In this pioneering study West documents that: Hieroglyphs carry hermetic messages that convey the subtler realities of the Sacred Science of the Pharaohs. Egyptian science, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy were more sophisticated than most modern Egyptologists acknowledge. Egyptian knowledge of the universe was a legacy from a highly sophisticated civilization that flourished thousands of years ago. The great Sphinx represents geological proof that such a civilization existed. This revised edition includes a new introduction linking Egyptian spiritual science with the perennial wisdom tradition and an appendix updating West's work in redating the Sphinx. Illustrated with over 140 photographs and line drawings.

    He begins with the scientific facts: How was Pompeii destroyed? How did Mount Vesuvius become an active volcano? What happened during the eruption? How long did Pompeii lay buried and how was it finally rediscovered? What was Pompeii's history before the disaster?Then, Peter Connolly does what he does better than anyone--he rebuilds the past in words and pictures, allowing us to imagine what it was like to live in old Pompeii. Like an archaeological detective, he sifts through the ruins and artifacts to reconstruct one area of the town in minute detail. With maps and cross-sections, photographs, drawings, and engrossing, fact-filled text, Connolly takes us into the very homes of its citizens--into the kitchens, atriums, bedrooms and out into the gardens. We learn what the furniture looked like, how the homes were lighted and heated, what kind of jewelry was popular, and what the gladiators wore. We view the varied styles of architecture and decoration, attend a grand dinner party, visit local shops, go to the theater, to a public bath, and to the gladiators' arena. We gain an understanding of this ancient civilization, and begin to see how much was lost when the city fell prey to the tons of lava and ashes that fell on it during the devastating disaster.

    Xenophon continues the account to 362 B.C. These years saw Athens humbled by Sparta; Sparta humbled by Athens and her former ally, Thebes; Athens ground down again by the military genius of the Theban Epaminondas, taking on both Athens and Sparta; and behind the scenes the might of Persia, intervening now on one side, now on another.Xenophon himself knew many of the protagonists and his writing is personal history as well as a chronicle of events; he vividly portrays individuals, heroic and treacherous, influencing politics and battles and leading Greece inevitably towards impotence.

    The first edition of The Best of the Achaeans bridged that gap, raising new questions about what could be known or conjectured about Greek heroes. In this revised edition, which features a new preface by the author, Gregory Nagy reconsiders his conclusions in the light of the subsequent debate and resumes his discussion of the special status of heroes in ancient Greek life and poetry. His book remains an engaging introduction both to the concept of the hero in Hellenic civilization and to the poetic forms through which the hero is defined: the Iliad and Odyssey in particular and archaic Greek poetry in general.

    It's based on the major primary sources of Roman history, with illuminating parallels between ancient & modern times. As Hooper says in his introduction, "Anyone concerned about present problems will profit from reading about how the Romans went about solving theirs." Finley Hooper's history of Rome covers the usual ground from Rome's origins to the Western Empire's end. But it sparkles with lucidity, grace, insight & confident learning. Not merely a scholarly narrative, Roman Realities plays off modern scholarship against what the Romans (eg, Livy, Polybius, Cicero, Plutarch) said of themselves & their past, thereby drawing readers directly into the historical issues & drama & into disparate Roman minds. With an awareness of what evidence is reliable, he interweaves Roman reportage & philosophy, anecdotes & analyses to provide a rich version of human character, social life, politics & culture in Rome thru periods of vitality & decay, renewal & ultimate decline. We see Hannibal, unsurpassed military tactician, defeated finally by Roman resilience; Julius Caesar, brilliant, charming, confident, strong & popular, undone by lack of tact & self-discipline; Cicero, orator of genius, moralist of traditional virtues, victimized by his vanity; Augustus, austere, decisive, capable of cruelty & good sense, who set a precedent impossible to follow. Hooper's manner is well-suited to his interpretation of Rome's fall. From the late years of the Republic onward, respect for constitutional political life lessened: some citizens took the law into their own hands & finally the power of the military & the emperor & the influence of the rich subverted the strong political spirit which had sustained Rome for centuries. At the same time, the Empire also lost the allegiance of the intellectuals, who'd nourished the Roman spirit through meditations on law, history & philosophy: thinkers now became theologians & turned toward the other world. Hooper's survey (a successor to Greek Realities '67) breathes life into a subject easily made dull & thus serves as a fine introduction & synthesis.--Kirkus (edited)

    

    First taught among nomads on the Asian steppes, Zoroastrianism became the state religion of the three great Iranian empires and had a remarkable influence on other world faiths: to the east on northern Buddhism, to the west on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. With the conquest of Iran by the Muslim Arabs, Zoroastrianism lost its secular power, but continued to survive as a minority faith. Despite its antiquity, it remains a living religion.

    Striking photographs capture the land and the legacies of the ancients, and more than a dozen specially commissioned paintings re-create their lives. Mysteries Of The Ancient World enriches the present by evoking the grandeur, the glory, and the puzzles of the past.

    

    ( 224 Pages ) many photos drawings and plates.

    Robert Buck's history examines the archaeological record, takes a fresh look at what the ancients said about the Boeotians and at the references of classicists of more recent times, retells the legends, and reconstructs the history of the region from the heroic Bronze Age to the Pelopponesian War.

    By means of amusing and informative examples, the authors describe the language acquisition process, from birth to school age, showing how children gradually master the intricacies of sounds, words, rules, and concepts.