An ancient Egyptian statuette is found on a tiny island in the Central Mediterranean in 1713. It disappears for a century before resurfacing as the centrepiece of an archaeological exhibition.
Archaeological investigators, including authors Anton Mifsud and Marta Farrugia are mystified by the find. What in the world was this statuette doing on Malta well before Napoleon and the tomb raiders following in his wake?
Dedicated to an unusual triad of Egyptian gods, the statuette belonged to a humble tomb painter in the Valley of the Kings at the time of Rameses the Great. In a bid to unravel the statuette’s mystery, Mifsud and Farrugia begin researching the other artefacts that the tomb painter commissioned.
As they unravel details about the statuette, they also unravel some unusual details about the tomb painter’s life, work and family. But the mystery deepens when they discover the statuette is not what it appears to be in I Painted for Pharaoh.
“All objects surviving from ancient Egypt have a story to tell. When and why were they made and how have they survived until the present day? The authors here reveal after long and detailed research, the origins and history of one statuette, investigating why and how it ended in Malta, but also uncovering a fascinating story of more modern intrigue”. [Review paragraph by Robert Partridge, editor of Ancient Egypt]
About the Author:
Anton Mifsud has written and edited a number of publications on Maltese prehistory.
Marta Farrugia speaks six languages and is a lifelong student of Egyptology. The two teamed up to write I Painted for Pharaoh after meeting at an Egyptological Society meeting.
