1 comments about Death And Salvation In Ancient Egypt.

1. I have been reading a great deal about the Osiris myth; this, together with Tom Hare's book "Re-Membering Osiris" are truly valuable additions to anyone's Egyptology collection. Mr. Assman is a well-established author, and lays on the footnotes with scholarly frequency. His books are dense and a bit dry, but his viewpoint is clearly stated and provocative. I do not agree with his atheism, and find it a bit odd in a man who spends so much time writing about Gods and religion, but I will say that he is stunningly observant and objective in his recounting of the pure source material available to us today. Because his own perspective is clear and unapologetic, it is easy to examine his thoughts and observations from another perspective. Few writers so consistently provoke creative thought in the reader while informing and educating at the same time. Of the books he's written (and that I've read) this book is second only to "The Mind of Ancient Egypt" . Buy both! read them!!

No comments about Assessing Archaeological Significance: A Guide for Archaeologists and Historians.

No comments about The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East: Transforming the Human Landscape.

1 comments about HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History.

1. There are several evangelical atlases on the market, including two award winners: Holman Bible Atlas and the much newer IVP Atlas of Bible History. Both books take the Bible seriously as a source of historical data, and both were written by top scholars. The new Oxford Bible Atlas, 4th Edition, is totally different, warning you in the first chapter that they are about to rip the Bible to shreds! There is one very extensive atlas called Historical Atlas of the Bible, but I am told that the author has made a lot of mistakes in other atlases he has written. So much for the overview of available atlases.
   
   So what about this new HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History? If you grew up with something traditional like Zondervan's Pictorial Atlas of the Bible, you may want to avoid this -- which is not to say HarperCollins has made a bad book. Actually, this is an excellent source of historical background for the Bible. Notice that the title includes the words "Atlas of Bible History." This is just what you have here. The whole book takes the general plot of Scripture seriously -- unlike their Oxford counterpart-- filling in the historical gaps that the Biblical narrative leaves out. The authors rely heavily on non-biblical sources to fill in these missing pieces. Once you realize what the format is all about, you can really appreciate what these scholars have created. Each chapter starts with a very short introduction to part of the Biblical storyline, without much questioning of its veracity, and then proceeds to fill in the historical and cultural background, using ancient historical writings and archaeological sources. For example, after a short blurb about Cain and Abel fitting into to the timeline at the dawn of civilization, the discussion diverts to the known facts about this early time period. The topic of Adam's children is sort of left behind in the subsequent discussion. For the most part, however, the Biblical story is kept in view throughout most of the text of this atlas, and questions about the historicity of the conquest, the exodus and a few other issues are explored without tremendous depth. There are plenty of full color maps and geographical data. However, If you are looking for a more evangelical commentary, I recommend that you buy this with the Holman Bible Atlas as I did.

5 comments about The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited.

1. John Romer has outdone himself with his book, The Great Pyramid. Highly readable, this well researched book shows the remarkable engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians. For those who will look for such silly theories as building assistance by extra-terrestrias and other rubbish, this is not the book for them. It is a book for rational, intelligent readers who admire and wish to have a better understanding of the creative abilities of older civilizations.
   Greg Slater
   Australia



2. Since many illustrious and famous Egyptologists have already written their praise for this book on its cover, I shall not try to emulate their eloquent praise for John Romer's quite extraordinary book. However, as an amateur lover of ancient Egypt's history, engineering and artistic achievements, I was spellbound by Romer's quite amazing conhesion of painstaking research and found myself totally absorbed and amazed. The reader is taken on a spellbinding journey through every aspect of the building of the great Pyramid and back in time. His text is elegant and fluidly written, the pictures and diagrams most interesting and easy to understand. I loved this book.
   Out of Africa. Johannesburg



3. It is difficult to imagine how anyone is going to top this treatment of the Great Pyramid. Romer, an Egyptologist for more than 40 years, describes in unprecedentedly precise detail how the pyramid was designed and built. There is none of the mystical nonsense that has appeared in some books about the pyramids. This massive structure was built by humans like us who learned from their mistakes on earlier pyramids and adjusted their plans to the realities of the Giza plateau.
   
   Romer brings out the sophistication and architectural subtlety of the Great Pyramid, and the clever alignments that made its construction possible. This was an astounding feat of planning, organization, and execution for people living 4,500 years ago. Medieval cathedrals look relatively modest by comparison.
   
