Product Description
It's a weird world out there... dazzle your friends with wacky facts and more from this mega new series. Did you know... The first step in making a mummy was to pull the brain out through the nostrils. Scientists re-froze the body of a 5,000 year old ice mummy because he was starting to thaw. Bodies can be frozen, dried-out, or even pickled to make a mummy.

A full-color, fun, and informative series, Secret Worlds offers a chance to get your teeth deep into a wide range of fascinating subjects from nature, history, and science. Every title has: Easy-to-read narrative text written by a specialist who combines expert knowledge with an entertaining and fresh style. Superb color photography that entices the reader into the subject world with close-up views and dramatic shots. Weird World feature boxes that reveal a wealth of wacky facts. Tried-and-tested websites to check out the latest info. A mega reference section with even more facts and figures for the enthusiast. Suitable for children aged ten and up -- as well as every other family member who is curious about the subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

more about mummies
Have you ever wondered how mummies were made?this book has lots of neat fact about them.Lots of neat internet links are included for futher research. ... Read more

Product Description
The Rosetta Stone is part of an Ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele with engraved text that provided the key to modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. The inscription records a decree that was issued at Memphis in 196 BCE on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three texts: the upper one is in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle one in Egyptian demotic script, and the lower text in ancient Greek.

The Rosetta Stone is a slab of black basalt, which is now preserved in the British Museum (Egyptian Gallery, No. 24). It was found by a French artillery officer called Boussard, among the ruins of Fort Saint Julien, near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile, in 1799, but subsequently came into the possession of the British Government at the capitulation of Alexandria. It is inscribed with fragments of 14 lines of hieroglyphics, 32 lines of demotic, and 54 lines of Greek. A portion of the stone has been broken off from the top, and the right-hand bottom corner has also suffered injury. It now measures 3 ft. 9 in. × 2 ft. 4½ in. × 11 in. We may arrive at an idea of the original size of the Rosetta Stone by comparing the number of lines upon it with the number of those upon the Stele of Canopus, which is inscribed in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek, measures 7 ft. 2 in. × 2 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 2 in., and is inscribed with 36 lines of hieroglyphics, 73 lines of demotic, and 74 lines of Greek. The demotic inscription is on the edge of the stele. This stele was set up at Canopus in the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy III., Euergetes I. (B.C. 247-222), to record the decree made at Canopus by the priesthood, assembled from all parts of Egypt, in honour of the king. It records the great benefits which he had conferred upon Egypt, and states what festivals are to be celebrated in his honour, and in that of Berenice, etc., and, like the Rosetta Stone, concludes with a resolution ordering that a copy of this inscription in hieroglyphics, Greek and demotic, shall be placed in every large temple in Egypt.

For more titles like this, type “dreamz-work” into the search field or visit http://dreamz-work.com
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

ancient egypt
found the book somewhat out of date, and too technical for the ordinary reader.It could do with a detailed modern summary to set it in its proper time and context

Most of the book are just translations ...
Since I didn't find a more compelling book to read about this subject, such as "The Keys of Egypt", I read this little book. Most of the book are just translations of the original writings in the Rosetta Stone so just a few words are dedicated to the most interesting part, the story to decipher the egyptian hieroglyphics. Despite of that, I learned a lot with this book, although I wanted more.

A source for the original texts
I dislike giving a fixed rating to a book, as this one would get five stars if you want an inexpensive collection of the actual texts of the Rosetta stone and other copies of the same inscription. As a source of the current understanding of ancient Egypt it would get two stars: the book's scholarship is outdated, including its approach to the history of the finding and decipherment of the stone.

Many quotes are untranslated, and you are expected to be able to read a bit of French, German, Greek, and Latin, or skip over those few paragraphs. Having studied only the latter three of those, and too long ago to do much good, I ended up missing most of the quotes.

This review was written just after the election of George W. Bush to the presidency of the United States, and it is amazing how much the proclimation of the Rosetta Stone sounds like Bush's program; reducing taxes, beefing up the military against potential threats, punishment of those who opposed his father, professions of faith, and positioning the new leader as a benefactor of the common people.

Useful, but not perfect
This is a fairly solid account of the Rosetta Stone, and its deciphering.There is ample background, and the actual inscriptions are presented, and analyzed in considerable detail.Its worth owning, if you're an archaeology buff.

