Best of
Ancient-History

2006

Caesar: Life of a Colossus


Adrian Goldsworthy - 2006
    Ultimately, Goldsworthy realizes the full complexity of Caesar’s character and shows why his political and military leadership continues to resonate some two thousand years later.In the introduction to his biography of the great Roman emperor, Adrian Goldsworthy writes, “Caesar was at times many things, including a fugitive, prisoner, rising politician, army leader, legal advocate, rebel, dictator . . . as well as husband, father, lover and adulterer.” In this landmark biography, Goldsworthy examines Caesar as military leader, all of these roles and places his subject firmly within the context of Roman society in the first century B.C.

The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome


Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges - 2006
    Fustel de Coulanges' 1864 masterpiece, La Cité antique, drew upon physical evidence as well as ancient documents rather than the usual post-Classical histories. The result is a fresh, accurate, and detailed portrait of the religious, family, and civic life of Periclean Athens and Rome during the time of Cicero.This fascinating sociological account reveals the significance of kinship and the cult of the family hearth and ancestors to ancient Hellenic and Latin urban culture. It chronicles the rise of family-centered pagan belief systems, tracing their gradual decline to the spread of Christianity. Fustel cites ancient Indian and Hebrew texts as well as Greek and Roman sources. The ingenuity of his interpretations, along with his striking prose style, offer readers a vital and enduring historic survey.

Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible


John H. Walton - 2006
    However, as we begin to understand how ancient people viewed the world, the Old Testament becomes more clearly a book that stands within its ancient context as it also speaks against it. John Walton provides here a thoughtful introduction to the conceptual world of the ancient Near East.Walton surveys the literature of the ancient Near East and introduces the reader to a variety of beliefs about God, religion, and the world. In helpful sidebars, he provides examples of how such studies can bring insight to the interpretation of specific Old Testament passages. Students and pastors who want to deepen their understanding of the Old Testament will find this a helpful and instructive study.

Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt: From Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra


Joyce A. Tyldesley - 2006
    Starting with the unique role enjoyed by Egypt's women in the ancient world, the book goes on to present a biographical portrait of every queen, supplemented by a wealth of pictorial detail, datafiles, genealogical trees, timelines, and special features—from Childbirth to Wigs—highlighting different aspects of Egyptian culture.The queen of Egypt was, first and foremost, a supportive wife and mother, but in times of dynastic crisis she was expected to act as her husband's deputy. The queen might be required to marshal troops, or to rule on behalf of an infant son. She might even be called upon to rule in her own right in the absence of a suitable king. The female pharaohs Hatshepsut and Tawosret, the sun queens Tiy and Nefertiti, the seductive Nefertari and Cleopatra: many of Egypt's queens have left an indelible mark on their country's history.And what of Egypt's lesser queens, the numerous wives and daughters maintained in pampered seclusion in the harem palaces? These women are generally forgotten, their graves lost in the desert sands. But the anonymous ladies occasionally stepped from the security of the harem to influence the royal succession, and their stories too are told.

When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations


Robin Oliver Walker - 2006
    It recounts the fascinating story of the origin and development of indigenous civilisations across the vast panorama of the African continent.In particular, the author answers the key question in Black history: How much documented history is there beyond the Slave Trade, Mary Seacole, and Malcolm X? In 713 pages that question is answered again and again with a vast array of evidence that explodes the widely held view that Africans were without historical distinctions. In particular, there are ancient and medieval monuments that are still standing all over Africa. In addition, there are Black families and institutions that still possess their medieval manuscripts.The history of Black people cannot be divorced from the history of peoples on other continents particularly Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Topic areas that have traditionally been ignored, such as Black Women's history, early African science and technology, and the two-way influences between Africa and Europe, are also discussed.What is remarkable about this work is that for the first time it dares to connect Egypt, and its cultural affinities, with Africa and its chronological timeline within the vast chronology (nearly 90,000 years) of African achievement. It is now untenable for Egyptologists to consider themselves to be experts on Egypt without understanding the African cultural signature embedded within Ancient Egypt and its long history.Faculty, students and parents interested in a comprehensive, critical and balanced overview of African or Black history will find no better book.

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind


Justin Pollard - 2006
    It was the marvel of its age?legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lighthouse. But it was most famous for the astonishing intellectual fluorescence it fostered and the library it produced. If the European Renaissance was the ?rebirth? of Western culture, then Alexandria, Egypt, was its birthplace. It was here mankind first discovered that the earth was not flat, originated atomic theory, invented geometry, systematized grammar, translated the Old Testament into Greek, built the steam engine, and passed their discoveries on to future generations via the written word. Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, Jewish scholars, Greek philosophers, and devout early Christians all play a part in the rise and fall of the city that stood ?at the conjunction of the whole world.? Compulsively readable and sparkling with fresh insights into science, philosophy, culture, and invention, this is an irresistible, eye-opening delight.

