catapults, performs primitive neurosurgery (trepanation), brews Viking beer, and even makes his own mummy. These personal experiments, conducted alongside leading researchers, provide the sensory details that traditional archaeology often neglects.

Strengths: When History Becomes Visceral

Kean's greatest achievement lies in making the abstract concrete. When he describes the "spongy and chewy" texture of ancient Egyptian bread with its "scrumptious sourdough tang," or the "crab-like odor of a deer hide" during tanning, readers gain insights that no amount of theoretical discussion could provide. His collaboration with "gastro-Egyptologist" Seamus Blackley, who uses ancient yeast to recreate pharaonic bread, exemplifies the book's strength in revealing the sophisticated palates of our ancestors.

The author's self-deprecating humor prevents the material from becoming either preachy or intimidatingly academic. His admission that he "would have starved to death in about half an hour" if transported to any historical era creates an endearing vulnerability that draws readers into his journey of discovery.

Perhaps most compelling is Kean's ability to challenge preconceptions about ancient civilizations. His exploration of Roman cuisine through chef Sally Grainger demolishes the persistent myth that ancient food was universally terrible. The revelation that Roman fish sauce (garum) resembles modern umami-rich condiments, or that Vikings performed remarkably successful neurosurgery, forces readers to reconsider their assumptions about historical "primitiveness."

The Sensory Revolution in Historical Understanding

Kean excels at demonstrating how experimental archaeology fills crucial gaps in our understanding. Traditional archaeological methods might tell us that ancient Egyptians consumed beer daily, but only through brewing it himself does Kean discover its "Kombucha-like" taste and function as a practical thirst-quencher in desert conditions. These sensory revelations often prove more illuminating than volumes of theoretical analysis.

The book's exploration of trepanation—ancient skull surgery—showcases this approach at its finest. Rather than simply describing the procedure, Kean performs it on animal skulls, revealing both the surprising feasibility of the operation and the psychological barriers early surgeons had to overcome. His discovery that traditional trepanations often outperformed 19th-century European surgery provides a humbling perspective on technological progress.

Critical Weaknesses: Where Ambition Exceeds Execution

Despite its many strengths, "Dinner with King Tut" suffers from structural inconsistencies that occasionally undermine its impact. The alternating fiction/nonfiction format, while innovative, creates jarring transitions that can disrupt narrative flow. Some fictional sections, particularly the earlier chapters set in prehistoric Africa, feel less compelling than Kean's reported adventures with contemporary researchers.

The book's scope, spanning 75,000 years across multiple continents, sometimes prevents deeper exploration of individual topics. While Kean's breadth is impressive, readers seeking detailed analysis of specific periods or practices may find themselves wanting more depth. The chapter on Polynesian navigation, for instance, touches on fascinating wayfinding techniques but barely scratches the surface of this remarkable maritime culture.

Kean's writing occasionally lapses into sensationalism, particularly when describing violent historical practices. His detailed account of Aztec human sacrifice, while historically accurate, sometimes reads more like pulp fiction than serious historical analysis. These moments threaten to overshadow the book's more substantive contributions to historical understanding.

The Author's Evolution and Scientific Credibility

Coming from Kean's previous works—"The Disappearing Spoon" (chemistry), "The Violinist's Thumb" (genetics), and "The Icepick Surgeon" (science history)—this book represents a natural evolution toward increasingly hands-on exploration. His background in science writing serves him well in evaluating experimental methodology and presenting complex archaeological theories accessibly.

However, Kean's enthusiasm for his subject occasionally overwhelms his critical faculties. While he acknowledges controversies within experimental archaeology, he sometimes glosses over significant limitations of the field. Critics argue that experimental archaeology can never truly replicate ancient conditions, and that modern practitioners inevitably bring contemporary biases to their interpretations. Kean addresses these concerns but perhaps not with sufficient rigor.

