Could shattering secrets about the deep past of humanity await discovery in North America? Until very recently there was almost universal agreement amongst scientists that human beings first entered the Americas from Siberia around 13,000 years ago by walking into Alaska across the Bering landbridge. Thanks to scientific advances, and to archaeological and geological discoveries made in the past five years, we now know that the Americas were populated by humans for tens of thousands of years before the previously accepted date. Deeply puzzling and hitherto unsuspected genetic connections have also emerged - for example linking Native Americans both with Australian Aborigines and with Western Europeans. In the final volume of The Fingerprints of the Gods trilogy he puts the final piece of the jigsaw in place, proving that the great, technically advanced civilisation that flourished in Britain and Europe and throughout the world before the last Ice Age was centred in Northern America.

    Not only did his decades-long rule completely transform the old Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, but it also profoundly shaped the culture and history of our world today. The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome traces this breathtaking history from the empire's foundation by Augustus to its Golden Age in the 2nd century CE through a series of ever-worsening crises until its ultimate disintegration.Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, these 24 captivating lectures offer you the chance to experience this story like never before, incorporating the latest historical insights that challenge our previous notions of Rome's decline. You'll examine the major events and familiar figures of the Roman Empire, including: The political innovations of Augustus The mental instability and cruel acts of Caligula and Nero Writers such as Ovid, Horace, and Virgil The stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Constantine's startling conversion to ChristianityYou'll also look beyond the famous figures and delve deeply into the lives of ordinary Roman citizens. You'll hear the messages they left on tombstones or scribbled on walls as graffiti; examine what life was really like for average city-dwellers and the hazards they faced every day; spend a day at Rome's spectacular public entertainments, such as gladiator games and chariot races; and explore some of the city's marvelous architectural and engineering works, including the Pantheon and the aqueducts.We cannot truly understand ourselves unless we comprehend the vital influences of Rome on the modern world - and the lessons the empire can still teach us. The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome is an excellent guide to one of the most important periods in world history.

    Each week she takes a different figure from the ancient world and tells their story through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.Over the course of these four series she tells the stories of Sophocles (who invents the TV detective with Oedipus - bad things happen), Virgil (who creates Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Aspasia (how to be a notorious woman in ancient Greece), Ovid (expect frottage at the races), Plato (on the chunky side, but very good at wrestling) and Sappho (a lot of gossip from over 1,000 years ago), among others.Featuring special guests including classicists Professor Edith Hall and Professor Llewelyn Morgan, novelists Stella Duffy and Ben Okri and comedians Katy Brand and Al Murray.

     In the late 1800s, British engineers building some of the first railways in the Dominion of India discovered large numbers of bricks buried in the dusty plains of the Punjab. This was odd because historians were not aware of any cities or civilizations which might have constructed buildings in this area. It wasn’t until archeological expeditions in the 1920s that it was finally realized that these bricks were the remains of mighty cities built by a previously unknown ancient civilization. Inside you will read about... ✓ Discovery ✓ Excavation of Harappa ✓ Origins ✓ Life and Death in the Indus Valley ✓ Downfall of the Indus Valley Civilization And much more! This culture has become known as the Indus Valley Civilization or sometimes the Harappan Civilization, after Harappa, the first city to be discovered. It has proved to be one of the largest ancient cultures, having a population of over five million people at its height and covering an area of one and a half million square kilometers. It also created very large cities, carefully planned and laid out where almost every house had its own bath and flush toilet, thousands of years before such things became common in other parts of the world. Somehow, the Harappans seem to have controlled this vast territory without having a large army or by conquering other weaker cultures, and they did not seem to have a single ruler such as a king or emperor. Then, for reasons that still aren’t understood, this culture declined and then vanished so completely that all that was left were piles of bricks in the plains of present-day India and Pakistan. We are still learning about these people, but this is what we know so far about the mysterious Indus Valley Civilization.

    It was more than a thousand years before the climate, and mankind, recovered. The people of Gobekli Tepe in present-day southern Turkey, whose ancestors witnessed this catastrophe, built a megalithic monument formed of many hammer-shaped pillars decorated with symbols as a memorial to this terrible event. Before long, they also invented agriculture, and their new farming culture spread rapidly across the continent, signalling the arrival of civilisation. Before abandoning Gobekli Tepe thousands of years later, they covered it completely with rubble to preserve the greatest and most important story ever told for future generations. Archaeological excavations began at the site in 1994, and we are now able to read their story, more amazing than any Hollywood plot, again for the first time in over 10,000 years. It is a story of survival and resurgence that allows one of the world’s greatest scientific puzzles – the meaning of ancient artworks, from the 40,000 year-old Lion-man figurine of Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany to the Great Sphinx of Giza – to be solved. We now know what happened to these people. It probably had happened many times before and since, and it could happen again, to us. The conventional view of prehistory is a sham; we have been duped by centuries of misguided scholarship. The world is actually a much more dangerous place than we have been led to believe. The old myths and legends, of cataclysm and conflagration, are surprisingly accurate. We know this because, at last, we can read an extremely ancient code assumed by scholars to be nothing more than depictions of wild animals. A code hiding in plain sight that reveals we have hardly changed in 40,000 years. A code that changes everything.

    

     'Francis Pryor brings the magic of the Fens to life in a deeply personal and utterly enthralling way' TONY ROBINSON. 'Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' GUARDIAN. Inland from the Wash, on England's eastern cost, crisscrossed by substantial rivers and punctuated by soaring church spires, are the low-lying, marshy and mysterious Fens. Formed by marine and freshwater flooding, and historically wealthy owing to the fertility of their soils, the Fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire are one of the most distinctive, neglected and extraordinary regions of England. Francis Pryor has the most intimate of connections with this landscape. For some forty years he has dug its soils as a working archaeologist – making ground-breaking discoveries about the nature of prehistoric settlement in the area – and raising sheep in the flower-growing country between Spalding and Wisbech. In The Fens, he counterpoints the history of the Fenland landscape and its transformation – from Bronze age field systems to Iron Age hillforts; from the rise of prosperous towns such as King's Lynn, Ely and Cambridge to the ambitious drainage projects that created the Old and New Bedford Rivers – with the story of his own discovery of it as an archaeologist. Affectionate, richly informative and deftly executed, The Fens weaves together strands of archaeology, history and personal experience into a satisfying narrative portrait of a complex and threatened landscape.

    Is the New Testament text reliable?What do we do with textual variants?How do I use the Greek New Testament?This short book, written as a companion to The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, provides crucial information about the Tyndale House Edition in particular and the Greek New Testament in general.Dirk Jongkind, one of the principal scholars behind this groundbreaking project, answers critical questions for understanding the biblical text so that you can have clarity and confidence as you engage with the New Testament in the original Greek.