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century


Upinder Singh - 2006
    

Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome


John R. Hale - 2006
    Duration: 18 hours 40 minsCourse Lecture TitlesArchaeologys Big BangOde on a Grecian UrnA Quest for the Trojan WarHow to DigFirst Find Your SiteTaking the Search Underwater Cracking the CodesTechniques for Successful DatingReconstructing Vanished EnvironmentsNot Artifacts but PeopleArchaeology by ExperimentReturn to VesuviusGourniaHarriet Boyd and the Mother GoddessTheraA Bronze Age Atlantis?OlympiaGames and GodsAthenss AgoraWhere Socrates WalkedDelphiQuestioning the OracleKyreniaLost Ship of the Hellenistic AgeRiaceWarriors from the SeaRomeFoundation Myths and ArchaeologyCaesarea MaritimaA Roman City in JudeaTeutoburgBattlefield ArchaeologyBathHealing Waters at Aquae SulisTorre de PalmaA Farm in the Far WestRoots of Classical CultureThe Texture of Everyday LifeTheir Daily BreadVoyaging on a Dark Sea of WineShows and CircusesRomes Virtual RealityEngineering and TechnologySlavesA Silent Majority?Women of Greece and RomeHadrianMark of the IndividualCrucible of New FaithsThe End of the WorldA Coroners ReportA Bridge across the Torrent

D'Aulaires' Greek Myths Student Guide


Cheryl Lowe - 2006
    Introduce your students to the kinds of characters they will surely meet in life through the entertaining and exaggerated stories of the Greek gods. Take advantage of the 85-page study guide that fully utilizes the detailed D'Aulaires stories and pictures through drill work, comprehension questions, vocabulary, and activities. To be used with the D'Aulaires' Greek Myths text. Grade: 3-6

Unwrapping the Pharaohs: How Egyptian Archaeology Confirms the Biblical Timeline


John F. Ashton - 2006
    Explore the extraordinary pyramids and artifacts of this ancient civilization from a biblical worldview with archaeologists Dr. John Ashton and David Down. Ashton and Down do not disappoint as they dare to reveal the remarkable corroboration between the Old Testament Bible records and Egypt's historical documents and archaeological finds.Using historically confirmed dates in later Egyptian history and the years between events recorded in the Bible, Ashton and Down construct a timeline of the kings of Egypt which dates back to just two centuries before the biblical dating of Noah's flood. Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Jesus each spent part of their lives in Egypt. In recent years, however, liberal teachers and professors have used the traditional Egyptian chronology to undermine the truth of the biblical record found in the Old Testament book of Exodus.Unwrapping the Pharaohs takes you back in time to study famous Egyptians, their dynasties and structures such as:• Tutankhamen, the boy-king• Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh• Cleopatra• Seneferu, the world's greatest pyramid builder• Pharaohs of the Bible• The Great Sphinx of Giza• The Lost Pyramid on the Saqqara Plateau• And many more intriguing people and placesBoth Christian believers and skeptics will find this well documented and beautifully illustrated research fascinating.Bonus Content:Packaged with this excellent educational resource for those enthralled by history, archaeology and the Bible, is a 90-minute DVD offering a breathtaking journey through the pyramids and temples of Egypt with author and archaeologist David Down.

The Adventures of Odysseus


Hugh Lupton - 2006
    But what Odysseus thinks is the end of his long absence is truly only the beginning...

The Encyclopedia Of Ancient Egypt


Helen Strudwick - 2006
    Powerful pharaohs built great cities on the fertile banks of the Nile, and employed thousands of labourers to create lavish tombs and temples such as Thebes and the pyramids of the Giza plateau. The exceptional beauty and scale of ancient Egypt s antiquities still draws millions of visitors to Egypt s museums and monuments each year. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt is a celebration of these wonders, from Tutankhamun s tomb to Cleopatra s obelisks, from ancient papyrus scrolls covered with hieroglyphs to golden amulets in the form of ankhs and scarabs. The book also uncovers ancient Egyptian life from the role of women and the form of an Egyptian wedding banquet, to the weights, measures and currencies used in everyday trading and explores the modern archaelogy taking place on the ancient sites revealing the Egyptians artefacts and tools. With a combination of modern, specially commissioned colour illustrations and images of Egyptian antiquities and treasures alongside a detailed history of the civilisation to put it all into context, the world of the pharaohs is brought to life in vivid detail. For intrigued adults or fascinated children alike, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt provides a wealth of information about the riches of the ancient world."