Final Verdict: A Flawed but Fascinating Journey

"Dinner with King Tut" succeeds admirably in its primary mission: making ancient history viscerally compelling for contemporary readers. Despite structural weaknesses and occasional lapses in critical analysis, Kean's enthusiasm proves infectious, and his sensory approach to historical understanding offers genuinely fresh insights.

The book works best when Kean allows his subjects—both ancient and modern—to speak for themselves. His encounter with Polynesian navigators, his collaboration with Roman food historians, and his attempts at ancient crafts all demonstrate the power of experiential learning to illuminate the past.

While not without flaws, "Dinner with King Tut" represents an important contribution to popular historical writing. It successfully demonstrates that understanding our ancestors requires more than analyzing their artifacts—it demands experiencing their world. For readers willing to embrace Kean's unconventional approach, the book offers a uniquely immersive journey through human history, complete with all its tastes, textures, sounds, and smells.

The book ultimately argues that experimental archaeology isn't merely academic exercise but a form of cultural preservation—a way of maintaining connections to the material foundations that have sustained human civilization for millennia. In our increasingly abstract digital world, this message resonates with particular urgency. Kean may not have written a perfect book, but he has crafted an important one that challenges readers to engage with history through all their senses, not merely their intellect.

[Justine Olawsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Sam Kean goes in a different direction in his latest offering a bold vision with mixed results.

I'm a big fan of "popular science" books - books written for the layman (often by the layman) that highlight all the interesting bits of man's quest for understanding of the natural world and leave out the yawn-inducing technical jargon. In this genre, to my thinking, no writer has ever outshone Sam Kean. I came across The Disappearing Spoon (all about the Periodic Table of the Elements - fascinating!) at the Pacific Science Center when my now-young-adult-daughter was but a mite, and I've eagerly awaited and lustily devoured every book he's written since. From the secrets encoded in our DNA to the marvelous mysteries of the human brain, from the surprisingly riveting journey of the gases that comprise the air we breath to the dastardly deeds done in the name of science, Sam Kean has consistently expanded my appreciation of the natural world and often left me wide-eyed in wonder. He also writes and narrates an amazing podcast - one of my very favorites - "The Disappearing Spoon Podcast" with the tagline: "A topsy-turvy, sciencey history podcast where footnotes become the real story." I am a top-tier Patreon subscriber to this podcast and have traveled to hear him share aloud more astounding stories he's uncovered in his studies. So, all this to say, as the kids might nowadays: I stan Sam Kean.

In spring of 2025, it seemed that every living author I love had a new book coming out. That is a very sweet place for a reader to be. More than any other new release, I was looking forward to this offering from Sam Kean. Archaeology is so fascinating, and who better than Sam to bring those dusty bones to life? Maybe Ezekiel, but no one else. And ... I liked it. At times I did not particularly like it. At other times, I loved it. And so now, over a week after finishing it, I have decided that I liked it.

The thing is, it is a departure from his normal formula, and I was not expecting that. Imagine if Bill Bryson and Jean M. Auel had a child, and you might get a little closer to how this book unfolded. Surprisingly, Sam tries his hand at fiction by creating vignettes of ancient peoples (ranging from 75,000 years ago in Africa to a mere 500 years ago in Mexico) in order to bring those dry bones to life with narrative flair. That's the X chromosome from Jean M. Auel. He intersperses these vignettes with stories of his adventures with practitioners of "experimental archaeology" - basically a bunch of D&D/SCA-level nerds (this is not a diss - I resemble that remark and would most likely thrive in their world, as my D&D-playing daughter keeps assuring me) who get way into recreating historical weaponry, food, textiles, technology, medicines, etc. and probably were highly gratified that Sam Kean came to visit them. This is the Y-chromosome from Bill Bryson, who, if he reads this book, will probably be kicking himself that he did not think of this idea first.

In his introduction to his first time-traveling foray back to the cradle of Homo sapiens, Kean notes that "these ancestors of ours [were] every bit as intelligent as us today, and every bit as prone to folly" (p. 9). This observation frames the rest of the stories and explorations and recreations in Dinner with King Tut as Kean shows us how strikingly sophisticated ancients could be with rudimentary tools and scattered settlements and also how achingly human they were full of pride, envy, greed, lust, anger, etc. So, there was so much to like in this new book.