    A creaking hunter among dust and cobwebs, you prowl the night places, seeking the souls on which you feed. You have done this since time immemorial, or so you believe; you have no memories of living as a man-thing like those you catch and eat. But human traces linger; your fingers trace clever arabesques in the dirt of your grave-place and with the flourishes come whispered songs in a language you've forgotten. Far away, in a museum, hangs your portrait in oil by a master five hundred years dead - you might have been lovers but the diary you kept then is long lost.A multi-foiled hardback, digest-sized, 188 fancy color pages: play in a couple of hours or a couple of weeks, solo play, or optional group play.

     Free BONUS Inside! Cyrus II of Persia was one of the greatest leaders that the world had ever known; he was the one in whose footsteps other empire builders would follow. From Alexander the Great to countless Roman emperors and Ottoman sultans—it was the mighty shoes of Cyrus that they all attempted to fill. More than merely a successful conqueror, Cyrus the Great is known just as much for being a great liberator as he is known for his conquests. He was even credited in the Bible as the one who freed the Jews from their long-held Babylonian exile. By the time of his death, Cyrus controlled more land and people than anyone before him. Under his dominion were countless principalities, nationalities, ethnicities, and religions of all kinds. In contrast to many other powerful rulers, Cyrus did not seek to oppress his subjects or interfere with their way of life, religions, or local customs. It is for this reason that, as great as his temporal conquests may have been, the benevolence of Cyrus the Great’s leadership stands as his greatest attribute of all. The life of Cyrus the Great remains as an unparalleled testament in the annals of history. Discover a plethora of topics such as Early Life and Legend The Persian Empire is Born Love and Marriage Cyrus’ Last Stand Aftermath and Succession And much more! So if you want a concise and informative book on Cyrus the Great, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!

    See the city through their eyes as it teeters on the edge of the fateful war that would end its golden age. Athens, 416 BC. A tenuous peace holds. The city-state's political and military might are feared throughout the ancient world; it pushes the boundaries of social, literary and philosophical experimentation in an era when it has a greater concentration of geniuses per capita than at any other time in human history. Yet even geniuses go to the bathroom, argue with their spouse and enjoy a drink with friends.Few of the city's other inhabitants enjoy the benefits of such a civilized society, though - as multicultural and progressive as Athens can be, many are barred from citizenship. No, for the average person, life is about making ends meet, whether that be selling fish, guarding the temple or smuggling lucrative Greek figs.During the course of a day we meet 24 Athenians from all strata of society - from the slave-girl to the councilman, the vase painter to the naval commander, the housewife to the hoplite - and get to know what the real Athens was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters every chapter, with each chapter forming an hour in the life of the ancient city. We also get to spy on the daily doings of notable Athenians through the eyes of regular people as the city hovers on the brink of the fateful war that will destroy its golden age.

     Free BONUS Inside! Many ancient civilizations are described as mysterious, but none provide as many puzzles and unanswered questions as the Olmecs. These people arrived in lands near the Gulf of Mexico around 1500 BCE, and they brought with them entirely new concepts in terms of engineering, agriculture, and religion. The problem is, we have no idea where they came from or how they developed these new ideas. Then, around 400 BCE, the Olmecs vanished as suddenly and inexplicably as they appeared, leaving behind no written records but providing a legacy of beliefs and ideas which permeated virtually every Mesoamerican culture which followed. Respected scholars take very different views on the Olmec civilization. Some feel that the Olmecs must have come to Central America from somewhere else entirely, while others are adamant that they are indigenous people. Some historians believe that the Olmecs were simply one of several cultures which emerged at around the same time, while others are vehement that this is the mother culture from which all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures descended. Less than one hundred years ago, there wasn’t even agreement on whether these people had existed at all. There are very few cultures as important as the Olmecs about which we know so little. This book attempts to convey the story of the mysterious Olmecs and their unique and fascinating artifacts. Discover a plethora of topics such as Origins The Olmec Enigma The Fall of San Lorenzo Were-Jaguars and Feathered Serpents The Rise of La Venta The Disappearance of the Olmecs And much more! So if you want a concise and informative book on The Olmecs, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!

    Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states tothe south - the Chinese, the Persians and the Greeks - and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Dariusthe Great from the steppe.Relations with the Greeks around the shores of the Black Sea were rather different - both communities benefiting from trading with each other. This led to the development of a brilliant art style, often depicting scenes from Scythian mythology and everyday life. It is from the writings of Greekslike the historian Herodotus that we learn of Scythian life: their beliefs, their burial practices, their love of fighting, and their ambivalent attitudes to gender. It is a world that is also brilliantly illuminated by the rich material culture recovered from Scythian burials, from the graves ofkings on the Pontic steppe, with their elaborate gold work and vividly coloured fabrics, to the frozen tombs of the Altai mountains, where all the organic material - wooden carvings, carpets, saddles and even tattooed human bodies - is amazingly well preserved.Barry Cunliffe here marshals this vast array of evidence - both archaeological and textual - in a masterful reconstruction of the lost world of the Scythians, allowing them to emerge in all their considerable vigour and splendour for the first time in over two millennia.

    From the Great Pyramid and the Valley of the Kings to the Nile River and Cleopatra, discover all you have ever wanted to know about this ancient civilization. Unearth ancient hieroglyphs and their meanings; find out what was in King Tut's tomb; and get insights about the science of mummification. Learn about ancient Egyptian gods and famous pharaohs, and follow Egypt's battles for power in the world. After this deep dive into Egyptology, you'll be able to dazzle your friends and family with your newfound knowledge.