The Second Temple Period


Binyamin Lau - 2006
    It offers fresh perspectives on the individual characters of the Jewish sages (Chazal), the historical contexts in which they lived, and the creativity they brought to the pursuit of Jewish wisdom. This first volume in a three-volume set examines the teachings of the Men of the Great Assembly, Yosi Ben Yoezer, Hillel, Shamai and others of the Second Temple Period.

Archaeology and the Iliad: The Trojan War in Homer and History


Eric H. Cline - 2006
    But did Troy actually exist? And if so, where is it located? Was the Trojan War actually fought? If it was, did it take place over the course of ten years, as Homer wrote, or was it a much longer series of battles? And why was the war fought? Could Helen’s face alone really have launched a thousand ships?In this course, esteemed professor Eric H. Cline examines the real history of Troy and delves into the archaeological discoveries (which continue to the present day) that help to answer the questions above. Through an entertaining and incisive analysis of known data, Professor Cline provides a fuller, richer understanding of this historic clash.lecture 1. The tale of the Trojan War, introduction and overview. lecture 2. The Mycenaenslecture 3. The Hittiteslecture 4. The Sea peoples and the end of the late Bronze Agelecture 5. Greek literary evidence for the Trojan War and its sequence of events lecture 6. The Homeric question, Bronze Age or Iron Age lecture 7. Hittite literary evidence for Troy, the Mycenaens and the Trojan Warlecture 8. Heinrich Schliemann and the City of Troylecture 9. Priam's treasure lecture 10. Wilhelm Dörpfeld and the City of Troy VIlecture 11. Carl Blegen and the City of Troy VIIa lecture 12. Manfred Korfmann and the results of recent excavations lecture 13. Possible motivations and dates for a Trojan War lecture 14. Did the Trojan War take place?

The Treasures of Tutankhamun


Jaromir Malek - 2006
    It describes the painstaking efforts that were taken as they and their team slowly investigated the wealth of objects that had lain hidden for centuries-furniture, chariots, magical figures, wonderful jewelry, and the gold sarcophagus of Tutankhamun itself. Illustrated.

The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes


Richard Firestone - 2006
    Eyewitness accounts of these events are chronicled in rich oral traditions handed down through generations of native peoples. The authors’ recent scientific discoveries link all these events to a single cause.In The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith present new scientific evidence about a series of prehistoric cosmic events that explains why the last Ice Age ended so abruptly. Their findings validate the ubiquitous legends and myths of floods, fires, and weather extremes passed down by our ancestors and show how these legendary events relate to each other. Their findings also support the idea that we are entering a thousand-year cycle of increasing danger and possibly a new cycle of extinctions.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire


Simon Baker - 2006
    Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before - awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid.At the heart of this gripping popular history are the dynamic, complex but flawed characters of Rome's most powerful rulers: men such as Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero and Constantine.The superb narrative, full of energy and imagination, is a brilliant distillation of the latest scholarship and a wonderfully evocative account of Ancient Rome.

Peril and Peace: Chronicles of the Ancient Church


Mindy Withrow - 2006
    From the apostle Paul to Benedict you can discover how the early church still influences today.Live with these people in their hostile and difficult world. Be encouraged as different countries, cultures and times merge together to form the Christian church. Learn from their mistakes and errors and learn from their amazing strengths and gifts.Extra features throughout this book look deeper into issues such as persecution, worship, creeds and councils, and the formation of the Bible.This is the first in a series intended to cover the history of the Christian church through its people. They are written with 9-14 year olds in mind but the modern, relaxed and enthusiastic style is infectious!

Caesar's Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire


Josiah Osgood - 2006
    The volume demonstrates how, during this violent period, Romans came to accept a new form of government and found ways to celebrate it in their towns and cities. It also reveals how they mourned, in literary masterpieces and stories passed onto their children, the terrible losses that accompanied the long years of fighting.

Maori Peoples of New Zealand =: Nga Iwi O Aotearoa


Te Ara - 2006
    - publisher's description

Moses


Margaret Hodges - 2006
    This elegant telling of his inspiring story captures all the power and poetry that marked his life, from his harrowing infancy hidden in a basket in the bulrushes to his final days as he looked toward his people’s freedom in the promised land.      Gorgeously illustrated by renowned artist Barry Moser, Moses will be treasured by the entire family.

