Draft:Garry J Shaw

Academic achievement

Shaw is best known academically for his theory on the death of King Seqenenre Tao. In 2009, he was the first to argue that the Pharaoh was ceremonially executed after being captured by enemy forces on the battlefield.^[6] Recent CT scans have added weight to this theory by revealing details of the head injuries, including new wounds not previously discovered because they had been hidden by embalmers.^[7]

Shaw presented his theory during an episode of Museum Secrets, Inside the Egyptian Museum, which aired in 2011^[8].

Books

His first major book, The Pharaoh: Life at Court and on Campaign (2012), was based on his PhD research. It conveys the full experience of what it was like to be pharaoh, from birth to death, in private and in public, at court and on campaign.^[9][10][11] James Blake Wiener, Co-Founder of the World History Encylopedia, praised the book for being "absorbing, highly entertaining, and filled with fascinating insights and intriguing facts about everything from the royal wardrobe to the religious rituals"^[12]

Shaw continued to write on ancient Egyptian topics for the general public with his books on Egyptian Mythology (2014 & 2021),^{[13][14][15] [16] [17]} war, trade, and international relations (2017)^[18][19] and Tutankhamun (2022).^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

His 2022 book, The Story of Tutankhamun: An Intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King, received mixed reviews with Hilary Forrest, writing for Ancient Egypt Magazine, calling it "a lively and readable book"^[25] while James Holder referred to it as "perhaps too brief. It is cautious in its approach. This may make for a quick, dry read. In the end, The Story of Tutankhamun is an adequate biography of Tutankhamun and an overview of Tutankhamun studies more generally."^[26]

Shaw's latest book, Cryptic: from Voynich to the Angel Diaries, the Story of the World’s Mysterious Manuscripts (2025), discusses nine puzzling European texts, such as the enciphered manuscripts of Giovanni Fontana, John Dee's angel diaries, and culminating in discussion of the Voynich Manuscript.^[27][28] Sebastian Dows-Miller, writing for the Times Literary Supplement praised the book for being an "excellent introduction to the history of cryptography and the stories of some of the individuals behind it" while noting that Shaw's classification of manuscripts as "mysterious" was at times vague.^[29] The book was added to The New Yorker's list of best books of 2025.^[30]

Journalism

Since 2013, Shaw has worked as a science journalist. His articles have appeared in newspapers including The Art Newspaper^[31], Apollo^[32], New Scientist^[33], and Science^[34].