     Free History BONUS Inside! The tale of Armenia has its beginnings as a glorious ancient kingdom, one that commanded the respect of nations as mighty as Egypt and Babylonia. As its history takes a turn for the darker, each chapter reads like a roll call of the most famous of figures: Antony and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Frederick Barbarossa. Armenia saw ancient Rome rise to power; it knew Egyptian pharaohs, the Golden Horde, the Soviet Union, and saw the first invasion of the first Muslim army. For a long and ugly part of its history, Armenia struggled under the yokes of one empire after another: the Roman, Parthian, Persian, Byzantine, Timurid, Mongolian, and Ottoman Empires, to name just a few. Yet through it all, Armenia, time and time again, emerged as a nation with a powerful identity, one that caused much grief over the years, but one that still remains a pillar of strength to its people in good times and in bad. There is much sorrow held within these pages; much oppression, much persecution, and even the most terrible evil of them all—genocide. The reading is made easy by one single gleaming light, a golden thread running through every word and chapter, and that light is the Armenian people themselves. Their story is tragic, but their survival is incredible. And that is what makes their tale so inspiring. In History of Armenia: A Captivating Guide to Armenian History, Starting from Ancient Armenia to Its Declaration of Sovereignty from the Soviet Union, you will discover topics such as The Home of Eden The Rise and Fall of Urartu A Conquered Armenia An Empire in its Own Right Caught in the Crossfire Illumination Immortals and War Elephants An Armenian Emperor Crusader State Conquered The First Deportation Genocide Freedom at Last A Study in Velvet And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the History of Armenia, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

     Free History BONUS Inside! From about the 9th to 5th centuries BCE, the population of Greece grew unprecedently large, expanding from about 800,000 people to as many as 13 million. About a quarter million of these lived in Athens. The average size of urban households during this period grew considerably, a fact that suggests that food was suddenly available in excesses sufficient to keep larger families healthy and alive much more effectively than just a millennium earlier. Bigger families meant bigger armies and larger communities that would eventually grow into the metropolises of Classical Greece. This incredible stretch of time is called Classical Antiquity; the age in which Western civilization first realized its potential and place in the world. The era brought on big changes for all the people of the Mediterranean. Thanks to new agricultural methods, seafaring technology, and trade, great civilizations sprang up around the sea, building large urban centers full of artists, merchants, political thinkers, scientists, and philosophers. As Greco-Roman culture grew, the relationships each city and realm had with one another also developed and changed. In Classical Antiquity: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Greece and Rome and How These Civilizations Influenced Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, you will discover topics such as A Blind Poet from Ionia Pythagoras Athens, Greece The Greek Pantheon The Expulsion of the Persians Slavery The Golden Age of Athens Pericles at War The Socratic Method Plato Alexander the Great The Hellenistic Period From Greece to Rome The Roman Republic The Borrowed Gods of Rome The Classical Romans The Gladiators Julius Caesar, Part 1 Julius Caesar, Part 2 he Roman Empire The City of Pompeii Antonine and Cyprian Plagues Britannia and Londinium Remnants of Classical Antiquity And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about Classical Antiquity, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

     Free History BONUS Inside! Masters of the horse, the Scythians and Sarmatians opened the Eurasian Steppe to nomadic civilizations like it had never seen before. For the first time, a group of tribes sharing a common culture called the Steppe their home, adapting themselves to its harshness. Born out of this environment, a very particular way to live was adopted and later spread to peoples of Central Asia—the pastoral nomadic lifestyle. It would be the bane of organized armies of great empires, as the excellent mobility granted by their superior horse-riding skills were no match compared to the slow, organized infantry. The tale of the Scythians and Sarmatians have lasted through history, and although they had not one written historical record of their own, their presence was registered by dozens of classical historians. More importantly, though, their precious burial tombs still retained some of the civilizational remains of this extraordinary group of peoples. In Sarmatians and Scythians: A Captivating Guide to the Barbarians of Iranian Origins and How These Ancient Tribes Fought Against the Roman Empire, Goths, Huns, and Persians, you will discover topics such as Origins of the Scythians and Sarmatians Art, Culture, and Religion Economy and Society Warfare and Conquest End of the Scythians and Sarmatians And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about Sarmatians and Scythians, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

    Yet their empire was always vulnerable to destruction by enemy forces; their Anatolian homeland occupied a remote region, with no navigable rivers; and they were cut off from the sea. Perhaps most seriously, they suffered chronic under-population and sometimes devastating plague. How, then, can the rise and triumph of this ancient imperium be explained, against seemingly insuperable odds?In his lively and unconventional treatment of one of antiquity's most mysterious civilizations, whose history disappeared from the records over three thousand years ago, Trevor Bryce sheds fresh light on Hittite warriors as well as on the Hittites' social, religious and political culture and offers new solutions to many unsolved questions. Revealing them to have been masters of chariot warfare, who almost inflicted disastrous defeat on Rameses II at the Battle of Qadesh (1274 BCE), he shows the Hittites also to have been devout worshippers of a pantheon of storm-gods and many other gods, and masters of a new diplomatic system which bolstered their authority for centuries.Drawing authoritatively both on texts and on ongoing archaeological discoveries, while at the same time offering imaginative reconstructions of the Hittite world, the author argues that while the development of a warrior culture was essential, not only for the Empire's expansion but for its very survival, this by itself was not enough. The range of skills demanded of the Hittite ruling class went way beyond mere military prowess, while there was much more to the Hittites themselves than just skill in warfare. This engaging volume reveals the Hittites in their full complexity, including the festivals they celebrated; the temples and palaces they built; their customs and superstitions; the crimes they committed; their social hierarchy, from king to slave; and the marriages and pre-nuptial agreements they contracted. It takes the reader on a journey which combines epic grandeur, spectacle and pageantry with an understanding of the intimacies and idiosyncrasies of Hittite daily life.

    In Sex in the Brain, clinical neuropsychologist Dr Amee Baird reports on the brain pathologies of people whose sex lives have undergoing dramatic change, for better and worse.

    Seven manuscripts in one book: Sumerians: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Sumerian History, Sumerian Mythology and the Mesopotamian Empire of the Sumer Civilization Gilgamesh: A Captivating Guide to Gilgamesh the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh Ur: A Captivating Guide to One of the Most Important Sumerian City-States in Ancient Mesopotamia Assyrian History: A Captivating Guide to the Assyrians and Their Powerful Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia Babylon: A Captivating Guide to the Kingdom in Ancient Mesopotamia, Starting from the Akkadian Empire to the Battle of Opis Against Persia, Including Babylonian Mythology and the Legacy of Babylonia Hammurabi: A Captivating Guide to the Sixth King of the First Babylonian Dynasty, Including the Code of Hammurabi The Persian Empire: A Captivating Guide to the History of Persia, Starting from the Ancient Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanian Empires to the Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar Dynasties Some of the topics covered in part 1 of this book include: The Ancient Sumerians In a Nutshell The Social Structure of Ancient Sumerians The Religion and Mythology of Ancient Sumerians The Sumerian Kingdoms Chronology The Everyday Life of Ancient Sumerians And much, much more! Some of the topics covered in part 2 of this book include: The History of the Epic All Eleven Tablets Sumerian Poems About Gilgamesh And much, much more! In part 3 of this book, you will: Get a sense of how Ur came to existence, how it grew, reached its zenith, fell, re-rose, and ultimately perished until it reemerged a little over a century and a half ago Learn of its history, laden with wars, trade, divine worship, political corruption, and entertainment And much, much more! Some of the topics covered in part 4 of this book include: The Assyrians Arrive in Mesopotamia: The Early Assyrian Period The Birth of a Civilization: The Old Assyrian Empire to the Middle Assyrian Empire The Beginning of the Neo-Assyrian Empire Imperial Expansion and the Golden Age of the Neo-Assyrian Empire The Fall of the Empire Assyrian Government And much, much more! Some of the topics covered in part 5 of this book include: The Land of the Babylonians Life, Culture, and Gender Roles Throughout the Years Where Superstition Met Science Babylonia Before the Babylonians The Amorite Dynasty or the First Babylonians The First Fall of Babylon and the Rise of the Kassites Assyrian Domination and Rule, 911-619 BCE And much, much more! Some of the topics covered in part 6 of this book include: Babylon Before Hammurabi: Position of the City in Mesopotamia, Early Rulers Rise of Hammurabi: Wars and Achievements Chronology of Hammurabi Hammurabi’s Character: Physical Appearance, Relations with Other Rulers, Glimpses of His Personality The Code of Hammurabi and Early Mesopotamian