   Romer admires the dedication and skill of the stone-workers, giving the reader a good feel for the adjustments they used to make their ambitious plan work. Some of the most interesting chapters show how pyramid-builders learned from the mistakes made in building pyramids for Khufu's father.
   
   Romer tracks down related parts of the pyramid project such as quarries and ramps. He provides intriguing sidelights, such as the huge amount of copper needed to make chisels for the masons who shaped the stone blocks.
   
   Romer describes the pyramids as the physical residue of establishing the Egyptian state. This age was short-lived; the pyramids that followed the Great one were less ambitious, and the pyramid age soon died out.
   
   Romer writes with style, though he occasionally dwells too much on certain features such as the "prism point."
   He praises some earlier Egyptologists such as Flinders Petrie. The accuracy of Petrie's surveys, made over a century ago, has never been surpassed.
   
   This is a large format book of more than five hundred pages. It is well illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and black and white photographs, including well-chosen photos from as early as 1865. This is not a book for the lazy reader, but it rewards those with sustained interest.



4. Intriguing mankind for millenia, the pyramids of Eqypt have prompted numerous investigations by scholars and scientists over the centuries. In this book, John Romer's most impressive achievement is his extensive analysis and masterful synthesis of these investigations, enhanced with his own on-site studies and observations. The ease and clarity with which he presents his conclusions, and the scope of the material covered, is astonishing. Many photos, line drawings, and other visual aids complement his presentation.
   
   Even if this had been a strictly scholarly book of dry facts and observations, it would be significant enough, but Romer also brings to life the society and people that produced the pyramids, revealing them to be skilled and dedicated craftsman who created works of timeless beauty with simple tools, professionalism, and perseverance. The idea that "ancient man" could never produce such structures is quietly, confidently, and thoroughly refuted. This book is a "must read" for any layman who wants a clear and compelling answer to the age-old question, 'who built the pyramids?'



5. A new book by John Romer on the library shelf! I could hardly contain my excitement since his books have always had fascinating views of Egypt presented in a readable way that suddenly opens vistas of ancient Egypt and puts things in a new light, brings the people more to life than most other authors. I adore his "Ancient Lives" TV series. Here was a new and fascinating book to read - photos of parts of the Great Pyramid and views of parts of it I'd never seen in the books I had available; discussions of sources of minerals, stone and copper; calculations of awesome quantities of resources and how this changed Egypt; methods of transport and calculations of manpower needed; details of quarries; details of earlier pyramids that made it clearer how they "evolved" and were planned. This was also a frustrating book to read and I returned again and again over about 2 months - "squaring the circle" had me going in circles trying to reproduce, from the description, what was intended, and deciding he must mean circumference, not diameter; finding some of the diagrams on how the builders worked things out confusing until finally about page 364 (?) a reasonable diagram finally was clear. Frustrating because I'm sure I could explain the basic idea to my 14 year old students in about 10 minutes with that last diagram and wondering why it took so long to get around to that diagram. Fascinating in the simplicity of the overall method of control once it was clear the east field could be used as a full size planning area. As a teacher always on the lookout for things from the real world to base problems on for maths or science, and as someone used to teaching areas, nets and scale models for a technology unit, maybe the placement of the Great Step didn't seem quite so miraculous to me. I still think the book is a monumental work and should be read by anyone interested in Egypt and the pyramids. John Romer has again given a fascinating and different view of ancient Egypt and its most well known monument.

No comments about Origins and Revolutions: Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory.

No comments about Pyramids: Treasures, Mysteries, and New Discoveries in Egypt.

1 comments about Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907 (Asian Interactions and Comparisons).

1. This is a really good book that every Asian Studies student should own. It actually looks at all East Asia civilizations, not just China and Japan. Holcombe's skilled at hightlighting the connections between the East Asian societies, and paints a picture of interconnected, yet distinct cultures. Highly recommended.

No comments about Greek Sanctuaries.

5 comments about Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals: 100,000 Years of Lost History.

1. Let me begin this review by saying that I have enjoyed many of Colin Wilson's other books. I was first introducted to his writings through the land-mark work, "Mysteries." That, as well as similar books, impressed me with Wilson's sober scholarship and his willingness to have an open-mind that was nevertheless tempered with a good deal of academic research.
   