Let me just warn people that real archaeologists, real Egyptologists don't have a whole lot of respect for the author of this book anymore.A lot of conventions in translation have sort of moved on since his time.In the movie "Stargate," they make fun of him a little.This is because people don't really use his writings anymore.This book itself is okay as far as it goes, but you need to be very careful of what Budge says.

Look for "Egyptian Grammar" by Sir Alan Gardiner.That's the standard textbook, used by real Egyptologists.The magazine KMT is good to know about, too.It's all about ancient Egypt, and is easy to find online.

If you enjoy this type of puzzle-solving, let me recommend a few titles."The Decipherment of Linear B," by John Chadwick, "Breaking the Maya Code" by Michael Coe, and "The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries" by David Ulansey are all still in print."Forgotten Scripts" by Cyrus Gordon, and "Voices in Stone" by Ernst Doblhofer are harder to find, but if you ask your local librarian to search for them using interlibrary loan services, he or she will probably find them.It's really worth it...Also, there are still a few ancient scripts out there that no one has deciphered yet.The Indus Valley Script, the Easter Island Script, and the Meroitic script are three of them.The Meroitic script could shed light someday on the issue of how much contact there was between Ancient Egypt and pre-historic Africa.The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, at www.mfa.org,has the best collection around on Meroe, and Meroitic, if anyone's interested.A good book for that script is "Ancient African Civilizations," edited by Stanley Burstein, which contains several useful chapters.

Well, happy deciphering to you!

a much needed republication - excellent
A republication of the first edition, published in 1929, this book provides the English translations of the hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek texts as well as the original Greek and hieroglyphic inscriptions, as they appear on the Rosetta Stone. It also describes its discovery and its arrival in London. The author briefly explains the coptic alphabet and tells the history of the decipherment by Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion. Finally, in the last section are the English translations of the decrees of Canopus and of Memphis. Interesting to all persons curious about the Rosetta Stone and particularly those needing its inscriptions. ... Read more

Product Description
In this unique interactive book, the reader becomes an archeologist exploring the tomb of an Egyptian woman named Nenufar.A paper "lamp" reveals the fascinating images hidden within acetate overlay pages, including a tunnel to the tomb, ancient paintings, dishes, and Nenufar's mummy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Clever Book
A clever visual slight of hand makes this a fun book for children and adults. I couldn't get it away from my six year old long enough to really explore all the contents. ... Read more

Product Description
Discusses how the pyramids of Egypt were built and what they looked like in their original state and explores the various theories about pyramids and their "powers." ... Read more

Product Description
Journey into the world of life after death. Delve into the dark secrets of the mummies of ancient Egypt and the tombs of beautiful princesses and warrior kings. Some people went to extraordinary lengths to ensure a good life for themselves after death. Mummies and Tombs investigates their motives and their methods. Page by page you discover more ways to preserve a body, magic charms, mysterious gods and secret spells. Meet the Chinese emperors who were buried with vast armies of model soldiers, a jade princess and the little Sicilian girl painstakingly preserved by her father. Find out how scientists of today piece together the faces and everyday life of the past from the remains of the dead, and how some bodies were preserved quite by chance - by natural forces!More than 10 fun projects to make and do - including a hawk-like headmask and a Pharaoh's boat. Get ideas of what it was really like to prepare for a voyage to the other world. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers children the thrill of examining a past civilization through the eyes of an archaeologist. Gorgeous, full-color panoramas of ancient landmarks are magnified with inset illustrations to reveal fascinating details. Readers uncover another layer of knowledge with each new page, including an up-close view of the lives of the people who built the structure, from peasant workers to all-powerful rulers. Clear, concise text enhances the artwork, providing the inside story on the construction of this key tomb, traditional uses of each room or section, and the status and use of the structure up to the present day. ... Read more

Product Description
In this oversized volume with lush original art on every page, readers will be transported to ancient Egypt, where they will learn all about mummies.