    It’s not just in the roads, aqueducts and settlements, though, that Rome’s immense legacy can be found. Or even in more recent buildings – from the Renaissance to the present day – that have been constructed in a neoclassical style. We need only look at modern law, which is based on principles developed during the Roman Empire. Or modern philosophy, which stands on the shoulders of work by Seneca and others. And although Latin may be a dead language, we still use it in scientific classification – even for newly coined words. From Augustus’s reign as the First Emperor of Rome to the Barbarian invasions beginning in the 5th century CE, The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Roman Empire is an outstanding celebration of the glory that was the Roman Empire. Ranging from military expansion to life within a Roman legion, from Pompeii to Jerusalem to Constantinople, from political assassinations to gladiatorial games, from the Roman Catacombs to Hadrian’s Wall, and from the Jewish Revolt to early Christianity, the book expertly explores the political, cultural, social and religious history of the Roman Empire. This is the story of Marcus Agrippa, Caligula, Claudius, Hadrian, Livia and Hadrian – and many others. Accessibly written and with a wealth of colour illustrations and photographs, The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Roman Empire is a good reference work for any home.

    Any grammatical terms that are used are explained in clear language, and a handy index provides definitions just in case you need a reminder!Each of the 11 chapters introduce and explain important grammatical features, building upon previous chapters to provide and in-depth understanding of the language without being overwhelming. Every chapter includes a list of vocabulary and cuneiform signs for the student to master, as well as exercises to help solidify the reader's understanding of grammatical concepts. Exercises written in cuneiform mean that you start reading authentic Sumerian right from the start, building up to translating ancient cuneiform inscriptions from drawings and photographs!This book will:Teach you the fundamentals of Sumerian grammar in language you can understand.Give you exercises so you can test and consolidate your new-found knowledge.Let you read actual cuneiform inscriptions from 4,000 years ago!

    From the Roman conquest of 43 CE to the Norman conquest of 1066, and from the Elizabethan age to the Iraq and Afghan wars of the 21st century, DK's History of Britain and Ireland traces the key events that have shaped Great Britain and Ireland from earliest times to the present day.

    

    Who built them? How? And why? And just why have so many people been prompted to believe so many weird things about them?Join in one of the greatest intellectual adventures in history alongside the people who first reintroduced the pyramids to Europe in the Middle Ages, then plumbed their depths and learned at least some of their secrets over the centuries that followed. You'll meet discoverers and explorers along the way, such as the tireless English measurer who became the first Westerner to chart the interior of the Pyramid of Khufu, the Italian sea captain who unburied the Giza Sphinx, the Italian Indiana Jones who opened the Pyramid of Khafre, and the British Army colonel who blasted his way into the Pyramid of Menkaure using gunpowder. And you'll also meet scholars and scientists, misguided and otherwise, such as the team of savants who accompanied Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, the linguist who advanced a hundred wrong theories about Egyptian writing until he stumbled upon the right one, the respected astronomer who founded the modern cult of pyramidal pseudo-archaeology, and the naïve young believer who came to the pyramids as a devoted member of said cult and left them having founded the field of scientific archaeology as we know it today.Finally, you'll journey back to the very beginning of recorded history to meet the extraordinary people who built the pyramids in the first place. You'll learn why they did so, and the most likely possibilities for how.Many fictions have been told about the Pyramids of Giza -- but the truth is the most amazing tale of them all.

    What has ensued for the past two plus decades beguiles all concepts of our reality. After twenty-three years, John has finally told his whole story. The story of Stardust Ranch transcends its geography and John and Joyce Edmonds themselves. It becomes a story for the human race at a very important time in our journey as a people on this planet.

     Free BONUS Inside! The Zapotecs formed one of the most important of the pre-Columbian civilizations. For one thousand years, their main city of Monte Albán was one of the largest and most sophisticated in Mesoamerica. Building this city was an astonishing engineering feat—it involved flattening a hill in the center of the Oaxaca Valley to create an artificial plateau and then constructing a series of large, ornate buildings on this inaccessible site. Maintaining this large city on a site with no natural source of water must have required an enormous and willing workforce. Despite this, Monte Albán became one of the largest and most important cities in Mesoamerica, and the Zapotecs came to dominate not just the Oaxaca Valley but many adjacent lands. We don’t know why or how the Zapotecs suddenly seemed to acquire new engineering and architectural skills, but their rise to prominence was astonishingly swift. Once in a position of dominance, they maintained their hold over the region for more than one thousand years. Then, for reasons that are equally unclear, the Zapotecs faced a slow decline which saw them abandon Monte Albán to decay and ruin and return to the Oaxaca Valley floor to become once again a mainly agrarian, peasant people. The Zapotecs still exist as a separate culture in Mexico, but they have never regained their prominence and are now little more than one of the indigenous peoples of that region. This is the story of the rapid rise and gradual decline of the ancient Zapotec people. Discover a plethora of topics such as The Emergence of the Zapotecs and Monte Albán Monte Albán Phase 1 to 5 Zapotec Architecture, Art, and Science Zapotec Religion and Society Legacy And much more! So if you want a concise and informative book on the Zapotec Civilization, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!

    

    Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors.

