Ancient Egypt was a highly developed civilization that lasted for thousands of years and left behind fascinating clues in the form of impressive structures and monuments. It was a culture balanced between the lush fertility of the Nile Valley and the barrenness of the surrounding vast deserts. The same balance holds true for our knowledge of the history of Egypt. In spite of the evidence we have, so much remains hidden and yet to be fully understood. Inside you will read about... ✓ The Nile ✓ The Gods and Goddesses ✓ The Book and the Dead ✓ The Pyramids ✓ Magic, Plagues and Curses ✓ Famous Pharaohs ✓ Immortality New methods of scientific investigation reveal new ways of interpreting the ancient evidence. As the shifting desert sands overflowed and then disclosed the Great Sphinx, after thousands of years of study ancient Egypt still holds much that has yet to be revealed.

    For example, myrrh is incense made from the resin of a North African bush and was a special gift during biblical times. To the Romans, mistletoe was a symbol of fertility, so today we are encouraged to kiss when it is near. The Yule log was originally used to brighten homes during the dark, cold Scandinavian Christmas season. Packed with all manner of delightful surprises and delicious morsels, A Christmas Miscellany demystifies the origins of familiar festive customs such as caroling and Christmas cards, and entertains with fun, little-known facts. This is the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for the curious-minded during the holiday season.

    Martin brings alive Greek civilization from its Stone Age roots to the fourth century B.C. Focusing on the development of the Greek city-state and the society, culture, and architecture of Athens in its Golden Age, Martin integrates political, military, social, and cultural history in a book that will appeal to students and general readers alike. This edition has been updated with new suggested readings and illustrations. "[A] highly accessible, and comprehensive history of Greece and its civilization from prehistory through the collapse of Alexander the Great's empire. ...A highly readable account of ancient Greece, particularly useful as an introductory or review text for the student of the general reader." --Kirkus Reviews "Photographs and maps enhance this solid first lesson about the ancients." --Booklist

    With In Search of the Trojan War, Michael Wood brings to life the legend & lore of the Heroic Age in an archeological adventure that sifts thru the myths & speculation to provide a fresh view of the riches & the reality of ancient Troy. This gripping story shows why the legend of Troy forms the bedrock of Western culture & why its past is a paradigm of history. Wood's meticulous scholarly sleuthing yields fascinating evidence about the continuity & development of civilization in the Aegean & Asia Minor. With 50' of debris from constant rebuilding, human destruction, earthquake & abandonment, the mound of Troy contains the beginnings & ends of new races & civilizations.AcknowledgementsPrologueThe search for TroyHeinrich SchliemannThe coming of the GreeksHomer: the singer of tales Agamemnon's empire A forgotten empire: the Hittites & the GreeksThe peoples of the sea Conclusions: the end of the bronze ageBibliographyPicture CreditsIndex

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    We see the relentless propaganda, the cut-throat politics, the brutality and repression that lay behind the appearance of unchanging monarchy.

    Ranging from 700,000 BC to 311 AD, this volume portrays the emergence and development of Egypt from its prehistoric roots to its conquest by the Roman Empire. The contributors--all leading scholars working at the cutting edge of Egyptology--incorporate the latest findings in archaeological research as they chart the principal political events of Egyptian history, from the rise of the Pharaohs and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, to the ascension of the Ptolemies and the coming of Roman legions. The book also includes the first detailed examinations of three periods which were previously regarded as dark ages. Against the backdrop of the birth and death of ruling dynasties, the writers also examine cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature, monumental architecture, funerary beliefs, and much more. The contributors illuminate the underlying patterns of social and political change and describe the changing face of ancient Egypt, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the people as a whole. The only up-to-date, single-volume history of ancient Egypt available in English, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is a must read for everyone interested in one of the great civilizations of antiquity.

    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.

    He constructs the story like a detective novel, putting pieces of clues together to form the whole puzzle and he makes an incredibly exciting job of it. He writes for the lay reader but he is far from condescening. His language is a joy to read. I agree with BlairBurton that the book is wildly entertaining but I resented his reference to the author as 'the premier theorist of crackpot science.' Velikovsy's 'crackpot' theories are yet to be disproved and his predictions have the uncanny habit of being proved right so that the world of the scientific community is as shaky as the description of the earth in "Worlds In Collision!" Readers will find great rewards in reading all of his works and judging for themselves. While "Oedipus and Akhnaton" is the least 'scientific' of his works it is no less fascinating and eminently readable.