Among books on ancient Egypt, The Big Book of Mummies is noteworthy for its accuracy, its art, and its adventurous attitude. A highly entertaining book for the budding Egyptologist in your life. ... Read more

Product Description
Explores the mysteries of the mummification process, tomb robbing, x-raying of mummy bundles, and myths about mummies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book for anyone interested in Egyptian mummification
Wrapped for Eternity gives the reader a detailed description of how the Ancient Egyptians mummified their dead.It is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Egyptian pyramids, mummies, King Tut, and the Egyptian afterlife. ... Read more

Product Description
From the ancient ziggurats of Mespotamia and the steep pyramids of the Maya to the modern wonders of today, the engrossing text and beautifully detailed pictures of Pyramids provides a through historical overview of all types of pyramids.This meticulously illustrated reference also reveals how these awe-inspiring structures were constructed, what was kept inside them, and why they were so important to the different societies that produced them.An illustrated glossary and index help make this an even more enjoyable and easy-to-use reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

informative, detailed info on tombs & temples of 4 cultures
This book tells a lot about about mummifying and how the pyramid complex was arranged.It also shows various forms of writing by the various cultures.It had lots of information and very detailed pictures, so I canget a real picture of it in my mind even though I've never been to Giza orPeru or Mexico.My favorite page was the one about how the Egyptiansmummify people, because I just like how they preserved bodies, because itwas neat and clever and really worked.About the Aztec pyramids in theAmericas, I liked the Tenochtitlan floating city/island, and the Chinampaswhich were floating gardens.The whole book was great!age 7.5 ... Read more

Product Description
Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep IV, was king of Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty and reigned from 1375 to 1358 b.c. Called the "religious revolutionary," he is the earliest known creator of a new religion. The cult he founded broke with Egypt's traditional polytheism and focused its worship on a single deity, the sun god Aten. Erik Hornung, one of the world's preeminent Egyptologists, here offers a concise and accessible account of Akhenaten and his religion of light.

Hornung begins with a discussion of the nineteenth-century scholars who laid the foundation for our knowledge of Akhenaten's period and extends to the most recent archaeological finds. He emphasizes that Akhenaten's monotheistic theology represented the first attempt in history to explain the entire natural and human world on the basis of a single principle. "Akhenaten made light the absolute reference point," Hornung writes, "and it is astonishing how clearly and consistently he pursued this concept." Hornung also addresses such topics as the origins of the new religion; pro-found changes in beliefs regarding the afterlife; and the new Egyptian capital at Akhetaten which was devoted to the service of Aten, his prophet Akhenaten, and the latter's family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Packed Full of Information But Unsatisfying For a Layman
It is clear that the author strives diligently for objectivity. He explains a theory and always offers a counter-theory throughout the book. This, while admirable, grows tiresome. This is certainly in part because I am no expert in the field but I imagine that an Egyptologist would conclude that simply rehashing old information that could be obtained from other sources without offering a new interpretation or new information is scholastically useless. Thus, we have to regard the book as an introduction to Akhenaten and his religion.

As one reviewer pointed out most people who buy this book are trying to learn about the religion. In this I think the author fails to communicate effectively. I finished the book and felt that I still did not have a grasp on the topic. All I have is facts with no guidance as to how to put them together to form a general picture. Since the book is useless for an expert it should be useful the layman and in this it fails as well. I was certainly not looking for any spiritual revelations but I wanted to understand more about the religion and its historical context. I do but not nearly as much I would have expected.

Regarding Akhenaten himself, I also know very little after reading this book. Again, I have a lot of facts but no sense of the man. As an introduction the author should enable the reader to see the forest through the trees. I believe he fails at this.

To add insult to injury is the epilogue and afterword wherein Hornung who, as mentioned above, goes out of his way to be objective throughout the book, decides to weigh in on the meaning of Akhenaten and his religion by proclaiming that the lesson to be learned from him is that "fundamentalism in all its forms" is a bad thing. Huh? To delve into the absurdity of this conclusion would take an entire book. Fundamentalism in "all its forms" is the cement that holds civilization together. Without Egyptian "fundamentalism" Hornung would have nothing to study. The author is entitled to his opinion, of course, but these statements seem especially bizarre after the style of the preceding text.

I will certainly read some of the authors whom Hornung cites in the book and would recommend others do the same. I do not really see how this particular book would help anyone, expert or layman, understand more completely or to a satisfying degree Akhenaten and his Religion of Light. Some of this may be the translator's fault, some may be mine, but ultimately I believe that Hornung just doesn't deliver enough punch. Four stars for the actual data contained in this book. Two stars for the book qua book. Hence a three star rating.