     Free History BONUS Inside! In the modern world, when one imagines a vandal, it's often a youth with a covered face drawing graffiti on a wall of a public building. And the act of deliberate defacement, destruction, or damage to public or private property is known as vandalism. This idea became an integral part of world culture with most people using it without knowing that this word is linked to an ancient Germanic tribe called the Vandals. The small number of people that are aware of this link often envision these Vandals as outright barbarians who pillaged and burned, killed and destroyed. They were the antithesis of civilized and cultured life. That image has been engraved in our collective consciousness by centuries of historical propaganda. This was possible because the Vandals didn't leave us any histories written by themselves. Thus, most of the ancient sources on their past were written by their enemies and adversaries, who didn't look too kindly on them. This is especially true for later historians who idealized ancient Rome and blamed the Vandals for its fall. But the question is, how much of it is true? This book is aimed to answer that question. Were the Vandals really so wild, and were they worse than any other tribe in Europe at that time? It will also present the society and culture of this tribe in an attempt to not only shed light on their reputation in history but to also give their side of the story as the stereotypical bad guys. In essence, this guide will try to give some voice to the voiceless Vandals. Hopefully by the end of it, you will leave with your own picture of who those barbarians were. In The Vandals: A Captivating Guide to the Barbarians That Conquered the Roman Empire During the Transitional Period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, you will discover topics such as Origins of the Vandals From the Danube to Africa Rise of the Vandal Kingdom Downfall of the Vandals Vandal Society Religion, Culture, and the Vandals And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about The Vandals, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

    Its largest island, Mainland, is home to some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, the most famous of which are the passage grave of Maeshowe, the megaliths of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and the village of Skara Brae – evidence of a dynamic society with connections binding Orkney to Ireland, to southern Britain and to the western margins of continental Europe. Despite 150 years of archaeological investigation, however, there is much that we do not know about the societies that created these sites. What historical background did they emerge from? What social and political interests did their monuments serve? And what was the nature of the links between Neolithic societies in Orkney and elsehwere? Following a broadly chronological narrative, and highlighting different lines of evidence as they unfold, Mark Edmonds traces the development of the Orcadian Neolithic from its beginnings in the early fourth millennium BC through to the end of the period nearly two thousand years later. Juxtaposing an engaging and accessible narrative with beautifully evocative photographs of Orkney and its monuments, he uses artefacts, architecture and the wider landscape to recreate the lives of Neolithic communities across the region.

    His reign would prove to be one of the longest of the time even though his rise to the throne did not come without opposition. Virtually no-one in Claudius’ family wanted to see him become emperor—only when he turned out to be the last surviving man of the Julio-Claudian dynasty did he ascend to the throne. Inside you will read about... ✓ Born to Be Cast Out ✓ A Historian and a Husband ✓ The Conquest of Britain ✓ Plots and Intrigues ✓ The Assassination of Emperor Claudius And much more! No-one ever expected that the boy that was used as the comparative standard for stupidity by his own mother would become the emperor of Rome. Yet, he did. Claudius reign was riddled with conspiracies and attempts on his life by the Senate that was supposed to serve him. But despite all the opposition to his rule, Claudius would go on to be an able and efficient leader. He expanded the Roman Empire more than any other emperor had since the reign of Augustus.

    But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome's dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe's economic rise and the creation of the modern age. Ranging across the entire premodern world, Escape from Rome offers new answers to some of the biggest questions in history: Why did the Roman Empire appear? Why did nothing like it ever return to Europe? And, above all, why did Europeans come to dominate the world?In an absorbing narrative that begins with ancient Rome but stretches far beyond it, from Byzantium to China and from Genghis Khan to Napoleon, Scheidel shows how the demise of Rome and the enduring failure of empire-building on European soil ensured competitive fragmentation between and within states. This rich diversity encouraged political, economic, scientific, and technological breakthroughs that allowed Europe to surge ahead while other parts of the world lagged behind, burdened as they were by traditional empires and predatory regimes that lived by conquest. It wasn't until Europe "escaped" from Rome that it launched an economic transformation that changed the continent and ultimately the world.What has the Roman Empire ever done for us? Fall and go away.

    It is the story of a violent time when Britain was defining itself in waves of religious fervour, scattered tribal expansion and terrible bloodshed; it is the story of the fighting class, men apart, defined in life and death by their experiences on the killing field; it is an intricate and riveting narrative of survival and adaptation set in the stunning political and physical landscapes of medieval England.Warrior is a classic of British history, a landmark of popular archaeology, and a must-read for anyone interested in the story of where we've come from.

    In seven chapters, each addressed to an important arm of Greco-Roman magic, the volume discusses the history of the rediscovery and publication of the so-called Greek Magical Papyri, a key source for our understanding of ancient magic; the startling violence of ancient erotic spells and the use of these by women as well as men; the alteration in the landscape of defixio (curse tablet) studies by major new finds and the confirmation these provide that the frequently lethal intent of such tablets must not be downplayed; the use of herbs in magic, considered from numerous perspectives but with an especial focus on the bizarre-seeming rituals and protocols attendant upon their collection; the employment of animals in magic, the factors determining the choice of animal, the uses to which they were put, and the procuring and storage of animal parts, conceivably in a sorcerer's workshop; the witch as a literary construct, the clear homologies between the magical procedures of fictional witches and those documented for real spells, the gendering of the witch-figure and the reductive presentation of sorceresses as old, risible and ineffectual; the issue of whether ancient magicians practised human sacrifice and the illuminating parallels between such accusations and late 20th century accounts of child-murder in the context of perverted Satanic rituals.By challenging a number of orthodoxies and opening up some underexamined aspects of the subject, this wide-ranging study stakes out important new territory in the field of magical studies.

    Huebner explores the world of the protagonists of the New Testament and the early Christians using the rich papyrological evidence from Roman Egypt. This gives us unparalleled insights into the everyday lives of the non-elite population in an area quite similar to neighboring Judaea-Palestine. What were the daily concerns and difficulties experienced by a carpenter's family or by a shepherd looking after his flocks? How did the average man or woman experience a Roman census? What obstacles did women living in a patriarchal society face in private, in public, and in the early Church? Given the flight of Jesus' family into Egypt, how mobile were the lower classes, what was their understanding of geography, and what costs and dangers were associated with travel? This volume gives a better understanding of the structural, social, and cultural conditions under which figures from the New Testament lived.

    Rising to the Hunnic kingship around 434, he dominated European history for the next two decades. Attila bullied and manipulated both halves of the Roman empire, forcing successive emperors to make tribute payments or face invasion. Ian Hughes recounts Attila's rise to power, attempting to untangle his character and motivations so far as the imperfect sources allow. A major theme is how the two halves of the empire finally united against Attila, prompting his fateful decision to invade Gaul and his subsequent defeat at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plain in 451.Integral to the narrative is analysis of the history of the rise of the Hunnic Empire; the reasons for the Huns' military success; relations between the Huns and the two halves of the Roman Empire; Attila's rise to sole power; and Attila's doomed attempt to bring both halves of the Roman Empire under his dominion.

