By Karen Stephen MORE than 30 years ago, deep in the vaults of Bolton Museum, a young volunteer worker discovered what could have been a most amazing mistake.

As Christine El Mahdy rummaged through various files and boxes she came across a collection of small fragments of quartzites on which were snippets of information - written in hieroglyphic.

According to Christine, these important pieces had originally been intended for the museum of Boston, not Bolton.

"Someone, back in 1923, had typed an address label for the packing case, putting and L instead of S. The implications of the discovery were huge."

The fact the information was in hieroglyphic didn't pose a problem to Bolton-born Christine - she'd taught herself to read them at the age of nine.

Christine is now 49 and the author of a newly-published book, Tutankhamen: The life and death of the boy King.*

And she's the first to admit the information buried in the vaults of Bolton Museum helped her piece together the bizarre life story of Tutankhamen - the book is the culmination of, she said, "40 years of my work".

Christine was born in Heaton and raised mostly in Lostock. She was a pupil at Markland Hill and Canon Slade schools, but it during her time at junior school she became interested in Egyptology.

She explained: "I'd just turned seven and had read a book on Egypt and the next day persuaded my father to take me to Bolton Museum.

"I remember the doors to the Egyptology room were locked - it was still unfinished - so my father lifted me up and I looked through the fan-light on the door.

"I was fascinated with what I saw and so began my love affair with Egypt and its history. I devoured everything I could and by the age of nine I was practically fluent in hieroglyphic."

It was at the age of seven she also became interested in Tutankhamen.

"I think it was because he had been the same age as me and I felt some kind of affinity with him," said Christine, who lectures in Egyptology and classics.

And her life-long interest has now become a book.

"Reams of fiction have surrounded Tutankhamen," she said, "but the truth of his life is far more fascinating than any fiction.

"He was simply a pawn in the hands of some very powerful men and his death was followed by a hasty and surreptitious burial."

Using only archaeological evidence, Christine's book tells the story of the boy King's childhood and the events leading to his death.

It is a fascinating subject and one Christine gave a talk about on a recent visit to her home town, (her first ever talk on Egyptology was to fellow 10-year-olds at Markland Hill).

"I hadn't been back to Bolton for many years so it was a wonderful experience to be back, and an even greater honour to deliver a talk at Bolton Museum".

Tutankhamen by Christine El Mahdy is published by Headline Book Publishing Ltd and is priced at £20. STRANGE TALE OF HOW TREASURES CAME TO BOLTON BOLTON Museum is renowned for its excellent Egyptology section.

But why does the town boast such an impressive one?

Caroline Ashworth, for the museum, explained: "It dates back to when Bolton was a major cotton spinning town and did a lot of overseas trade with Egypt.

"During the 1880s, when the museum was known as Chadwick Museum and situated in Queens Park, the then curator began to import artifacts from Egypt.

"When the museum moved to its present site in 1938/9 he began to import even more.

"The curator and his son, both were called Chadwick, then formed the Egypt Exploration Society and sent archaeologists over to Egypt.

"On their return they brought many objects back with them including the stone pillar at the entrance to the museum's Egyptology section.

"Most of the mummies and coffins actually came for the Exploration Society and they also brought over a large number of textiles which are now kept in storage because of their extremely fragile state.

"Bolton Museum Egyptology section is classed as one of the top three in the country."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.