But, for me, it was an uneven read. Not slightly uneven, as even the best books are in spots, but quite a roller coaster. My favorite chapters were Turkey (the drama of what happens when one goes rogue in a ruthlessly egalitarian society), Egypt (why did I keep hearing the voice of the sly merchant [genie] from the opening scene of Disney's Aladdin whenever Abukar spoke?), Rome/"Pompeii" (a civilization that truly fascinates me and that I know something about and so was drawn into the narration - also, the Roman feast he described was amazing), California (dang it, I got completely wrapped up in the tragic story of Nadu and Hembem and Nadu's subsequent revenge arc), and Alaska (amazing that human beings ever settled up there and just went to town on eating frozen seal meat and hanging out with sled dogs). So, lots to like there - and those were the spaces this book was unputdownable.

Then, though, THEN there was the slog through Asana's annoying hunting adventure in 7500 B.C. South America. There was the Polynesian boat trip from hell with Loa. The weird pagan medicine man to the monks enduring a Viking attack in, presumably, Ireland circa 900 A.D. My indifference to this vignette and its attendant reenactments is extra surprising considering I am a bit obsessed with the bog sacrifices. Our journey back into time to China circa 1200 A.D. was something else, what with the homoerotic eunuch-Muslim murder-suicide coupling. Did not see that coming. Too much about catapults that I simply skimmed in that chapter, which, alas, led me back to our star-crossed lovers, Jiaolong and Jabir, far faster than I liked. The brutality of the Aztec Empire when Spain arrived in the 1500s is well-documented, but I think there was a lot of drama that Sam missed exploring in favor of setting up the storyline to introduce an extremely boring (to read about) Aztec ballgame called ullamaliztli, the lengthy description of and Sam's experience with I largely skipped.

I am always grateful when authors take chances and try new ways of communicating, especially when they have successfully mastered a certain formula. Sam Kean gets an extra half star because of this. He did not have to create characters and give them personalities and plotlines. He did not have to go and eat disgusting things and talk to crazy backwoodsmen from Mississippi who introduce him to a whole new pyramid scheme. He could have just done it straight down the middle - pulling out interesting stories and framing them in his quietly quirky way. But, no. He ventured into the land of Bryson Auel lovechildren, and, for that, I tip my cap to him. I look forward to seeing what Sam Kean comes up with next.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (between good and very good)

Experimental archaeology and imaginative anthropology

Kean’s project here is to convey to the reader what life would have been like for people living in particular times and places in human history so we can understand how they lived, the food they ate, the technology they used. Not only does he explain these details, he also attempts many of the same activities himself, such as tanning leather, making primitive tattoos, baking Egyptian bread, sailing a Polynesian canoe, firing a trebuchet, and many others.

For each chapter Kean uses a fictional vignette to illustrate a specific slice of life. For example, in one chapter he tells the story of a hypothetical young woman in the Andes in 7500 BC who becomes orphaned when her parents die eating undercooked potatoes. She wishes to prove herself as a hunter and attempts to hunt and kill a giant sloth. Through digressions within this story Kean notes that wild potatoes are actually poisonous and shows how they must be prepared with care. He discusses the process of making stone tools and obsidian knives (which are much sharper than surgical scalpels), and how prehistoric hunters used atlatls, or throwing sticks, to hurl darts. He relates his experiences learning to make stone tools and trying to hit targets using an atlatl. He explains how this device can allow a hunter to launch a dart faster and farther, although it takes a great deal of practice and finesse to become proficient. He then provides archeological evidence that many stone-age hunters were women, theorizing that the atlatl reduced the strength advantage that men might otherwise possess.