The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins


Larry W. Hurtado - 2006
    Widely recognized for his outstanding scholarship, Hurtado combines his comprehensive knowledge of Christian origins with an archivist's eye to make sense of these earliest objects of the faith. He introduces readers to the staurogram, possibly the first representation of the cross, the nomina sacra, a textual abbreviation system, and the puzzling Christian preference for book-like texts over scrolls. Drawing on studies by papyrologists and palaeographers as well as New Testament scholars -- and including photographic plates of selected manuscripts -- The Earliest Christian Artifacts astutely introduces the distinctive physical features of early Christian manuscripts, illustrating their relevance for wider inquiry into the complex origins of Christianity.

The Parthenon


Elizabeth Mann - 2006
    Every marble statue, every graceful column, is an expression of a civilization whose three great values still speak to us today: "Democracy." At a time of godlike rulers, ordinary citizens voted to build the Parthenon. "Humanism." The Parthenon's art honored Athens' water carriers as well as its gods. "Balance." The Parthenon's aesthetic brought lightness and grace to height and mass.The Parthenon tells of the rise of Athens -- from the religion that nurtured it, through the wars that tested it, to the democracy that ennobled it -culminating in the construction of the great temple on the Acropolis. The book not only captures the human stories, but also vividly illustrates the technical details behind the construction, from quarrying of the marbles to carving of the exquisite frieze. To look at the Parthenon is to see Athens. To see Athens, is to see ourselves."Wonders of the World" seriesThe winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.""One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."" - Booklist

Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language


John Alan Halloran - 2006
    It replaces version 3 of the author's Sumerian Lexicon, which has served an audience of over 380,000 visitors at the web site www.sumerian.org since 1999. This published version adds over 2,600 new entries, and corrects or expands many of the previous entries. Also, following the express wish of a majority of online lexicon users, it has merged together and sorted the logogram words and the compound words into purely alphabetical order. This book will be an indispensable reference for anyone trying to translate Sumerian texts. Also, due to the historical position of ancient Sumer as the world's first urban civilisation, cultural and linguistic archaeologists will discover a wealth of information for research.

The Kingfisher Atlas of the Ancient World


Simon Adams - 2006
    and A.D. 1000. Each stunning map shows the major sites from a particular civilization or group of civilizations, with their cities, temples, palaces, farmers, and traders brought vividly to life with detailed picture symbols. Feature spreads use photographs of cultural and architectural artifacts, as well as additional information, to focus in greater depth on the key cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

Kommos: A Minoan Harbor Town and Greek Sanctuary in Southern Crete (paper)


Joseph W. Shaw - 2006
    In prehistory, Kommos was a busy harbor town with trading links extending to Egypt and Sardinia. The author traces the development of the settlement, its mysterious abandonment, and then resurrection as a religious site around 1000 B.C.

History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750


R. Shabani Samghabadi - 2006
    Waves of nomadic migrations and the formation of steppe empires left their mark on political and social life. This multiethnic society had its roots in the great religious traditions of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity and Shamanism. The Islamization of a great part of the region brought fundamental changes to all aspects of life. Intensive trade along the Silk Route encouraged cultural and scientific exchanges, making this period one of impressive artistic and intellectual creativity.

The Flood Myths Of Early China


Mark Edward Lewis - 2006
    These myths also supplied a charter for the major political and social institutions of Warring States (481-221 BC) and early imperial (220 BC-AD 220) China.In some versions of the tales, the flood was triggered by rebellion, while other versions linked the taming of the flood with the creation of the institution of a lineage, and still others linked the taming to the process in which the divided principles of the masculine and the feminine were joined in the married couple to produce an ordered household. While availing themselves of earlier stories and of central religious rituals of the period, these myths transformed earlier divinities or animal spirits into rulers or ministers and provided both etiologies and legitimation for the emerging political and social institutions that culminated in the creation of a unitary empire.

The Art of Forgetting: Disgrace and Oblivion in Roman Political Culture


Harriet I. Flower - 2006
    Sanctions against memory could lead to the removal or mutilation of portraits and public inscriptions. Harriet Flower provides the first chronological overview of the development of this Roman practice--an instruction to forget--from archaic times into the second century A.D. Flower explores Roman memory sanctions against the background of Greek and Hellenistic cultural influence and in the context of the wider Mediterranean world. Combining literary texts, inscriptions, coins, and material evidence, this richly illustrated study contributes to a deeper understanding of Roman political culture.