Informative but missing something
This work serves as a very useful overview of the historical progression and the basic tenets of Akhenaten's religion of light. The author punctiliously lists the sources on which his statements are based, which provides a useful reference for the reader who wants to check the ancient sources for themselves. Some of these references, however, assume that the reader will already have some familiarity with the events being narrated and though this is not a major problem, the reader with little knowledge of Akhenaten is sometimes left wishing for a little more background information. The main reason I have given the book only 3 stars ( though its information value certainly warrants at least 4), is that Horning scrupulously avoids making any kind of inference as to the reasons behind Akhenaten's abrupt break with Egypt's traditions until the very last page of the book. In a way, this avoidance is praiseworthy, since Egyptologists often infer too much from too little. On the other hand, I believe that this is precisely the point that most readers are interested in exploring. The avoidance becomes problematic on the final page. Here, Horning suggests that Akhenaten was perhaps the world's first fundamentalist, trying to explain the entire human world based on a single principle. He claims that such a fundamentalist viewpoint will always be doomed to failure and thus we have much to learn from Akhenaten's example. I would have found the book much more interesting and enjoyable if this hypothesis had been introduced from the start and then developed throughout the book. As it is, it is tacked on as a kind of coda, and the reader is left to decide whether any of the evidence given in the book actually supports such an inference or not.

enjoyed book
As a Rosicrucian I really enjoyed reading this book about our first traditional Grand Master

Too scared of clichés
Although very short and readable, this book is not recommendable to those who never read anything about Pharaoh Akhenaten and his place in Egyptian history. Retrieved from a lecture given by the author, it works best as an inventory of all that was ever written about Egypt's "Heretic King" and his religious revolution, since his discovery by German scholar Lepsius in 1843, down to 1995, when it was published. And, as its title proclaims, the book focuses on Akhenaten's doctrine, the Amarna theology.

Aware that Egyptologists usually infer too much from too little, Herr Hornung is excessively cautious in his approach, always avoiding any labeling of his biographee, whether as the tragic saint glorified by Breasted and Weigall, whether as the decadent fanatic despised by Redford and Aldred, whether as the true founder of Judaism hailed by Freud and the Rosicrucian. He has no opinion about Akhenaten's possible co-regency with his father or with his successor, whoever he (Smenkhkare?), or she (Nefertiti?), might be; he doesn't know what happened in his last years, ignores the debate over the mummy found at Tomb 55 in the Valley of Kings, and has no idea where Tutankhamun came from. He is not sure of anything, though he mentions most of the theories proposed by other authors. All he seems sure of is the basic tenets of Akhenaten's religious ideas.

And this is very interesting, because one of the author's most avoided "clichés" is precisely the pre-Christian feature of this very dramatic character. "Akhenaten as a pacifist who ruined Egypt as a world power in Dinasty 18, as a king caught up in the unreal, sham world of the Horizon of Aten, his new capital, where he lived out his teaching and conducted his search for the divine - these were clichés that would have long-lasting influence. Though Tomas Mann overcame these clichés in his nuanced treatment of the king, he succumbed to the parallels with Christianity and attempted to categorize Akhenaten as an early Christian figure." Yet, Akhenaten's religion is based on a Holy Trinity to begin with, composed by Aten, himself and Nefertiti, what drives Hornung to question the monotheistic character of Atenism, although he doesn't seem equally willing to dispute Christianity's monotheism. Besides, Aten, the One God, shines only over the King and his family, and the King and son of God is reported to have said to his Father: "There is no other who knows you." Thirteen centuries later, another Son of the One God proclaimed in the very same way: "No one comes to the Father but by me."

At the Epilogue, the author fell into the precipice of sheer speculation he avoided so carefully, by writing on page 121 that "Akhenaten had founded no congregation; he had no disciples or apostles to carry on his work after his death. There was only his small circle of followers, who were now bereft of a reference point." How can he be so sure of that, we wonder, specially since he mentions in the next page some "undercurrents that remain hidden to us might certainly have exercised an influence"?

Hornung's one serious mistake was stating, on page 116, that shortly after Akhenaten's disappearance the royal court moved to Memphis, and he persists on this absurdity by adding, on page 121, that following the abandon of Akhetaten, the new city build by the King, "Thebes would never again be the capital".

His final remarks on the character he treated so impersonally are positive at first. "Here we come to the critical point. In Amarna religion, for the first time in history, an attempt was made to explain the entire natural and human world on the basis of a single principle. Like Einstein, Akhenaten made light the absolute reference point, and it is astonishing how clearly and consistently he pursued this concept in the fourteenth century BC, making him in fact the first modern human being. Indeed, modernity also strives to describe the universe with a single formula, to explain it on the basis of a single principle; the attempts to do so do not cease."

