When his position at court is usurped by his half brother, a young Egyptian nobleman seeks to regain his standing through military victories against the enemy.

    Readers are invited to join a young boy, Will Hunt, as he and his family become part of an archaeological team led by world-famous Egyptologist Dr. George Reisner. Based on actual records of Reisner's history-making dig, Giza 7000X, this strikingly original picture book uses journal entries, funny postcards, and quirky cartoons to pull readers into an ancient unsolved mystery. Luminous paintings of the pyramids, informative sidebars and inventive collages, including authentic documents and archival photographs, help provide information and clues. When a secret tomb is uncovered, readers, along with Will, put together clues to discover: Whose tomb is this? Why was it hidden? And how can a mummy be missing from a sealed tomb?This illuminating book invites readers to participate in the process of archaeology as it provides a rare glimpse into the true stories that exist behind the objects in museums.The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

     • Provides dramatic evidence from both archaeological and documentary sources. • A radical challenge to long-established beliefs on the origin of Semitic religion. During his reign, the Pharaoh Akhenaten was able to abolish the complex pantheon of the ancient Egyptian religion and replace it with a single god, the Aten, who had no image or form. Seizing on the striking similarities between the religious vision of this “heretic” pharaoh and the teachings of Moses, Sigmund Freud was the first to argue that Moses was in fact an Egyptian. Now Ahmed Osman, using recent archaeological discoveries and historical documents, contends that Akhenaten and Moses were one and the same man. In a stunning retelling of the Exodus story, Osman details the events of Moses/Akhenaten's life: how he was brought up by Israelite relatives, ruled Egypt for seventeen years, angered many of his subjects by replacing the traditional Egyptian pantheon with worship of the Aten, and was forced to abdicate the throne. Retreating to the Sinai with his Egyptian and Israelite supporters, he died out of the sight of his followers, presumably at the hands of Seti I, after an unsuccessful attempt to regain his throne. Osman reveals the Egyptian components in the monotheism preached by Moses as well as his use of Egyptian royal ritual and Egyptian religious expression. He shows that even the Ten Commandments betray the direct influence of Spell 125 in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Moses and Akhenaten provides a radical challenge to long-standing beliefs concerning the origin of Semitic religion and the puzzle of Akhenaten's deviation from ancient Egyptian tradition. In fact, if Osman's contentions are correct, many major Old Testament figures would be of Egyptian origin.

    This comprehensive survey of Egyptian society and history transforms our understanding of this remarkable civilisation.

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

    Who was the first king of ancient Egypt, and who was the last? Which Egyptian queens ruled in their own right? What in fact do we know about the 170 or more pharoahs whose names have down to us?

    As Nakht takes up his own (often boring) lessons, little does he know that he and his sister, Tamyt, will soon stumble upon a sinister plot involving the robbing of nearby tombs — and will actually catch the high-ranking mastermind at a banquet inside their own house! As a reward, the siblings are invited to the royal palace in Thebes to meet none other than King Hatshepsut, whom they are shocked to discover is a woman — one of few female kings in ancient Egyptian history. Brimming with lively, detailed illustrations and bolstered with endnotes, a timeline, and a glossary, this newest tale from the author of CASTLE DIARY and PIRATE DIARY is sure to stir readers' interest in one of the most fascinating eras in history.

    That was indeed what life was like in the earliest settlements, but by 5,000 years ago, life in some places had become much more sophisticated than we might think. Impressive achievements - like stepped temples that towered like mountains, elaborate palaces (some with bathrooms and plumbing), and complex houses - were also a part of life for people who lived in cities that arose thousands of years ago, particularly in the fertile region that emerged along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.Welcome to Mesopotamia, the ancient name for the region that is now Iraq, a remarkably advanced civilization that flourished for two-thirds of the time that civilization has existed on Earth. Mesopotamians mastered irrigation agriculture; built the first complex urban societies; developed writing, literature, and law; and united vast regions through warfare and diplomacy. While civilizations like Greece and Rome have an unbroken tradition of written histories, the rich history of Mesopotamia has only been recently rediscovered, thanks to the decipherment of Mesopotamia's cuneiform writing less than 200 years ago. In this 24-lecture course taught by Professor Podany, you'll fill in the blanks of your historical understanding as you witness a whole new world opening before your eyes.Riveting stories about kings and priestesses as well as ordinary people from all walks of life transport you back in time, giving you invaluable insights into the history of a landmark region that has long been known as the cradle of civilization.