The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Çatalhöyük


Ian Hodder - 2006
    The archaeological finds included the remains of textiles, plants, and animals, and some female terra-cotta figures that suggested the existence of a "mother goddess" cult.The initial excavation was interrupted in 1965, and answers to the riddles of this Neolithic site remained unresolved until Ian Hodder initiated a new campaign of research in the 1990s. Described by Colin Renfrew as "one of the most ambitious excavation projects currently in progress, undertaken at one of the world's great archaeological sites," this has been a truly multidisciplinary undertaking, involving the participation of over one hundred archaeologists, scientists, and specialists. Hodder and his colleagues have established that this great site, dating back some 9,000 years, provides the key to understanding the most important change in human existence--the time when people moved into villages and towns, adopted farming as a way of life, and began to accept domination of one social group by another. Through meticulous excavation procedures and laboratory analyses, they peel back the layers of history to reveal how people lived and died and how they engaged with one another, with their environment, and with the spirit world.Full of insights into past lives and momentous events, "The Leopard's Tale" is superbly illustrated with images of the art, the excavations, and the people involved in this world-famous dig.

Solon the Thinker: Political Thought in Archaic Athens


John David Lewis - 2006
    Solon's polis functions not through divine intervention but by its own internal energy, which is founded on the intellectual health of its people, depends upon their acceptance of justice and moderation as orderly norms of life, and leads to the rejection of tyranny and slavery in favour of freedom. But Solon's naturalistic views are limited; in his own life each person is subject to the arbitrary foibles of moira, the inscrutable fate that governs human life, and that brings us to an unknowable but inevitable death. Solon represents both the new rational, scientific spirit that was sweeping the Aegean - and a return to the fatalism that permeated Greek intellectual life. This first paperback edition contains a new appendix of translations of the fragments of Solon by the author.

Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor


Stephen Dando-Collins - 2006
    Named for their leader, Mark Antony, these common Roman soldiers, through their gallantry on the battlefield, reshaped the Roman Empire and aided the spread of Christianity throughout Europe.

The Golden King: The World of Tutankhamun


Zahi A. Hawass - 2006
    And what a dynasty! Tut's grandfather, the Sun King Amenhotep III, married queen Tiye before they reached their teens, then ruled for 40 years. Their heretical son, Akhenaten, abandoned Egypt's pantheon to worship a single god; his wife Nefertiti is still remembered as one of history's legendary beauties. Tutankhamun ascended the throne as a child and died before the age of twenty, but the splendor of his brief reign and the sensational unearthing of his tomb have made him the most famous of all the pharaohs.Zahi Hawass brings these fabled figures and their tumultuous, astonishing age to life, with an authoritative text highlighted by scores of stunning photographs, including archival images from the first great era of Egyptian archaeology, when Carter and other Westerners reawakened the world to the golden glory of the ancient civilization explored in this dazzling book.

Torah: The Five Books of Moses - The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew / English


Bn Publishing - 2006
    The Interlinear Torah: Hebrew/English Now available for the first time in an Interlinear Torah: Hebrew/English edition with the acclaimed first JPS translation of the Torah, and the masoretic hebrew texts.

Spirits of the Dead: Roman Funerary Commemoration in Western Europe


Maureen Carroll-Spillecke - 2006
    It is the only study to examine epigraphic, historical, and archaeological evidence in order to gain insight into the way Romans used funerary texts to establish a dialogue with their own society. Maureen Carroll brings together a large body of material from many geographical areas, shedding light on provincial and regional variation in funerary commemoration and even on the differences between funerary traditions of neighbouring towns.

Diodorus Siculus, Books 11-12.37.1: Greek History, 480-431 BC—The Alternative Version


Diodorus Siculus - 2006
    100-30 BCE) is our only surviving source for a continuous narrative of Greek history from Xerxes' invasion to the Wars of the Successors following the death of Alexander the Great. Yet this important historian has been consistently denigrated as a mere copyist who slavishly reproduced the works of earlier historians without understanding what he was writing. By contrast, in this iconoclastic work Peter Green builds a convincing case for Diodorus' merits as a historian. Through a fresh English translation of a key portion of his multi-volume history (the so-called Bibliotheke, or “Library”) and a commentary and notes that refute earlier assessments of Diodorus, Green offers a fairer, better balanced estimate of this much-maligned historian. The portion of Diodorus' history translated here covers the period 480-431 BCE, from the Persian invasion of Greece to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. This half-century, known as the Pentekontaetia, was the Golden Age of Periclean Athens, a time of unprecedented achievement in drama, architecture, philosophy, historiography, and the visual arts. Green's accompanying notes and commentary revisit longstanding debates about historical inconsistencies in Diodorus' work and offer thought-provoking new interpretations and conclusions. In his masterful introductory essay, Green demolishes the traditional view of Diodorus and argues for a thorough critical reappraisal of this synthesizing historian, who attempted nothing less than a “universal history” that begins with the gods of mythology and continues down to the eve of Julius Caesar's Gallic campaigns.