Here are the civilizations discussed (from the table of contents):
1. Africa —75,000 Years Ago
2. South America — 7500 BC
3. Turkey —6500s BC
4. Egypt —2000s BC
5. Polynesia — 1000s BC
6. Rome— AD 100s
7. California — AD 500s
8. Viking Europe — AD 900s
9. Northern Alaska — AD 1000s
10. China — AD 1200s
11. Mexico — AD 1500s

Overall, the book is both entertaining and informative. Like the rest of his books, really.

[Erin Kill · Rating 4 out of 5]

ugh i love his books so much. 10/10 author never misses. 4.5/5 book just because i did occasionally get a little bored but im still gonna scroll through his whole website now goodbye

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5ish stars rounded up to 4

There's a lot of cool shit here and I liked Kean's sense of humor, but there were plenty of things that got on my nerves too. I felt like the Viking chapter was a cop out. Why no chapter on Mesopotamia? And even though I didn't mind the fictional vignettes in each chapter, I think maybe he got a little carried away. It was almost like there was more of that than the actual experimental archaeology, which is obviously what I'm more interested in and why I wanted to read the book in the first place.

[Jennifer Hann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have been a 4 if it wasn’t for the narratives added to each section. It ended up feeling like filler to me.

[Jil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the other books by this author, but the format of interspersing fact and fiction I found annoying and trite. Did not finish.

[Geoffrey]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

Sam Kean does an excellent job introducing his audience to the world of experimental archaeology in his latest work, Dinner with King Tut. Throughout the chapters we get to meet a variety of colorful figures ranging from university scholars to amateur enthusiasts who are all trying to bring the past alive through hands-on trial-and-error experience. These various encounters the author has with these women and men, plus his descriptions of his own solo attempts to recreate bits and pieces of historical daily life, are naturally interesting on their own. However, Kean takes things a step further through a particular narrative choice on his part. Every single chapter is structured around a slice-of-life bit of historical fiction written by himself, where his fictional characters go about a single day engaged in the same activities and using the same tools that the author’s real-life interviewed subjects are busy trying to recreate. It’s a writing choice that I did not expect, but very much learned to appreciate before I even got out of the first chapter due to the significant amount of historical contextualization that it was able to add to the entire experience (not to mention some extra tension with the various little plots he cooked up to drive the action).

There was so much to learn here, all of it genuinely fascinating. Between his subject material, his particular writing structure, and not to mention his own very amiable style, Kean has crafted a work that I would definitely and confidently is scientific writing at some of its most fun, accessible, and entertainingly informative.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Kean is one of my favorite non-fiction writers, and his newest work, Dinner with King Tut, doesn’t disappoint. An exploration of “experimental” or “experiential” archaeology, a field that “puts ideas about the past to the test … to replicate different aspects of our ancestors’ lives … [and] actively recreate the past.” This might mean reconstructing trebuchets to hurl stones at a target, brewing Egyptian beer, or self-medicating with a medieval salve. Kean does all this and more in collaboration with a number of “hardcore lab geeks … traditional archaeologists … grouchy, live off the land survivalists … and screwball enthusiasts.” It’s all both informative and wonderfully entertaining.

Kean divides each chapter into several elements. Formally separated within the chapters are a series of fictional narratives that bring the chapter’s time period/society vividly to life by focusing on a day for of a character/characters who lived at that time. These scenes are well written, vivid as noted, and do an excellent job of connecting the more informational activities and artifacts to embodied people with a full panoply of emotions and desires, while also bringing to life their environment — its sound, smell, feel, and taste — senses typically left behind in traditional archaeological findings. The rest of the chapter, beyond the fictional interludes, is made up of some discussion of the time and culture/society, a specific focus on a particular tool/food/task, etc., and Kean’s hands-on attempts, with help, to resurrect those tools, foods, tasks. It’s all done quite seamlessly, and the fiction and non-fiction elements nicely complement each other.