    In the fifth century BCE there was a Jewish community on Elephantine Island. Why they spoke Aramaic, venerated Aramean gods besides Yaho, and identified as Arameans is a mystery, but a previously little explored papyrus from Egypt sheds new light on their history. The papyrus shows that the ancestors of the Elephantine Jews came originally from Samaria. Due to political circumstances, they left Israel and lived for a century in an Aramean environment. Around 600 BCE, they moved to Egypt. These migrants to Egypt did not claim a Jewish identity when they arrived, but after the destruction of their temple on the island they chose to deploy their Jewish identity to raise sympathy for their cause. Their story—a typical diaspora tale—is not about remaining Jews in the diaspora, but rather about becoming Jews through the diaspora.

    Resentment had more power in their case than compassion; for the senate were incensed against them not merely as enemies, but as an uncivilized and unsocial race. After it had been contested several days, it was at last resolved, that peace should neither be granted nor refused. Two conditions were offered them, either that they should yield to the senate unconditional power over them, or pay one thou sand talents,1 and have the same friends and enemies. To them, desirous to elicit in what things they should give to the senate unconditional power over them, no positive answer is given but being thus dismissed, without having concluded a peace, they were ordered to quit the city that very day, and Italy within fifteen days. They then began to debate concerning the pro vinces for the consuls. Both of these wished for Greece. Lae lius had a powerful interest in the senate and when the senate had ordered that the consuls should either cast lots for the provinces, or settle them between themselves, he observed, that they would act with more propriety in leaving that mat ter to the wisdom of the senators, than to the decision of lot. To this Scipio, an answer being given that he would take advice how he ought to act, having spoken to his brother alone, and having been desired by him to leave it unhesitatingly to the senate, answered his colleague that he would do what he recommended. When this plan, either original or sup ported by precedents of a record now lost by antiquity, being referred to the senate, had aroused them by the expectation of a contest, Publius Scipio Africanus said, that if they de creed that provmce to his brother, Lucius Scipio, he would go along with him, as his lieutenant-general. This proposal being received with universal approbation, put an end to all dispute. The senate were well pleased to make the trial, whether king Antiochus should have more effectual aid in the vanquished Hannibal, or the Roman consul and legions in his conqueror Africanus; and they almost all voted Greece to Scipio, and Italy to Laelius. The praetors then cast lots for their provinces: Lucius Aurunculeius obtained the city juris diction; Cneius Fulvius, the foreign; Lucius Emilius Regil. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

    In turn, this event has been viewed as a historical turning point that separates the ancient world from classical antiquity. Standard works on the library continue to present the idea behind the institution as novel and, at least implicitly, as a product of Greek thought.Yet, although the scale of the collection in Alexandria seems to have been unprecedented, the notion of creating central repositories of knowledge, while perhaps new to Greek tradition, was age-old in the Near East where the building was erected. Here the existence of libraries can be traced back another two millennia, from the twenty-seventh century BCE to the third century CE, and so the creation of the Library in Alexandria was not so much the beginning of an intellectual adventure as the impressive culmination of a very long tradition.This volume presents the first comprehensive study of these ancient libraries across the 'Cradle of Civilization' and traces their institutional and scholarly roots back to the early cities and states and the advent of writing itself. Leading specialists in the intellectual history of each individual period and region covered in the volume present and discuss the enormous textual and archaeological material available on the early collections, offering a uniquely readable account intended for a broad audience of the libraries in Egypt and Western Asia as centres of knowledge prior to the famous Library of Alexandria.

    Find out how and why the terracotta warriors were made, how the Great Wall of China defended the empire, and how traders set off on long journeys along the Silk Road. This is a fascinating introduction to the history of China. Look around an Ancient Chinese town, open the doors of Chinese houses, and see the emperor at home in his grand palace. This latest addition to Usborne's bestselling lift-the-flap series includes internet links to websites where you can fly over the Great Wall, meet the soldiers of the Terracotta Army and find out more about Ancient China with video clips and activities.

    However, when assessed in terms of their various tasks, they by far outstrip modern armies – acting not only as an armed power of the state in external and internal conflicts, but also carrying out functions which nowadays are performed by police, local government, customs and tax authorities, as well as constructing roads, ships, and buildings.With this opulent volume, Thomas Fischer presents a comprehensive and unique exploration of the Roman military of the imperial era. With over 600 illustrations, the costumes, weapons and equipment of the Roman army are explored in detail using archaeological finds dating from the late Republic to Late Antiquity, and from all over the Roman Empire. The buildings and fortifications associated with the Roman army are also discussed. By comparing conflicts, border security, weaponry and artefacts, the development of the army through time is traced.This work is intended for experts as well as to readers with a general interest in Roman history. It is also a treasure-trove for re-enactment groups, as it puts many common perceptions of the weaponry, equipment and dress of the Roman army to the test.

     This book includes two captivating manuscripts: Mesopotamian Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Near Eastern Myths Sumerian Mythology: Captivating Myths of Gods, Goddesses, and Legendary Creatures of Ancient Sumer and Their Importance to the Sumerians In the first part of this book, you'll find the following Mesopotamian myths and topics covered Creation Myths Tales of Gods and Goddesses Selections from the Epic of Gilgamesh And much, much more! In the second part of this book, you'll find the following Sumerian myths and topics covered Tales of Gods and Goddesses Tales of Kings and Heroes Inanna and the Huluppu Tree Enkidu in the Underworld Gilgamesh and Huwawa Gilgamesh and Aga And much, much more! So if you want a captivating collection of Mesopotamian myths, click the “add to cart” button!

    Why are Adam and Eve depicted as White if the oldest human remains were found in Africa? How can the Bible be “the White man’s book” when it does not take place in Europe? Are there truly Lost Tribes of Israel, and, if so, how can the Creator of the universe lose his people? What is the purpose of having a chosen people anyway? Prophetic Whirlwind: Uncovering the Black Biblical Destiny examines the true culture of the Biblical text, who is a Hebrew, the Torah’s call to justice, and central role Africa has played in scripture. This book reveals where many of The Lost Tribes of Israel went to escape oppression, and what this means for Black liberation today. By profiling over 15 tribes in Africa with Hebrew origins, as well as the history of the Hebraic movement in America, Prophetic Whirlwind reveals what the author calls The Black Biblical Destiny. Onleilove Chika Alston, M.Div., MSW is a faith-based community organizer, minister and writer. She has traveled to West Africa at the invitation of African Hebrew leaders where she examined the Hebraic culture as preserved in Africa. She lives in Harlem, comes from a large family and is dedicated to various faith rooted Pan-African initiatives. Having experienced foster care and homelessness she truly knows that the message of the scriptures is Good News to the poor. You can find her on the web at: PropheticWhirlwind.com.