Work Songs


Ted Gioia - 2006
    Song accompanied the farmer's labors, calmed the herder's flock, and set in motion the spinner's wheel. Today this tradition continues. Music blares on the shop floor; song accompanies transactions in the retail store; the radio keeps the trucker going on the long-distance haul. Now Ted Gioia, author of several acclaimed books on the history of jazz, tells the story of work songs from prehistoric times to the present. Vocation by vocation, Gioia focuses attention on the rhythms and melodies that have attended tasks such as the cultivation of crops, the raising and lowering of sails, the swinging of hammers, the felling of trees. In an engaging, conversational writing style, he synthesizes a breathtaking amount of material, not only from songbooks and recordings but also from travel literature, historical accounts, slave narratives, folklore, labor union writings, and more. He draws on all of these to describe how workers in societies around the world have used music to increase efficiency, measure time, relay commands, maintain focus, and alleviate drudgery.At the same time, Gioia emphasizes how work songs often soar beyond utilitarian functions. The heart-wringing laments of the prison chain gang, the sailor’s shanties, the lumberjack’s ballads, the field hollers and corn-shucking songs of the American South, the pearl-diving songs of the Persian Gulf, the rich mbube a cappella singing of South African miners: Who can listen to these and other songs borne of toil and hard labor without feeling their sweep and power? Ultimately, Work Songs, like its companion volume Healing Songs, is an impassioned tribute to the extraordinary capacity of music to enter into day-to-day lives, to address humanity’s deepest concerns and most heartfelt needs.

Animals, Gods, and Humans: Changing Attitudes to Animals in Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Thought


Ingvild Sælid Gilhus - 2006
    Consulting a wide range of key texts and source material, Animals, Gods and Humans covers 800 years and provides a detailed analysis of early Christian attitudes to, and the position of, animals in Greek and Roman life and thought.Both the pagan and Christian conceptions of animals are rich and multilayered, and Ingvild S�lid Gilhus expertly examines the dominant themes and developments in the conception of animals.Including study of: biographies of figures such as Apollonus of Tyana; natural history; the New Testament via Gnostic texts; the church fathers; and from pagan and Christian criticism of animal sacrifice, to the acts of martyrs, the source material and detailed analysis included in this volume make it a veritable feast of information for all classicists.

A Companion to the Roman Republic


Nathan Rosenstein - 2006
    Highlights recent developments, including archaeological discoveries, fresh approaches to textual sources, and the opening up of new areas of historical study Retains the drama of the Republic's rise and fall Emphasizes not just the evidence of texts and physical remains, but also the models and assumptions that scholars bring to these artefacts Looks at the role played by the physical geography and environment of Italy Offers a compact but detailed narrative of military and political developments from the birth of the Roman Republic through to the death of Julius Caesar Discusses current controversies in the field

Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself


Carmella Van Vleet - 2006
    Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers today a chance to experience how the ancient Egyptians lived, cooked, worked, worshipped, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors through building projects that use common household supplies.Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project are combined with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies, and trivia for the real-life models of each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look at daily life in ancient Egypt.

The Chronology of Ezra 7


Siegfried H. Horn - 2006
    dates in different works. The discovery of the Brooklyn Museum Aramaic papyri (published by Draeling in 1953)--an additional group of double-dated fifth-century papyri from Elephantine--led to the writing of the present work. This book is now being republished in the hope that it will continue to clarify the subject and bring a solution of a somewhat difficult problem in Biblical chronology.

Ancient Rome: History of a Civilization that Ruled the World


Anna Marie Liberati - 2006
    The legacy of its architecture, politics, culture, and art has survived throughout the centuries and even in today's technological world continues to exert an irresistible appeal. Ancient Rome is a magnificent volume that traces the dramatic history of the Roman Empire, paying particular attention to the rise and fall and its lasting social, cultural, military, and political influence. From great feats and everyday customs, to works of art and household objects, this comprehensive account offers a fascinating insight into the highly complex and sophisticated society that once ruled the world.Authoritative text by Anna Maria Liberati and Fabio Bourbon analyzes the development of the Roman Empire by examining all aspects of the Eternal City including the economic, legal, and military system of the conquered regions; the organization of the most powerful army in the ancient world; the town-planning problems and successes; the construction systems used to erect the great Roman public monuments; and even the smallest curiosities of everyday life. The impressive pictorial documentation of Ancient Rome includes hundreds of full-color images, many of them never before published. Detailed maps, cross-sections, plans, and large reconstruction plates provide fascinating documentary support and present an engaging approach to discovering the world of Ancient Rome and to understanding the origins of Western society as we know it.