   That being said, I'm not quite sure what happened between Wilson's other work and this. I myself have some pretty radical theories about lost history, but there is a point where certain notions must be presented with at least a grain of salt. Wilson displays an incredible level of credulity for tenuous fringe theories, wholeheartedly swallowing and then regurgitating highly debated beliefs such as the antiquity of Freemasonry (as put forth by Lomas and Knight) and the now widely popularized Baigent and Leigh theory of the holy bloodline of Christ. These aren't presented as ideas or possibilities, as I would have expected in any of Wilson's earlier, more respectable works, but simply put forth as fact. In addition to the overly-credulous tone, throughout the book, there is this general feeling that most of Wilson's material is simply a restatement of other works. In fact, there is little Wilson to be seen in this book. He spends much more time extensively quoting or rewording material from other sources. The theories about Neanderthal man which posit a different sort of intelligence are certainly intriguing, but for as much new material as Wilson presents, I think these ideas would have bee more at home in a magazine article, not a full-length book. If you have read Wilson's other books, I can't say you'll be missing much if you skip this one.



2. Some great ideas here, but very little real meat to sink your teeth into. I live and view the World by 2 basic principles: 1) It has been shown historically that at least 90% of the belief systems or opinion based knowledge of the majority of the people who live in "modern" societies is false. And not just a little off base, but completely 180 degrees away from what later became discovered as "the truth". It doesn't matter if we're talking about Neanderthals, Atlantis, JFK's assassination, why the stock market crashed in 1929, if Vitamin C can cure cancer, or what happened on Sept 11th, 2001. If you look at what the "average" person believes (which is derived from various mass media sources) at the time of the event, and indeed often many years afterward, it will (at least 90% of the time) be completely at odds with the later exposed facts, evidence, and ultimately the truth. But for those who recognise this statistical FACT, looking in the exact opposite direction of what the "man in the street" thinks is very often an excellent predictor of the truth; and 2) Where there is smoke, there is always fire.
   
   Therefore, because of the above 2 principles, Neanderthals, Atlantis, and what occured over the past 100,000 years is no doubt crucial to our development and where we find ourselves in modern times. And because there has been such a well organised "conspiracy" (and I don't use that word lightly here) by the mainstream media over the last 150 years or more to discredit the importance or even existence of Neanderthals, Atlantis, and human history beyond 7 thousand years ago, then I now assume that there is much more than smoke; there must be a raging fire of truth within these related topics. Unfortunately, Colin Wilson doesn't take us there to roast our marshmellows.



3. This is a hard review to write. Did I enjoy reading Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals? Absolutely, without a doubt. Did I feel that the author made a good case for a connection between Atlantis and Neanderthals? No, not really. He never really got to that part in any real depth.
   
   I started reading Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Neanderthals with great interest and enthusiasm. The author discussed the concepts that in the past our continental plates have shifted and that the earth's tilt has also changed. These are scientific facts that most people learn in high school. I was eager to see an examination of this movement as relates to Antarctica, how the author would place Neanderthals on Antarctica, how he would connect the two.
   
   Unfortunately, the book quickly evolved in an attempt to present as much information as possible about every ancient mystery know to man: the pyramids of the Piri Reis map, Egypt, Mu, the Biblical floods, the man in the iron mask, the death of Jesus, and the Priory of Sion. Information about these topics ranged from scientific reports and solid data collection methodology to popular ancient mystery books and PBS specials to hearsay and theories by author friends.
   
   My best advice is that you don't pick up this book because you wish to find out the connection between Atlantis and Neanderthals. Instead, pick up this book because it is full of interesting theories, summaries of information collected about a number of ancient mysteries, and contains a really great bibliography of like minded material.



4. I always enjoy Colin Wilson's books, but this one is exceptionally good. It is an easy to read, lucid, logical "tour de force" of an amazingly wide range of sources all succinctly described and well and convincingly presented to lead one compellingly to agree with Plato that "things are far better looked after than we can possibly imagine."



5. As far as i'm concerned, this book has just been cobbled together to enable the author to jump on the "have a go at Christianity" bandwagon and the nonsence claims about Jesus it makes. The stuff about Neanderthals is just used as a vehicle for this.
   
   I urge any "sensible" person to give this book a decent burial and lets dig it up after 100,000 years and see if it reads any better!