    

    Topics include:• Archived Items • Battery Replacement • Calculator Functionality • Checking Your Email • Collections • Contacting Amazon's Kindle Customer Service • Converting PDF Documents to Kindle Format • Discussion Boards • Displaying the Time • Download Problems - What To Do • Formatting Issues in a Kindle Book - What To Do • Games on Your Kindle • Gifting a Kindle Book / Gift Certificates • Internet Access (it’s free) on Your Kindle • Internet Bookmarks• Kindle Reading to You (Text to Speech) • Lending Books• Losing Your Place While Reading • Lost Kindle Tip • Mobile Websites - Access Them on Your Kindle • Password Protection • Permanent Deletion of a Title • Pictures on Your Kindle • Playing Music on Your Kindle • Popular Highlights Feature - Turning it Off • Reset Your Kindle • Samples of Books • Screen Freeze Fix • Screenshots - Printing Out What You See • Social Networking with Facebook and Twitter • Transferring Books to Your Kindle • Transferring Existing Collections to Your New Kindle • Checking the Weather • Wireless Coverage for Your Kindle • Random Tips • Blogs Available on Your KindleMichael Gallagher is the author of several bestselling Kindle “how-to” guides, and his title “Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them” has been the #1 Kindle reference guide for over two years, garnering #53 and #72 on the Top 100 Kindle bestseller lists for all Kindle book titles in 2010 and 2011, respectively. His “Kindle Books and Tips” blog has been the #1 bestselling subscription blog in the Amazon Kindle Store since 2010. You can visit his author page on the Amazon website at http://www.amazon.com/author/gallagher

    What are the true roots of these influences, however, and how do our interpretations of these aspects of the classics differ from their original reality? This introduction to the classics begins with a visit to the British Museum to view the frieze which once decorated the Apollo Temple a Bassae. Through these sculptures John Henderson and Mary Beard prompt us to consider the significance of the study of Classics as a means of discovery and enquiry, its value in terms of literature, philosophy, and culture, its source of imagery, and the reasons for the continuation of these images into and beyond the twentieth century. Designed for the general reader and student alike, A Very Short Introduction to Classics challenges readers to adopt a fresh approach to the Classics as a major cultural influence, both in the ancient world and twentieth-century--emphasizing the continuing need to understand and investigate this enduring subject.About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

    But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? What if monstrous creatures once roamed the earth in the very places where their legends first arose? This is the arresting and original thesis that Adrienne Mayor explores in The First Fossil Hunters. Through careful research and meticulous documentation, she convincingly shows that many of the giants and monsters of myth did have a basis in fact--in the enormous bones of long-extinct species that were once abundant in the lands of the Greeks and Romans.As Mayor shows, the Greeks and Romans were well aware that a different breed of creatures once inhabited their lands. They frequently encountered the fossilized bones of these primeval beings, and they developed sophisticated concepts to explain the fossil evidence, concepts that were expressed in mythological stories. The legend of the gold-guarding griffin, for example, sprang from tales first told by Scythian gold-miners, who, passing through the Gobi Desert at the foot of the Altai Mountains, encountered the skeletons of Protoceratops and other dinosaurs that littered the ground.Like their modern counterparts, the ancient fossil hunters collected and measured impressive petrified remains and displayed them in temples and museums; they attempted to reconstruct the appearance of these prehistoric creatures and to explain their extinction. Long thought to be fantasy, the remarkably detailed and perceptive Greek and Roman accounts of giant bone finds were actually based on solid paleontological facts. By reading these neglected narratives for the first time in the light of modern scientific discoveries, Adrienne Mayor illuminates a lost world of ancient paleontology. As Peter Dodson writes in his Foreword, "Paleontologists, classicists, and historians as well as natural history buffs will read this book with the greatest of delight--surprises abound."

    Equal to men in battle, legends claimed they cut off their right breasts to improve their archery skills and routinely killed their male children to purify their ranks.For centuries people believed in their existence and attempted to trace their origins. Artists and poets celebrated their battles and wrote of Amazonia. Spanish explorers, carrying these tales to South America, thought they lived in the forests of the world’s greatest river, and named it after them. In the absence of evidence, we eventually reasoned away their existence, concluding that these powerful, sexually liberated female soldiers must have been the fantastical invention of Greek myth and storytelling. Until now.Following decades of new research and a series of groundbreaking archeological discoveries, we now know these powerful warrior queens did indeed exist. In Searching for the Amazons, John Man travels to the grasslands of Central Asia—from the edge of the ancient Greek world to the borderlands of China—to discover the truth about the truth about these women whose legend has resonated over the centuries.