And then:

"But Akhenaten demonstrated with unusual clarity that such one-sidedness is doomed to failure; all we repress and ignore will overtake and overshadow us. Akhenaten was perhaps the first fundamentalist in history, and for this reason, he remains even today a very contemporary figure who can scarcely be denied respect and sympathy in any critique of him."

Akhenaten, the Einstein of Ancient Egypt
Stories on the ancient Egyptian civilization command the attention of many as no other ancient extinct civilization does, the Mayans,Aztecs and the Hindus included. May be this is ascribable to the relatively recent (less than 200 years) deciphering of the intricate Egyptian hieroglyphic script by the French mathematician Jean-François Champollion, a feat which expanded in more than 3.000 years the horizon of humankind, or maybe this is a kind of perverse and doctrinarian boomerang effect of old English colonies against its colonizers, demonstrating that whatever be the powerfull cultures - and armies - behing the colonizing Western powers, they would never attain the magic and the glory Egypt did at its apogee. The names of Cleopatra, Tutankhamen, Ramses, Champollion and many others somehow associated with Egypt culture and its glorious history are almost household names to many of us, demonstrating the intimacy Western and even Eastern (mostly specially Japanese, keen not to accept the supremacy of Chinese over them) readers have vis-'a-vis Egiptology. Sure, beneath all this there is a kind of "who first?" contest between the peoples, and most especially some governments, vying for the primacy of scientifically establishing who was the first craddle of civilization in the planet. See, in this regard, the recent efforts of the Chinese and even the Israeli government to find the earliest traces of civilization in their territories, thus displacing the Mesopothamia as the incumbent craddle of civilization.

"Akhenaten and the religion of Light", written in the 1990's by the German scholar and Egyptologist Eric Hornung, and magnificently translated into English, is a very small booklet about the cultural revolution brought about by the pharaoh Akhenaten (son of Amenophis III) , who during his 30 + years reign changed many of the religious creeds and cult practices of the time, being referred to by many as the first true monotheistic ruler of the world. To some scholars, he was the first individual of the Planet Earth, in the sense that he made a giant step in the dark in order to advance human understanding about oneself. If this was exactly not so, given that many others scholars point out that Egypt was first and foremost monotheist in its origin before adhering to polytheism, at least the pharaoh Akhenaten was the bold founder of a new religious and cultural movement which sent rippling waves trough years to come, given the huge impact his reforms had in almost every aspects of the daily life of his time. In his view, the only and sole God was the god Aten, represented by the sun rays, being in its essence Light, the creator of all existent creatures of the world.The religious revolution set by Akhenaten (who was called Amenophis IV when ascended to the throne but changed his regal name to Akhenaten, thus dismissing the importance of the heretofore powerfull god Amen) had even a big impact in the concepts of the Egyptian Afterlife, almost debunking Osiris as the god of the heretofore important Egyptian netherworld.

Despite all the hoopla that surrounds the very attractive theme of monotheism, being even used by Sigmund Freud in his invenctives against Judaism and Christianism in his book Moses and Monotheism, the life and the death of the pharaoh Akhenaten is shrouded in mistery and secrecy and not too many details of his life and of his royal family are produced out of the excavations made in the territory in Middle Egypt that he designated to be his future home and temple to the God Aten, where he settled with his family and famous first wife Nefertite and harem, living a reclusive life dedicated foremost to religious affairs, almost foregoing important aspects of Egyptian external affairs with its neighbours. In fact, his relics are virtually non-existent and many of the information gathered are collected from burial grounds of his followers in the Egyptian bureaucracy.

Despite the conciseness of the text, this is a very invigorating approach to the life of this important pharaoh, who by many was compared with the likes of Saint Paul, Saint Francis and even Albert Einstein, this latter due to the importance both men put in light as an inspirational power to the creation of life on Earth. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

basic, brief and recommended
A basic book for youngsters, it gives a brief overview of the country's ancient history and important monuments. Several chapters provide an interesting summary of Ancient Egyptian life and society. Clearly written and full of colored illustrations, it is best recommended for young adults interested in learning more about Ancient Egypt. ... Read more

Product Description
Who were the ancient Egyptians? Why did they mummify their dead? Why did they bury people with their possessions? And why do mummies still fascinate us today? The remains of seven mummies from the world-famous British Museum can answer these questions and many more. From Ginger, a simple prehistoric farmer, to Katebet, a wealthy woman buried with her jewelry, to Hornedjitef, a grand priest of Amun, the lives and culture of ancient Egyptians are uncovered in thrilling detail. Nearly a hundred color photographs detail what these people looked like, how they worked, the foods they ate, and why they prepared so elaborately for the afterlife--revealing that the life of ordinary Egyptians was different, and yet not so different, from our lives today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Blast from the Past!!
This book was awesome!! Exspecially if you like Mummies. Ithought this book was interesting because I was always fond of Egypt. ... Read more