    Its inscription, recorded in three distinct scripts - ancient Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphic--would provide scholars with the first clues to unlocking the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs, a language lost for nearly two millennia. More than twenty years later a remarkably gifted Frenchman named Jean-Francois Champollion successfully deciphered the hieroglyphs on the stele, now commonly known as the Rosetta Stone, sparking a revolution in our knowledge of ancient Egypt.Cracking the Egyptian Code is the first biography in English of Champollion, widely regarded as the founder of Egyptology. Andrew Robinson meticulously reconstructs how Champollion cracked the code of the hieroglyphic script, describing how Champollion started with Egyptian obelisks in Rome and papyri in European collections, sailed the Nile for a year, studied the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (a name he first coined), and carefully compared the three scripts on the Rosetta Stone to penetrate the mystery of the hieroglyphic text. Robinson also brings to life the rivalry between Champollion and the English scientist Thomas Young, who claimed credit for launching the decipherment, which Champollion hotly denied. There is much more to Champollion's life than the Rosetta Stone and Robinson gives equal weight to the many roles he played in his tragically brief life, from a teenage professor in Revolutionary France to a supporter of Napoleon (whom he met), an exile, and a curator at the Louvre.Extensively illustrated in color and black-and-white pictures, Cracking the Egyptian Code will appeal to a wide readership interested in Egypt, decipherment and code-breaking, and Napoleon and the French Revolution.

    But from his perch in a courtyard tree, he can see the world beyond the temple walls. There, children play in the streets. There, other cats roam free. So one night the temple cat slips out. During his long, hard journey, he lives as a cat, not a god - and finds, at the edge of the sea, his true heart's desire.Author Biography: Andrew Clements is the author of many books for children, including, for Clarion, BRIGHT CHRISTMAS and WORKSHOP. A full-time writer, he lives in Westborough, Massachusetts.Born in New Hampshire and raised in Vermont, Kate Kiesler began painting at an early age. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and now paints and illustrates full-time. Kate paints with oils, and her rich style has been highly praised. Kate Kiesler has illustrated numerous picture books, including THE GREAT FROG RACE AND OTHER POEMS. She lives in Frisco, Colorado.

    7 black-and-white photographs.

    This book traces their development from earliest times through their period of glory and ultimate decline to their rediscovery and study in modern times. All of Egypt's surviving temples--from the gargantuan temple of Amun at Karnak to minuscule shrines such as the oasis Oracle of Siwa, where Alexander went to hear himself proclaimed god--are discussed and illustrated with factfiles, photographs, plans, and specially commissioned perspective views. * "Houses of Eternity" considers the historical origin and development of Egyptian temples, describing their role in ancient Egyptian society, their later Christian and Muslim use, and their modern rediscovery. * "Buildings Fit for Gods" looks at how the temples were built, decorated, expanded--and sometimes destroyed. * "Worlds Within Worlds" examines each part of the sacred structures in detail--from the massive pylon towers, colossal statues, and obelisks that fronted many temples to the darkened sanctuaries and mysterious crypts of their inner depths. * "Between Heaven and Earth" discusses the temple's relationship to the pantheon of Egypt's gods, along with the roles and rituals of pharaohs and priests, and the sacred rites and festivals enacted there. * "Temples of Gods and Kings" is the most extensive catalogue of Egyptian temples yet published in one volume and serves as a guide to the ancient sites. The book's format follows the highly successful, visual style of the other volumes in Thames Hudson's best-selling "Complete" series, creating both an authoritative reference book and an entertaining guide for everyone fascinated by the eternal mysteries of ancient Egypt.

    And in the Temple of Amon in Thebes dwelt the only living child of Nectanebo, the last fully Egyptian Pharaoh, who had been defeated in battle and slain by Darius's servantsBut from the north a spirit of fire was moving across the World. A great warrior and general, the king of Macedonia, had risen to rule the Hellenic city-states. Now he was determined to challenge the might of the Persian Empire, to engage Darius himself in battle, and to defeat him. He was called Alexander, and the priests of Amon in Egypt saw that he was destined to rule their ancient land.So they sent Meriamon, Beloved of Amon, daughter of Pharaoh, Singer and Priestess of the God, up from Egypt to the Plains of Issus, where a great battle had been fought, and the Persian king defeated. There she was to find Alexander, and persuade him to turn from the straight Eastward road and come south - where the double crown of Egypt awaited him. LORD OF THE TWO LANDS is firmly based in the history of Alexander the Great, and then steeped in the rich, sun-drenched magics of ancient Egypt. It will transport you back to the time of heroes, when one man changed the face of the world.

    In his astonishing new bestseller exploring the implications of these explosive new findings, Colin Wilson takes us on a grand tour of the knowledge amassed by researchers over the centuries to ask questions about mysteries that have puzzled humanity since Plato: Was there an ancient civilization destroyed by some great catastrophe whose survivors built the Sphinx some 10,500 years before Christ? If so, who were these people who had developed a highly advanced culture and who traveled the world from China to the South Pole (then free of ice)? Were they really so unique in their thinking, as Wilson suggests, that, compared with modern man, they were as alien as Martians? Via paleontology and ritual cannibalism, Wilson's tour through time and space sets out to reconstruct that ancient knowledge. In a fascinating exploration of the remote depths of history, From Atlantis to the Sphinx takes us from the structure of the pyramids and the purpose of their tortuous interior shafts, to the prehistoric cities of America by way of ancient sea maps apparently showing the outlines of Antarctica before it was covered by ice.

    This concise guide offers a modern interpretation of the doctrine, distilling its teachings with seven compelling principles that can be applied to self-development in daily life.