The seventy great mysteries of the ancient world

312 Pages·2012·58.57 MB·English

by  Fagan, Brian M

EDITED BY BRIAN M. FAGAN
THE
SEVENT\s
GREAT MYSTERIES
WORLD
ANCIENT
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King Arthurand the Holy Crail, the lost tomb
oi Alexander the Great, and the story of Atlantis:
the human past is tnil of unsolved mysteries. The
Seventy (.rem \u steries oftheAncient World
draws on modern science and the latest researeh
to explore some oi archaeology's most baffling
controversies and enigmas, from ourorigins to
the mysterious collapse of powerful civilizations.
eadingauthorities discuss the key questions,
I
beginning with the truth behind myths and
legends. Was there ever a Garden of Eden? What
became of the Ten Lost Tribes ofIsrael and what
is the significance of the Aboriginal Dreamtime?
The book then examines mysteries of the Stone
Age: the beginnings of language, the fate ofthe
Neanderthals and the meaningofC3,T paintings.
The much-debated first s^-'1 jnt of Anc^U^
and the Americas .iLiUversial Kennewick
skull are considered, as is the significance of
the European megaliths. Ancient civilizations
present fascinating enigmas: were the Egyptians
black Africans? How did Tutankhamun die?
What happened to the lost legions of Rome? And
mysteries are found in all parts of the globe: did
the Olmecs originate in Africa, were the bogbodies
of northern Europe murdervictims andwhat was
the purpose of the world-famous Nazca lines?
The book pays close attention topuzzling
sepulchers likeTomb 55 in Egypt's Valley of the
Kings-possibly the pharaoh Akhenaten'sburial
place-and to undeciphered scripts, from Cretan
Linear A to Etruscan, runes androngorongo.
Finally, it examines the controversies surrounding
the collapse ofsuch civilizations as the Minoan,
the Maya and the Moche of lowland Peru.
Packed with evocative photographs and informative
diagrams, maps and plans, The SeventyGreat
Mysteries ofthe Ancient World is a unique guide
to some of the most contentious issues of the
human past.
With 431 illustrations, 177 in color

The Seventy
Great Mysteries
of the Ancient
World
UNLOCKINGTHE SECRETS OF PAST CIVILIZATIONS
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The Seventy m
Great Mysteries of the
World
Ancient
UNLOCKINGTHE SECRETS OF PAST CIVILIZATIONS
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Onthejacket Spine:'Snakegoddess Knossos,( ret< 11k Contents
Anh.kiiIo.hk.iI Museum, I[eraklion,PhotoAKc., London/Erich
Lessing Front abov* 'efttoright):TimSeveral'sAzgo.Photo
Inhi) i palace, Palenque,Mexico
Morrison South \. Pii tures;
Tutankhamun'sgoldmask(detail] EgyptianMuseum,(.lairo;
Mosaii nice WernerFormanArchive;
{below):PuebloCliffPalace, MesaVerde,Colorado.©TomTill.
Half-titleThePhaistosdisc,discoveredacenturyagoonCrete ListofContributors 8
andstillundeciphered.
FrontispieceThemysteriouscityofTiwanakuinBolivia,
i \ii200-600:viewacrossthesemi-subterraneantempletothe Preface 10
monolithicdoorwaytotheKalasasayaenclosure.
Introduction 12
Page5tl-riNoah'sArkbyGustavDore;thestandingstonesof
Callamsh,Lewis,Scotland.
Pages6-7(1-r)TheSphinxatGiza theterracottaarmyofthe
;
firstemperorofChina,Shihuangdi;detailoftheFranksCasket,
c.ad700,withrunicscriptabove;abarbarianfightsaRoman
soldier,early2nd-centuryrelieffromRome.
Anycopyofthisbookissuedbythepublisherasapaperbackis
soldsubjecttotheconditionthatitshallnotbywayoftradeor
otherwisebelent,resold,hiredoutorotherwisecirculated
withoutthepublisher'spriorconsentinanyformofbindingor
coverotherthanthatinwhichitispublishedandwithouta
similarconditionincludingthesewordsbeingimposedona
subsequentpurchaser.
©2001Thames&HudsonLtd,London
FirstpublishedinhardcoverintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
in2001byThames&HudsonInc.,500FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NewYork10110
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber2001086842
ISBN0-500-51050-4
AllRightsReserved.Nopartofthispublicationmavbe
reproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,
electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,recordingorany
otherinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutprior
permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
PrintedandboundinHongKongbyToppan
Myths & Legends:
ysteries ofthe StoneAge
HiddenTruths?
Introduction 18 Introduction 82
The Garden ofEden 21 17 The PuzzleofHuman Origins 85
1
2 The Biblical Flood & Noah'sArk 25 18 How Did Language Evolve? 89
3 Moses&the Exodus:Myth orReality? 30 19 WhatHappenedtothe Neanderthals? 92
4 The LostCitiesofSodom& Gomorrah 34 20 The EnigmaofPalaeolithicCaveArt 96
5 Atlantis:FactorFiction? 38 21 WhoWerethe FirstAustralians? 101
6 TheTrojanWar 43 22 The FirstAmericans& Kennewick Man 105
7 Theseus&the Minotaur 48 23 WhatWiped Outthe Big
GameAnimals? 109
8 Jason&theArgonauts 52
24 How Did Farming Begin? 114
9 TheTen LostTribesofIsrael 56
25 The MysteriesofRockArt 118
10 TheQuestfortheArkoftheCovenant 60
26 The Meaningofthe Megaliths 123
1 1 TheStarofBethlehem 63
12 KingArthur&the HolyGrail 67 27 WasTherea MotherGoddessCult? 128
28 The Iceman:Shepherd orShaman? 132
13 TheTurin Shroud 71
29 How DidThey Build Stonehenge? 136
14 Maya Myth:WilltheWorld
End in 2012? 74 30 Where Didthe Indo-Europeans
Come From? 141
15 Aztlan&the Mythofthe
Aztec Migration 76
16 Memoriesofthe Dreamtime 79
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Ancient Civilizations ombs & LostTreasures
Introduction 144 Introduction 216
3 I WeretheAncient Egyptians BlackAfricans? 147 50 The Puzzle ofTomb 55 219
32 HowDidTheyErectPyramids&Obelisks? 151 51 The LostTombofAlexandertheGreat 223
33 The Riddle ofthe Sphinx 156 52 TheTombofChina's First Emperor 227
34 WhereWasthe Land ofPunt? 161 53 The HiddenTreasureofthe
35 WasTutankhamun Murdered? 164 Dead Sea 231
36 TheTarim Mummies:WhoWereThey? 167 54 TheTomb ofChrist 234
37 Werethe OlmecsAfrican? 171
38 Why DidtheCarthaginiansSacrifice
Children? 173
39 AncientOracles:Prophets orProfiteers? 177
40 WhoWerethe Celts? 182
41 Bog Bodies:MurderVictimsor
Sacrifices? 186
42 The Lost Legions ofRome 189
43 The MysteriesofMithraism 193
44 LostCityofthe Maya:The HuntforSite Q 197
45 The Mysteryofthe Nazca Lines 199
46 Who BuiltTiwanaku? 202
47 Why Didthe Incas Sacrifice Children? 205
48 How Didthe Polynesians FindTheir
Homeland? 208
49 Statues&Survival on EasterIsland 211