Product Description
Explores, in question and answer format, archaeological sites and lost civilizations, the work of archaeologists, and everyday life ancient times. ... Read more

Product Description
Two American teenagers uncover a plot to rob the tomb of an Egyptian pharoah. ... Read more

Product Description
Imagine breaking into an ancient tomb, marked with the seal of an Egyptian king who died three thousand years ago. A treasure trove of precious artifacts lies waiting in the dark — but we now realize that even more valuable is the mummy inside. Shelley Tanaka takes us back in time to the lives of the people whose bodies were preserved as mummies. Why were the bodies so carefully preserved? What can we learn about life thousands of years ago from the mummified bodies? How can knowledge about ancient peoples help us to better understand ourselves? From the rituals for preserving human bodies to the most up-to-date technology used to study the mummies, this fascinating book provides intriguing details and a personal look at the livesof the people whose remains have survived the millennia. For anyone who has ever shivered at stories of the mummy's curse, or been dazzled by stories of great cultures of long ago, this book is as essential as it is enlightening. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

INTERESTING AND WELL WRITTEN - THIS IS A GOOD WORK!
What a great little book.The illustrations and actual photographs are excellent, accurate and quite fascinating.The test, whild addressing a very complex subject, holds the readers interest and actually offers knowledge of the subject being addressed.This is a great book to get children interested in ancient history.What child is not fascinated with mummies?The books is documentation in nature but due to the wonderful way it has been designed and the excellent text, the kids are actually learning something, in a fun way, without even knowning it.This is great class room reading for discussions.I found the information to be very accurate and the text matched the photographs and illustrations quite well. This author has a lot of tallent!Recommend this one highly. ... Read more

Product Description
A gold moon rose beyond the cliffs
and lured the robbers from their lair,
as sunset's last light bled upon
the sacred desert grave site where

the boy king, Tutankhamen, lay
surrounded by his treasure hoard,
protected by a curse, some say,
as dangerous as a sharpened sword.

Thus begins the strange unfolding of events encompassing one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century -- the tomb of King Tutankhamen.

The breathtaking combination of John Frank's narrative poem and Tom Pohrt's illustrations brings a new dimension of suspense and excitement to this astonishing true story.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incredible Writing and Illustrating
I was so impressed with this book that I've shared it with many children and adults. Like me, they are captivated by the rhythm, history, and eloquent details. Before reading they doubt a poem could present an engaging story.However, once they begin reading they are hooked and often tell me they read it again.It really is a rare book.

The author is obviously a talented poet. His smooth and captivating use of language is accessable as well as articulate. You can picture the events so easily, as if you were there. The illustrations are remarkable, as well.

I was quite certain it would win awards, but have heard the publisher doesn't tend to promote their children's books.In these times of poorly written celebrity children's books (which, sadly are the best sellers) it would be so refreshing to have a book of this caliber receive the attention it deserves.

If you appreciate quality children's literature, this book is a must to read and own.How often do you get to enjoy an extremely well written historical poem that captivates children and adult imaginations?Tomb of the Boy King is a treasure on our family bookshelf. It's an often requested read-aloud.I highly recommend it to all.

Great!
This is an awesome poem, and I can't believe that someone can weave a story like King Tut into a book like this. You should buy it because it's historically correct, and the verses are simply great (sorry, I'm not the best with adjectives at 11:15 at night). ... Read more

Product Description
Circumstances and finances have kept Tira from becoming an archeologist, and her future is shattered by her older sister, Luci’s, murder by a drug dealer. A crumpled flyer offers an escape…The answer is in your stars.

Tira flees her pursuers where she is offered refuge, but must undertake a dangerous quest. She will be unable to speak of her world, or anything alien to the culture she enters and… she will remain there forever.

Kashe is the unloved middle son of the nomarch of Mero. Though Kashe wants to become a warrior of Horu, his father has other plans.To see his eldest son, Pian, as pharaoh, the nomarch plots with the priests of Aken Re.