The included settings/time periods are:
• Africa: 75,000 years ago
• S. America: 7500 years ago
• Turkey: 6500s BC
• Egypt: 2000s BC
• Polynesia: 1000s BC
• California: AD 500s
• Viking Europe: AD 900s
• Northern Alaska: AD 1000s
• China: AD 1200s
• Mexico: AD 1500s

Kean does too much too list all of his activities here, but a few representative examples”
Making an Alaskan cooking pot
Making leather
Firing a trebuchet
Firing a medieval cannon
Mummifying a salmon using urine
Getting and giving tattoos
Knapping stone tools
Firing darts with an atlatl
Helping students build a Roman road
Opening coconuts
Making (and using) a medieval salve
Trepanning a pig skull
Playing an Aztec ballgame
And eating. Lots of eating. Bugs. Blubber. Ancient Roman dishes. More bugs. Lots of bugs.

Kean goes all in and one of the main things he learns (and vividly conveys) is just how hard the past was. What we take for granted — getting food, wearing clothes, picking up meds — was incredibly laborious and time-consuming. Despite that, you never feel Kean isn’t having fun doing all this, even if that isn’t true at any given moment. Nor do you ever feel he is ever less than fully honest. Some of my favorite personalized moments in the book are when he panics over a tattoo artist trying to convince him to get a large shaman tattoo — “I’m one of those people who can’t even tell a barber when I don’t like a haircut — (he gets a small asterisk instead); when he admits to stupidly carrying two buckets of rocks in each loading trip when making the Roman road and then confesses he couldn’t stop carrying two because he didn’t want to look bad in front of middle schoolers; and — my favorite moment — when he spent much of the time during the Aztec ballgame hiding behind an 11-year-old girl and “let[ting] her return shots meant for me” because it hurt too much to play.

Beyond the informative nature of his explorations in terms of better understanding our past and the people who lived in it, Kean also makes a strong argument at the end that “we increasingly live in a world of the ghostly: flickering images, information abstracted to bits” and that experiential archaeology can “provide a welcome corrective” by “making the material a little more spiritual,” helping us to realize that the “tool or textile or meal isn’t just something you bought … it’s something crafted, something hewn, something raised from seed” by you or other people. It’s a strong lesson to close on.

Informative, entertaining, compelling in its fictional elements, funny, self-deprecating, thoughtful, and simply fun, this, like all of Kean’s work I’ve read, is highly recommended.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dinner with King Tut offers an accessible and often imaginative look into exploratory archaeology, blending science, storytelling, and historical speculation across a wide range of cultures and time periods. The author aims to humanize the past by bringing historical figures and everyday people to life, encouraging readers to think about what it might have felt like to live in vastly different times.

While this narrative approach will appeal to many, I found myself at odds with the frequent assumption of thoughts, emotions, and motivations of people from the past. We can make educated guesses, yes—but there's a fine line between interpretation and invention. As with true crime narratives that speculate on a killer’s mindset without solid evidence, this kind of storytelling can overshadow critical analysis. For me, it undermined the historical rigor and distracted from what could have been a more grounded exploration of archaeology.
That said, the book has its strengths—it’s readable, creative, and clearly driven by a passion for the past. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for my preferences as a reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Peter Tillman]

This new book got a pretty good writeup at the WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/book...
(Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers)
Excerpt:
"Each chapter of this lively book covers a specific time and place, beginning 75,000 years ago on the African savanna and concluding with 16th-century Mexico. Stops along the way include ancient Egypt, Imperial Rome, Viking Europe and medieval China. Each chapter presents an overview of life during the period and introduces the experimental archaeologists Mr. Kean meets in his travels. (Some, it should be said, aren’t technically archaeologists but are, in the author’s fond description, “screwball enthusiasts.”) ....

On the final page, Mr. Kean sums up the ambition behind these assembled adventures and experiments. “Above all,” he writes, “I hope this book can reveal what unites us today with people from long ago, and help us understand that they were just people, no different than us.” That’s a lofty goal, but one fully in keeping with the empathy Mr. Kean is quick to show not only his historical subjects, but the sometimes quirky researchers he meets in our own era."