Ancient Egyptian Chronology


Erik Hornung - 2006
    An initial section reviews the foundations of Egyptian chronology, both ancient and modern, from annals and kinglists to C14 analyses of archaeological data. Specialists discuss sources, compile lists of known dates, and analyze biographical information in the section devoted to relative chronology. The editors are responsible for the final section which attempts a synthesis of the entire range of available data to arrive at alternative absolute chronologies. The prospective readership includes specialists in Near Eastern and Aegean studies as well as Egyptologists.

Lost Cities from the Ancient World


Maria Teresa Guaitoli - 2006
    Superb photographs and careful reconstructions of their urban layout help the reader to understand the cities importance to the civilizations that built them: Knossos and Athens, the elegant cities of southern Italy, imperial Rome, Leptis Magna, Thebes the powerful, splendid Palmyra, the megalopolis of Babylon, Ur and Persepolis, the ancient capitals of the Chinese empire, magical Angkor, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá, Cuzco and Machu Picchu.The journey through the cites of ancient civilizations could go on forever; new discoveries continue to shed further light on the existence of ancient peoples, whose obscure past gradually becomes more visible through the work of archaeologists. This book is a tribute to the great cities of the past, masterpieces of urban construction, treasure chests of art and history and, not least, the places where human kind cultivated the social roots and developed the multiethnic and cosmopolitan societies that today govern the destiny of our planet.

The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia


Philip L. Kohl - 2006
    Philip L. Kohl outlines the long-term processes and patterns of interaction that link these groups together in a shared historical trajectory of development. Interactions took the form of the exchange of raw materials and finished goods, the spread and sharing of technologies, and the movements of peoples from one region to another. Kohl reconstructs economic activities from subsistence practices to the production and exchange of metals and other materials. He also examines long-term processes, such as the development of more mobile forms of animal husbandry, which were based on the introduction and large-scale utilization of oxen-drive wheeled wagons and, subsequently, the domestication and riding of horses; the spread of metalworking technologies and exploitation of new centers of metallurgical production; changes in systems of exchange from those dominated by the movement of luxury goods to those in which materials essential for maintaining and securing the reproduction of the societies participating in the exchange network accompanied and/or supplanted the trade in precious materials; and increasing evidence for militarism and political instabilities as reflected in shifts in settlement patterns, including increases in fortified sites, and quantitative and qualitative advances in weaponry. Kohl also argues forcefully that the main task of the archaeologist should be to write culture-history on a spatially and temporally grand scale in an effort to detect large, macrohistorical processes of interaction and shared development.

Rome's Vestal Virgins


Robin Lorsch Wildfang - 2006
    New and insightful, this investigation of one of the most important state cults in ancient Rome is an essential addition to the bookshelves of all those interested in Roman religion, history and culture.

Political Speeches


Marcus Tullius Cicero - 2006
    This book presents with nine of his speeches that reflect the development, variety, and drama of his political career. Among them are two speeches from his prosecution of Verres, a corrupt and cruel governor of Sicily; four speeches against the conspirator Catiline; and the Second Philippic, the famous denunciation of Mark Antony, which cost Cicero his life. Also included are On the Command of Gnaeus Pompeius, in which he praises the military successes of Pompey, and For Marcellus, a panegyric in praise of the dictator Julius Caesar. These new translations preserve Cicero's oratorical brilliance and achieve new standards of accuracy. A general introduction outlines Cicero's public career, and separate introductions explain the political significance of each of the speeches. This edition also provides an up-to-date scholarly bibliography, glossary and two maps. Together with the companion volume of Defense Speeches, this edition provides an unparalleled sampling of Cicero's achievements.

Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age


William Ewart Gladstone - 2006
    Gladstone had spent almost two decades in politics prior to his writing the three-volume Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age. This work and the preceding 'On the place of Homer in classical education and in historical inquiry' (1857), reflect Gladstone's interest in the Iliad and the Odyssey, which he read with increasing frequency from the 1830s onward and which he viewed as particularly relevant to modern society. As he relates, he has two objects in the Studies: 'to promote and extend' the study of Homer's 'immortal poems' and 'to vindicate for them ... their just degree both of absolute and, more especially, of relative critical value'. Volume 1 establishes Homer's contemporary relevance and provides an extensive 'ethnography of Greek races' related to Homer's works.

A Descriptive Catalogue of Greco-Roman Comets from 500 BC to AD 400 (Syllecta Classica XVII)


John T. Ramsey - 2006
    Ramsey discusses the nature of the evidence, give a comparison of the various sources including East Asia and discussion of individual comets (where the sources allow).