The pair sets out on the quest for the symbols which will save the Two Lands; the flail, the crook and the double crown.Tira learns this Egypt has many differences from the Egypt she has studied.They must face nearly insurmountable challenges as they pursue their sacred quest.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Loved This Book!
This was a really fun, interesting story. I loved reading about characters in a different world. Their struggles with little food and a harsh desert really drew me into the story. By the time they got to the Valley, I couldn't put it down. I just had to see how it would all end! Looking forward to reading more from this author!! ... Read more

Product Description
Contains 4 audio cassettes. Running time: 6 hours 40 minutes. For centuries in the Near East archaeological evidence has been turning up of a major flood in the area's ancient history. In 1995 two marine biologists put forward evidence that showed that until almost 7500 years ago the Black Sea was a freshwater lake separated form the Mediterranean sea by a small strip of land where now Istanbul stands. Their theory suggested that around 5600 BC the Mediterranean broke through the land barrier and salt water poured through with a force 200 times that of Niagara Falls inundating the Black Sea and raising its level by over 300 feet. In September 2000 Marine archaeologist Robert Ballard discovered the wooden remains of houses 300 feet below the surface of the Black Sea 12 miles north of the present-day Turkish Coast. Building on this evidence Ian Wilson puts forward the hypothesis that this catastrophic inundation - the Biblical Flood - drowned tens of thousands of people and precipitated an exodus of people to Egypt and Mesopotamia, who formed the precursors of these great civilizations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

No, ah, ther really was a flood
Wilson, building on the earlier work of Ryan and Pittman, presents more recently developed, largely archeological evidence to support the flooding of the Black Sea as the basis of not only the Old Testament flood, but the other, pervasive, flood myths of our culture.While not, perhaps, as scholarly as Ryan and Pittman, Wilson is a far easier, and arguably a more enjoyable read.

Ken Hodosy, B.A.(Classics), MLS

B"ark"ing up the wrong tree
Before the Flood is a well-written elaboration on a theory put forth by William Ryan and Walter Pitman entitled Noah's Flood.In it, the author supports the idea that the Biblical Flood of Noah has its historical roots in a real event...the innundation of the Black Sea around 5600 BC.Prior to this event, the Black Sea was a smaller, freshwater lake supporting numerous advanced cultural communities along its periphery.As a result of the melting ice waters from the previous Ice Age, a third great flood occured rising sea levels substantially...including the salt-water Mediterranean.This eventually led to the salty sea water breaking through the Bosphorous and flooding out the freshwater Black Sea. People long making their living along these shores were forced elsewhere...an event recorded for posterity throughout much of the Eurasian continent as Noah's Flood.
While the historical accuracy of such an event appears quite real, marrying it directly to the flood of Noah is not so easy a task.The evidence is circumstantial at best but nonetheless intriguing. A freshwater lake the size of the one near the Black Sea would clearly have been inviting to early peoples, we see advanced cultures like Catal Huyuk teeming on the edge of civilization in the area, and the sudden appearance of the mysterious Sumerians could all be rationalized by just such an event.Yet there are problems that are in need of explanation.
One argument made by Wilson is that the wide geographic distribution of the flood myth is the fanning out of the people living in and around the Black Sea.Yet many of the details shared in common throughout Eurasia include events that occurred after the flood...i.e. after the people would have dispersed.If their recollection of the flood is similar that's fine but their recollection of sacrifices and birds and alcohol...events after the flood, then we must assume a common source and this then would mean these details emerged after people dispersed...a detail contrary to Wilson's proposal.Secondly, what are we to make of pre-Columbian American flood myths?Especially those that contain these very same details and are recorded in Mayan Codex' that long pre-date Columbus.

It is my belief that the Americas provide the key to answering the origin of these flood myths and that they reside in astronomy. The flood is simply a metaphor for astronomical occurrences put in earthly terms summed up best by the Biblical phrase..."on earth as it is in heaven".

Good book, flawed thesis, good argument, flawed conclusion. The real answer to the flood of Noah (and its worldwide presence) is likely one whose basis can be found in astronomy.

Bad Rationalizations but Good Facts To Back Up the Bible
LikeExcavating Jesus, this book, ironically, contains facts that support the Bible as being historically accurate, yet the author ignores that fact and pushes for a conclusion which hasbeen disproved (look up Black Sea flood on a search engine.)

Here are some examples of stereotypes and bias against Christians in this book:

"Scientists have shown convincingly enough for the great majority of individuals (including myself), that the earth began around 4.5 billion years ago... The biblical idea [of the flood]... is patently absurd as it is true."