Well. This sounded pretty good. Except that my only previous experience with this writer was his "The Disappearing Spoon" (2010), which I didn't like at all. I gave it 2-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So. Maybe I'll take a look at "Dinner with King Tut" if/when our library gets a copy.

[Cassie Minne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the book, minus some spelling and grammar errors. Sam Kean is one of my favorites and his writing is not only so fascinating and captivating, but his tone of voice and realism is so palpable. The book is about the science behind archaeology, specifically experimental archaeology (which is the act of recreating archaeology because there’s only so much you can learn from fossils), and learning how past ancient civilizations lived (like hunter-gatherers). I learning a lot about how people lived back then. And he writes it bouncing from a fictional story of the time, to his explorations and travels researching this book to learn about ancient civilizations. Definitely recommend!

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually more fiction than nonfiction--I'd say the bulk of the pages are historical short stories imagining the lives of people in past times. These sections are good, but they're not what I was expecting, and the structure seemed odd. These stories are interrupted by accounts of the author recreating past practices or relating how others have done so. Those were my favorite parts. How fascinating that a Middle Ages concoction has been proven to fight infection today! I also want to try Egyptian sourdough now.

[Tawnya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected but a history buffs dream book.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars. Fascinating!

[theelizzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent! I loved every single chapter of this book. I especially enjoyed how he wove fictional tales into the book to bring the stories to life. absolutely fascinating stuff, I am excited to read more of his books.

[Hta Huy]

Giftcode game quay hũ – Chìa khóa vàng nhận thưởng dễ dàng cho anh em

Giftcode vip 79  game quay hũ là món quà đặc biệt mà các nhà phát hành dành tặng người chơi nhằm tăng thêm phần vốn, vòng quay miễn phí hoặc các phần thưởng giá trị khác. Đây chính là công cụ hỗ trợ tuyệt vời giúp anh em đẩy nhanh tốc độ “nổ hũ”, gia tăng cơ hội trúng thưởng lớn ngay trên các trò quay hũ hấp dẫn.

Trong bài viết này, anh em sẽ được tìm hiểu chi tiết về giftcode game quay hũ, cách nhận và sử dụng sao cho hiệu quả, cùng những lưu ý quan trọng khi tham gia để không bỏ lỡ cơ hội nhận thưởng hấp dẫn.

Giftcode game quay hũ là gì?

Giftcode game quay hũ là đoạn mã bao gồm các ký tự đặc biệt được phát hành bởi nhà cung cấp trò chơi quay hũ. Khi nhập mã này vào trong game, người chơi sẽ nhận được các phần thưởng như xu game, vòng quay miễn phí, điểm thưởng hay các quà tặng khác giúp tăng sức chơi hoặc hỗ trợ đổi thưởng.

Giftcode thường được phát hành vào các dịp lễ, sự kiện đặc biệt hoặc dành cho người chơi mới, người chơi trung thành như một lời tri ân và khích lệ tiếp tục trải nghiệm game.

Các cách nhận giftcode game quay hũ nhanh chóng

Anh em có thể nhận giftcode quay hũ từ nhiều nguồn uy tín như:

Tham gia đăng ký tài khoản mới tại các cổng game quay hũ nổi tiếng, thường có mã giftcode chào mừng đi kèm.

Theo dõi fanpage, group cộng đồng game quay hũ trên mạng xã hội nơi nhà phát hành thường xuyên cập nhật giftcode mới.

Tham gia các sự kiện, minigame, chương trình khuyến mãi do nhà phát hành tổ chức để nhận giftcode giá trị.

Truy cập các trang web chuyên tổng hợp giftcode game quay hũ miễn phí và cập nhật thường xuyên.

Ngoài ra, một số kênh đối tác hoặc streamer game cũng thường xuyên chia sẻ mã giftcode cho cộng đồng.

Hướng dẫn sử dụng giftcode game quay hũ hiệu quả

Sau khi nhận giftcode, anh em chỉ cần đăng nhập vào tài khoản game quay hũ của mình, tìm phần nhập mã hoặc giftcode trong giao diện game hoặc phần quản lý tài khoản, sau đó nhập chính xác đoạn mã đã nhận và xác nhận.