The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins


Karsten Dahmen - 2006
    This outstanding introductory survey collects, presents and examines, for the very first time, the portraits and representations of Alexander the Great on the ancient coins of the Greek and Roman period.From 320 BC to AD 400, Karsten Dahmen examines not only Alexander's own coinage and the posthumous coinages of his successors, but also the re-use of his image by rulers from the Greek world and the Roman empire, to late antiquity.Also including numismatic material that exceeds all previous published works, and well-illustrated, this historical survey brings Alexander and his legacy to life.

Temples, Tithes, and Taxes: The Temple and the Economic Life of Ancient Israel


Marty E. Stevens - 2006
    'Temples, Tithes, and Taxes' explores possible ways in which the Jerusalem temple followed the other temples in the greater Ancient Near East over the ages in terms of its impact upon the economics of the country, both during the monarchy and the Persian period.

Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture


Seth L. Sanders - 2006
    The origins of history are traced to the place where they met. But what did they actually have to do with each other? Most of ancient Near Eastern philology consists of careful examination of the leavings of the state scribes; it has revealed a treasure-house of ancient culture, from haunting poetry to onion archives. But there is a crucial blind spot in our perspective on the largest and oldest archive of the ancient world: the relationship between the vast body of official writing and the actual life of language as spoken, understood, and imagined by ancient Near Eastern people. The vital relationships between language and ethnicity, the connections between languages of empire and local identity, and way languages are born, live and die in writing has remained the subject of more speculation than rigorous research. If recorded history began in the ancient Near East, we are just beginning to explore the powerful creative relationship between writing and the political identities of the Near East's cultures. Collectively, the articles here provide well-documented challenges to conventional wisdom about that for which people actually used Sumerian, Egyptian, Hittite, and Hebrew. This conference was the first to bring leading philologists together with anthropologists and social theorists to explore what writing meant to politics in the ancient Near East.

3 Jewish Philosophers


Hans Lewy - 2006
    Selections of the writings of Philo of Alexandria, edited with an introduction by Hans Lewy; Sa?adia Gaon's Book of Doctrines and Beliefs, abridged, introduced and translated from the Arabic by Alexander Altmann; and Yehuda Halevi's infl uential Kuzari, abridged and with an introduction and comentary by Isaak Heinemann, with a selection of Halevi's poery. All educated students of Jewish thought should be familar with these seminal writers.

Christian History: An Introduction To The Western Tradition


Diarmaid MacCulloch - 2006
    This title is intended for those interested in the history and development of Christian history.

The Fifth Gospel: New Evidence from the Tibetan, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Urdu Sources AB Out the Historical Life of Jesus Christ After the Crucifixion


Fida Hassnain - 2006
    By chance, one of the authors found, in 1965, a reference in Ladakh to the discovery of Buddhist scrolls about Jesus. Since then, the authors have been examining evidence about the survival of Jesus Christ at the time of the crucifixion, and his subsequent travels to the East. The authors' main purpose in writing this book is to inform the West that "we in the East have some source material about the historical Jesus who lived on after the crucifixion.... This book was not written in one day, but is a result of many years' continued search for evidence," and provides research on some very compelling questions, such as: Did God descend on this earth as Jesus? Did Jesus visit India at age 13? Did Jesus survive his crucifixion? Was Jesus saved by his Essene friends, then traveled to the East, visiting many countries, finally settling in Kashmir? Jesus has been mentioned in Oriental manuscripts by many names: Issa, Isa, Issana-deva, Isha Natha, Ishai, Isa Masih, Yusu, Yuzu, Yuzu-Kristo, Yuz-Asaph, and Yusu Masih. In some works, he is mentioned as Eshvara-putram, or the Son of God, and Kanaya-garbum or Born of a Girl. In some ancient manuscripts he is called Metteyya, which is equivalent to Messiah. In some Persian works, he is known as Nasrani or Kristani, which is equivalent to "of Nazareth" or Christian. It is also interesting that the Christians are known in the East as Nasaran and Kira. Jesus is also titled in the East as Ibn-i-Maryam or the Son of Mary. Whether Jesus Christ did or did not die on the cross, or passed away naturally at an older age, like the Buddha, is a vital question in which not only Christians but others are keenly interested. For example, this book presents startling evidence about the tomb of Jesus or Yuzu-Asaph in Kashmir. The research will remain incomplete until this tomb is opened for investigation.

Searching for the Silures: An Iron Age Tribe in South-East Wales


Raymond Howell - 2006
    

Creation through Jonah


Carylee Gressman - 2006
    Each drawing is broken down into steps, and done in color. An excellent Supplement to any history curriculum. Students retain more of what they learn when drawing and writing about each time period. Now you can combine art, history and handwriting!