    A startling reassessment of textual and archaeological evidence, The House of Augustus demonstrates that Augustus was never an emperor in any meaningful sense of the word, that he never had a palace, and that the so-called Casa di Augusto excavated on the Palatine was a lavish aristocratic house destroyed by the young Caesar in order to build the temple of Apollo. Exploring the Palatine from its first occupation to the present, T. P. Wiseman proposes a reexamination of the Augustan Age, including much of its literature.Wiseman shows how the political and ideological background of Augustus' rise to power offers a radically different interpretation of the ancient evidence about the Augustan Palatine. Taking a long historical perspective in order to better understand the topography, Wiseman considers the legendary stories of Rome's origins--in particular Romulus' foundation and inauguration of the city on the summit of the Palatine. He examines the new temple of Apollo and the piazza it overlooked, as well as the portico around it with its library used as a hall for Senate meetings, and he illustrates how Commander Caesar, who became Caesar Augustus, was the champion of the Roman people against an oppressive oligarchy corrupting the Republic.A decisive intervention in a critical debate among ancient historians and archaeologists, The House of Augustus recalibrates our views of a crucially important period and a revered public space.

    Petra surely has a surplus of beauty and other kinds of visual appeal, but you can now see that this is only half of the picture. Our world is filled to the brim with such wonders, bestowed upon us by countless different cultures from every corner of the planet. Some are older or more renowned than others, but all remnants of civilizations of the past have one thing in common: they tell us invaluable stories. These are stories of lives led by people who seem infinitely distant from our perspective but might have as well lived yesterday as far as the grand scheme of time is concerned. They might have had a different outlook and daily life, but the essence of humanity remains fundamentally unchanged. A great history lesson if you have a general interest or plan on visiting Petra Jordan! Inside you will read about... Early Settlement Feats of Engineering Slow Decline into Obscurity Petra through the Centuries And Much much more! So if you want to learn about Petra scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

    After Alexander the Great's death in 323 BC, his immense Macedonian empire was divided between his ambitious generals, who in turn formed their own monarchies across Eastern Europe, Asia and North Africa. This work will follow the development of the Hellenistic military forces from the army bequeathed by Alexander the Great to the complex military machines that succumbed one by one in the wars against the expanding Romans. As decades and centuries progressed, Hellenistic warfare became always more sophisticated: the 'diadochi' (Alexander's successors) could field armies with thousands of men, chariots, elephants and siege machines; these came from all the territories of the former Macedonian Empire. The book will also show how Hellenistic forces were strongly influenced by Roman models during the last years of independence of their kingdoms. The states analysed are: Macedon, Seleucid Empire, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Armenia, Pergamon, Pontus, Cappadocia, Galatia, Bosporan Kingdom, Epirus, Sicily, Achaean League and Aetolian League.

    The excellent preservation of Egyptian artefacts including bows, axes and chariots, means that it is possible to track the changing nature of Egyptian military technology, as well as the equipment and ideas that were adopted from other civilisations of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. As well as discussing such crucial issues as military strategy, martial ideology, construction of fortresses and waging of siege warfare, this book includes the study of practical questions of life, death and survival of individual soldiers on the battlefield.

    Striking a balance between the 'classic classic' (such as Dryden's translation of the Aeneid) and the less familiar or expected, Of Gods and Men ranges from the epic poetry of Homer to the histories of Arrian and Diodorus Siculus and the sprawling Theogony of Hesiod; from the tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides to the biographies of Suetonius and Plutarch and the pen portraits of Theophrastus; and from the comedies of Plautus to the the fictions of Petronius and Apuleius. Of Gods and Men is embellished by translations from writers as diverse as Queen Elizabeth I (Boethius), Percy Bysshe Shelley (Plato), Walter Pater (Apuleius's Golden Ass), Lawrence of Arabia (Homer's Odyssey), Louis MacNeice (Aeschylus's Agamemnon) and Ted Hughes (Ovid's Pygmalion), as well as a number of accomplished translations by Daisy herself.

    He sets the matter in both its wider biblical context at the same time as he makes clear its relevance and importance to faithful Christian living today." –Douglas J. Moo from the ForewordEverything you never knew about the men behind the controversy.Put James and Paul next to each other and some tough-to-answer questions come up. Paul says we’re saved by faith alone, not works—and James seems to say the opposite. If you’ve been around the church for a while, you probably know enough to say "the right thing" if someone asked about these verses. But would your answers hold up to scrutiny? If pressed, would you know what to say?Dive into the life stories of both apostles, learn more about the context of their letters, and discover the truth about the shared message they both proclaimed. No more canned answers or lingering questions, gain confidence and go deeper in Paul vs. James.

    Throughout more than a thousand years of Roman history, equestrians played prominent roles in the Roman government, army, and society as cavalrymen, officers, businessmen, tax collectors, jurors, administrators, and writers. This book offers the first comprehensive history of the equestrian order, covering the period from the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD. It examines how Rome's cavalry became the equestrian order during the Republican period, before analysing how imperial rule transformed the role of equestrians in government.Using literary and documentary evidence, the book demonstrates the vital social function which the equestrian order filled in the Roman world, and how this was shaped by the transformation of the Roman state itself.

    Critically assessing some of the most widespread views on interaction and its social impact, this book proposes an innovative perspective which combines radical social theory and currently burgeoning network methodologies.Through an in-depth analysis of a wealth of data often difficult to access, and illustrated by many diagrams and maps, the book highlights connections and their social implications at different scales ranging from the individual settlement to the Mediterranean. The resulting diachronic narrative explores social and economic trajectories over some seven centuries and sheds new light on the broad historical trends affecting the life of people living around the Middle Sea.The Bronze Age is the first period of intense interaction between early state societies of the Eastern Mediterranean and the small-scale communities to the west of Greece, with people and goods moving at a scale previously unprecedented. This encounter is explored from the vantage point of one of its main foci: Apulia, located in the southern Adriatic, at the junction between East and West and the entryway of one of the major routes for the resource-rich European continent.

    Among the many themes addressed in the volume are: the complex dossier of Elamo-Persian acculturation; the Mesopotamian antecedents of Cyrus's edict and religious policy; Cyrus's Baupolitik at Pasargadae, and the idiosyncratic genesis of Persian imperial art; the Babylonian exile, the Bible, and the First Return; Cyrus's exalted but conflicted image in the later Greco-Roman world; his reception and programmatic function in genealogical constructs of the Hellenistic and Arsacid periods; and finally Cyrus's conspicuous and enigmatic evanescence in the Sasanian and Muslim traditions.The sum of these wide-ranging contributions assembled in one volume, as well as a new critical edition and English translation of the Cyrus Cylinder, allow for a more adequate evaluation of Cyrus's impact on his own age, as well as his imprint on posterity.