Hệ thống sẽ tự động cộng phần thưởng tương ứng vào tài khoản để anh em tiếp tục trải nghiệm hoặc đổi thưởng theo quy định.

Anh em nên nhập mã ngay khi nhận để tránh trường hợp giftcode hết hạn hoặc bị giới hạn số lần sử dụng.

Những lưu ý quan trọng khi sử dụng giftcode

Để đảm bảo an toàn và tận dụng tối đa lợi ích, anh em cần lưu ý:

Chỉ nhận và sử dụng giftcode từ các nguồn chính thống, tránh các website hoặc app giả mạo có thể gây mất tài khoản hoặc lừa đảo.

Kiểm tra kỹ điều kiện áp dụng của giftcode như thời hạn sử dụng, đối tượng áp dụng và quy định rút thưởng.

Không chia sẻ mã giftcode cá nhân nếu đó là mã chỉ dành cho một tài khoản hoặc sử dụng một lần.

Kết hợp giftcode với chiến thuật chơi hợp lý, không phụ thuộc hoàn toàn vào mã để giữ sự chủ động trong quá trình chơi.

Kết luận

Giftcode game quay hũ là một trợ thủ đắc lực giúp anh em nâng cao trải nghiệm chơi, tiết kiệm chi phí và tăng cơ hội chiến thắng lớn. Việc biết cách tìm kiếm, sử dụng và bảo vệ mã giftcode đúng cách sẽ giúp anh em tận hưởng niềm vui chơi game trọn vẹn và an toàn hơn.

Hãy thường xuyên cập nhật các chương trình giftcode quay hũ để không bỏ lỡ những phần quà hấp dẫn và trải nghiệm những vòng quay nổ hũ đầy kịch tính nhé!

 

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book that is both a history, and an exploration of the lives of our ancestors, and how much of what we assume their lives were like, turn out to be far different when put to the test.

I work with a guy who can tell you anything about cars, trucks really anything with 4-wheels and a combustion engine. Common problems with 1971 Fiat Models, he can tell you. The size of the air filter on a 81 Caprice Classic, he will know. I know for a fact that he loves nothing more than paging through Chilton car repair books, its how he relaxes. However he has, in the time I have known him, never had a car over 8 years old, always brings said car in for servicing at the dealer. And at least a couple of times a year will confuse the diesel and gasoline pumps at the gas station. Book sense, my friend is a genius, practical, well not so much. Much of what we know of our ancestors in the past is based on books, stories, and ideas that have not really been tested in the real world. One can read and watch hundreds of articles on creating a friction fire, but outside of youtube and that prepper book how many people can actually do it, when cold, wet, lacking sun, and with the wolves howling. Sam Kean has written many books on science, in his latest he tries to see if what we think we know about the lives of others is true. Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Recreating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations is a combination of how-to, how-not-to, and how-not-to-hurt-oneself, and history dealing with what many assume the past was like, and those who are doing their best to actually recreate these assumptions, and learning far more about how adaptable humans can be.

The book is broken into different chapters dealing with people in the past in both different eras, and different extremes. The cold of Alaska, the wide oceans of the South Seas, ancient Rome, Ireland, South America and more. These chapters are broken into both a fiction part and a nonfiction part. The fiction deals with people of the time, hunters, doctors, navigator, warriors and spies, their life, and how the deal with difficulties, like food, water, and shelter. Escaping the slave masters, hunting giant slothes, elephants, seals and more. Even small things like how they styled their hair, the food they ate, and the homes they live in. The nonfiction is Kean doing his best to figure out, outside of books and by practical experience seeing what their lives were like. Kean travels all over the world, learning how cannons work, forming knives from rocks, starting fires. Even shaping a knife from dung. Kean gets lots of bruises, lots of cuts, a tattoo, tattoos someone and even does brain surgery. Plus gets to try wonderful foods, like bugs, blubber, breads and more.