Notice Ian implies that there are no Christian scientists let alone ones who advocate creationism, which despite what evolutionists claim, do utilize the scientific method AND other scientific methods (there isn't just one, that's a myth.)

At times he attempts to persuade the reader by mere emotionalism and sometimes with sarcasm which is ironic because he's trying to use it to persuade his readers that SCIENCE (there's more then one science by the way) has shown the Bible to be wrong (or at least about flood account). If I said, "The Bible flood story is silly because science says so" isn't evidence and it sure isn't proof, it's a misleading insult.

More:

"the fact is that historians and archaeologists lack the means of providing truly firm chronological pegs for any events of the ancient past prior to the 7th century B.C."

That's wrong as a chapter in the book As Wise as Serpents as Peaceful as Doves shows. He doesn't even explain why there can't be any firm dates. Instead see [...] there are plenty of ways to get a firm date.

The moron editors of amazon keep deleting links to sites which are not in competition with them but which show evidence as to what I'm referring to. Obviously some Christian bashers enjoy bashing evidence and so report the links as spam (wow how scientific of you).

The Biblical Flood
The entire book is devoted to a list of places and people who at some time in the past have had a flood. It hardly even discusses the biblical flood and appears to just put it into the broad catagory of just another flood.Boring to read

The real origin of civilization?
This fascinating book investigates a lost culture that thrived in northern Turkey before an inundation in 5600BC turned a freshwater lake into what is now the Black Sea by connecting it to the Mediterranean. Such a cataclysmic event must have caused major destruction and caused the death of thousands of people. It would also not have been restricted to the area under consideration.

By looking at the archaeological evidence brought to light by Robert Ballard's submarine explorations and by comparing the flood myths of the world, Wilson connects this disaster with the Biblical account of the Great Flood. He demonstrates that the Biblical account is composed of two different texts that were integrated, texts that he calls J and P. The opening part of original separate strands are displayed side by side. I found this very interesting; each of them is coherent in its own right but has a different emphasis. Both are in fact more coherent on their own than integrated as in the Bible.

Wilson suggests that Turkey and the Black Sea area may be the real cradle of civilization. It was the first Post Ice Age civilization and it flourished until about 6000BC. The metropolis of this culture was what is today called Çatal Hüyük, a city that was abandoned around this time, most probably because of climate change. It gets really interesting when he looks at the diaspora caused by these natural disasters; Wilson points out shared characteristics of the Minoan culture and the megaliths on the islands of Malta and Gozo. This includes the worship of bulls and the prevalence of the Mother Goddess which is found over an even larger geographic area.

There are far flung cultures displaying similarities to traits found at Çatal Hüyük, including in Egypt and Sumeria. I found his discussion of loan words in Sumerian very enlightening. Although Wilson is not a linguist, I would have liked a deeper exploration of historical linguistics to cast more light on the matter. He does look at the work of Indo-Europeanists Marija Gimbutas and Colin Renfrew. According to the consensus, the original Indo-European language is considered to have broken up into daughter languages between about 5000 and 4000BC.

Another puzzle is why the Indo-European and Semitic parent languages share so many common vocabulary items. Looking at the bigger picture of the Nostratic (or Eurasiatic according to Joseph Greenberg) language family, one finds that there is a great structural similarity between Indo-European, Uralic-Yukagir and even Eskimo, but relatively few shared vocabulary items, the fewer the further North and Northwest you from the Black Sea/Caucasus area. Semitic (a member of the large Afro-Asiatic family) and Indo-European display fundamental structural differences, but share certain phenomena that are clearly linked across their family lines, including key words for concepts like"full, horn, ear, eye, bull, earth."

Wilson refers extensively to the work of Dr James Mellaart, the excavator of Çatal Hüyük. This theory of an original civilization in the Anatolian/Black Sea area before Egypt and before Sumeria is highly original and very plausible. Wilson is just scratching the surface and further investigation would no doubt lead to more remarkable discoveries. According to the Good Book, there is no end to many books. In this case, the more the merrier.

This is a bold direction and needs an interdisciplinary approach. It would be of great value if the author incorporates the work of linguists like Greenberg and Merritt Ruhlen in his further writings. The book concludes with notes & references, a bibliography, an appendix of some key documents and an index. The text is illumed by some really gripping maps and illustrations. I would not classify Before The Flood as "alternative history" - rather the cutting edge of historical research, already underpinned by significant archaeological discoveries. ... Read more