    In this volume, Fikret Yeg�l and Diane Favro offer a comprehensive history and analysis of the Roman built environment, emphasizing design and planning aspects of buildings and streetscapes. They explore the dynamic evolution and dissemination of architectural ideas, showing how local influences and technologies were incorporated across the vast Roman territory. They also consider how Roman construction and engineering expertise, as well as logistical proficiency, contributed to the making of bold and exceptional spaces and forms. Based on decades of first-hand examinations of ancient sites throughout the Roman world, from Britain to Syria, the authors give close accounts of many sites no longer extant or accessible. Written in a lively and accessible manner, Roman Architecture and Urbanism affirms the enduring attractions of Roman buildings and environments and their relevance to a global view of architecture. It will appeal to readers interested in the classical world and the history of architecture and urban design, as well as a wide range of academic fields. With 835 illustrations, including numerous new plans and drawings, as well as digital renderings.

    It ends with a vision of how we can recover our harmony with the rest of creation: with the landscape, the weather and the wildlife, and ultimately with the body itself.Follow the footsteps of holy men and women such as Columba, Patrick, Cuthbert, Gildas, Aidan, Bede, Ninian, Etheldreda, Samson and others into enchanting Celtic landscapes, and learn the unvarnished truth behind the stories that shape our spiritual and natural heritage.

    Taking readers on a tour of all of the structure's evidence, including the rarely seen upper floor, she illuminates the subculture housed within its walls. Here, prostitutes could flout the norms of society and proclaim themselves sexual subjects and agents, while servile clients were allowed to act as 'real men'. Prostitutes and clients also exchanged gifts, greetings, jokes, taunts, and praise. Written in a clear, engaging style, and accompanied by an ample illustration program and translations of humorous and haunting graffiti, Levin-Richardson's book will become a new touchstone for those interested in the history of women, slavery, and prostitution in the classical world.

    Through archaeological remains, ancient texts, and work by a new generation of historians, a picture can today be built of this remarkable civilization and their capital city. Although the city had been destroyed, the legacy of the Persians survived, even as they mostly remain an enigma to the West and are not nearly as well understood as the Greeks, Romans, or Egyptians. In a sense, the Achaemenid Persian Empire holds some of the most enduring mysteries of ancient civilization. When considering this empire’s rulers, the two most often referenced are Xerxes, the leader of the Persian invasion of Greece which caused the heroic sacrifice of the Spartans and their allies at Thermopylae, or Cyrus the Great, the man who created the Persian Empire. But the Persians had another critical ruler sandwiched between them, and Cyrus’s accomplishments and Xerxes’s defeats would not have been possible without him. That king was Xerxes’s own father, Darius I, best known as Darius the Great. Darius I took the throne after the death of Cyrus’s son, Cambyses II, and though his reign would not have been possible without the construction of the empire and the administrative groundwork laid by Cyrus the Great before him, Darius proved himself just as worthy of the epithet. Reigning for over 35 years, Darius kept control of the massive Persian Empire despite numerous rebellions and uprisings, and he also managed to implement reforms and improvements that established the empire’s golden age. He followed the example of Cyrus before him in his foreign policy and mode of kingship as well, offering tolerance and patience to various cultures and religions, and even treating his enemies fairly in most cases. Perhaps his ultimate success can be seen most clearly in the passage of power at the end of his life. By that time, his reign had been long and stable, and though he died of illness somewhat unexpectedly, his kingdom was still so firmly established that the kingship passed to his son Xerxes without any question or upheaval. Under Darius the Great’s rule, the empire reached its greatest extent, stretching from the Indus Valley and Central Asia in the east to Libya and the Danube River in the west. Xerxes remains one of the most famous rulers in history because he led the Second Persian War against the Greeks. That war was a veritable clash of civilizations, and had the Persians triumphed, Classical Athens would have been snuffed out and Greece would never have formed the backbone of Roman and Western culture. Simply put, the West as it is today might never have existed. Not surprisingly, the majority of surviving sources regarding Xerxes are the product of Greek writers, so it was inevitable that the Persian king has been depicted in unflattering terms for thousands of years. The details of his invasion of Greece cast him as the villain in the dramatic Greek retelling of the tragic 300 Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae, and focus on the loss at Salamis solidified his reputation as a failure despite another 15 years of successful rule after withdrawing from the Greek mainland. Although Herodotus’s Histories offer a less biased account than some later sources, he still depicted Xerxes as a figure of tragic failings, listening too often to the wrong councilors and eventually collapsing on the weight of his own hubris.

    They are saved in remnants in archaeology. They are found in reminiscences in mythology. They are recorded in books, story, song, and stone. Who were these people, aliens, man-or-myths? Do we still see their influences today? What remains of these inhabitants of the jungles, lost cities, and dwellings underground, underwater and beyond? How did they rise? Why did they fall? Will they rise again? From pyramids and underground bunkers to watery graves and ancient astronauts, Lost Civilizations: The Secret Histories and Suppressed Technologies of the Ancients examines the archaeological evidence and the traces left behind by more than 70 ancient civilizations, including … Atlantis Göbekli Tepe Anasazi disappearance in the American Southwest Nazca Lines of Peru Turkey's Çatalhöyük Denisovan Ancestors departure Amazon Cities in the Jungle Neanderthal Ancestors extinction The Eden Stories of Theoretical Physics Underground Cities of the Grand Canyon And many more! From ancient Egypt, middle America, and the Nubian Desert to the frozen Antarctica, underwater ruins of Asia, and clues of visits by ancient aliens, Lost Civilizations explores the unanswered questions about the true origins of man. Might there have been advanced civilizations long before the days of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia? What do 3D imaging and new underwater mapping technology reveal? What do prehistoric artifacts, architecture, carvings, maps, and monoliths tell us? Were rising waters, erupting volcanoes, catastrophic solar flares, comet or asteroid fragments or some other unimaginable cataclysmic disasters the death of these advanced civilizations? Touring the world and reviewing the scientific evidence, this fascinating book ties together historical events in one part of the world that produced actual effects in others. Uncovering hidden and suppressed pasts of technologically and culturally advanced ancient civilizations, it looks at how modern civilization compares and contrasts to those who have gone before. It will leave you with the sense that what has happened to past advanced civilizations might very well be happening again in our own time! With more than 120 photos and graphics, it is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.