I was not sure what this book was about, but as a fan of the author I knew it would be interesting. This book was much more than that. Every page has something fascinating, something new, from simple tricks to make a knife, to how to make Roman styled hair, shaping shelters and much more. Kean has done a lot of working finding researchers who might not be considered experts in their field, but have the practical knowledge to grasp what it takes to live in the times they study. Kean gets cut, bruised, and a little food poisoned for our enjoyment, and I am thankful. Kean is a great writer, with the mix of fiction and nonfiction really meddling together to give a clear view of what life was like in the past. The knowledge that people had, the way they dealt with things kind of gives me hope for our future.

There are so many people who would enjoy this. Preppers well get a lot of practical information, and learn to practice, practice practice, before one tries to survive for real. People interested in history will learn quite a lot. Role players will get a real sense to what life was like, and could add a lot to their characters and their adventures. And nerds like myself will love all the great information. I have long enjoyed Kean's work, this is one of his best.

[Elizabeth]

As heard on Decoder Ring - How to Hunt a Mammoth, and Other Experiments in Archaeology

Experimental archeology is, simply put, archeology that involves running experiments. Where traditional archaeologists may study, research, analyze, and theorize about how artifacts were made or used, experimental archaeologists actually try to recreate, test, and use them to see what they can learn. In doing so, they have given the field a whole new way to glean clues and get insights into the lives of our ancestors.

Sam Kean is the author of a new book all about experimental archaeology called Dinner with King Tut. With help from him and a few archaeologists, we dig into a number of puzzles that experimental archaeology has helped solve—conundrums involving ancient megafauna, bizarre cookware, and deep sea voyages.

In this episode, you’ll hear from archaeologists Susan Kaplan of Bowdoin College and Karen Harry of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Native Hawaiian activist and storyteller Nāʻālehu Anthony.

To learn more about the story of Hokule’a and its first navigator, Mau Piailug, watch Nāʻālehu Anthony’s 2010 documentary, Papa Mau: The Wayfinder, as well as The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific.

This episode was produced by Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. We had mixing help from Kevin Bendis.

We’d also like to thank Metin Eren and Paul Benham.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.

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[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dinner with King Tut" is a book that asks us to think about history in a wider angle--in particular, looking at the field of so-called experimental archaeology, in which individuals (both academics and non) are trying to decipher how ancient individuals did things: what they ate, their weapons, their clothes, their hair, and so forth. In each chapter, author Sam Kean looks at a different period of history from the dawn of time (pre-civilization) to the Spanish invasion of Mexico. The book is set up creatively, using a fictional narrative of everyday life in different periods as a springboard to discuss the enter the topics of the chapter.

What's good: The topics are interesting and the author is fearless. (He's willing to eat and do things that goodness knows I would never do!) He makes a very persuasive case for the importance of material culture, and experiencing it, in understanding the past.

What's iffier: In hindsight, the book often looks toward stereotypical topics for its chapter inspirations. For Egypt, we're talking about mummies and tomb raiding. (Not what Tut ate, despite the title.) For China, eunuchs. For the Aztecs, their brutality.

In addition, the author awkwardly juggles his own position throughout this. On the one hand, the title centers the people of today trying to understand the material past, but we spend a lot of time on Kean's efforts to complete the same tasks. While he highlights the experts, it's hard to say if that's really the center of the story--is it what the ancient people did, is it the experiences of a modern person trying these things (and discovering their difficulties or challenges), or is it the "rogue archaeologists" promised in the title? (And they're not always rogue, for the record, but I know the title is often up to the publishers rather than the author.)

What's something I would have wished: Some kind of extended information on how to do some of these things at home. Could we get a modernized recipe for Aztec frozen potatoes, for example? Suggestions about how to make fire? A recipe or suggested exercise per chapter? This would take the book from a view into the past into an invitation to join it. There is bonus material, for the record, on the author's site, but it doesn't really fill this need.