Global History Volume I: The Ancient World to the Age of Revolution Review

Global History Volume I: The Ancient World to the Age of Revolution
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great book and a great price. I recommend people to buy it in case you kids loses it in school since school charges $100 for it if lost. I am using it to "refresh" myself also as I "learned" this over 30 years ago.

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This all-new and comprehensive history textbook has been written and designed to meet secondary school requirements in school districts throughout the country, as well as New York City and State curriculum requirements for the first year in the two-year sequence in "Global History and Geography." It consists of the following study units: Introduction to Global History and Geography: outlines physical economic and human/cultural geography in all regions of the world Ancient World: Civilizations and Religion (4,000 BCE - 500 CE): covers ancient cultures of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas Expanding Zones of Exchange and Encounter (500 - 1200): covers the Byzantine Empire, Medieval Europe, Islam, Asia, and the Americas Global Interactions (1200 - 1650): covers the Renaissance, the Reformation, the commercial revolution, and Global interactions in Asia The First Global Age (1450 - 1770): covers the rise of nation-states, the growth of democracy in England, the age of exploration, African civilizations, and globalism in the Middle East and Asia An Age of Revolutions (1750 - 1826): covers the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution, the French Revolution, and revolution and war in the age of Napoleon The book is filled with maps, diagrams, and illustrations.

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Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader Review

Women in the Hebrew Bible: A Reader
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For too long educators have complained that they do not have the materials to teach courses on women in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. At long last, Bach has filled the void with a collection that appeals to both educators and the general public. It will be a long time before this volume will outdone.

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Out of Egypt: The Roots of Christianity Revealed Review

Out of Egypt: The Roots of Christianity Revealed
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I was intrigued by the thesis of this book; that the roots of both Judaism and Christianity were to be found in ancient Egypt. Amongst other ideas, the author suggests that the Pharaohs Thutmosis III, Akhenaten, and Tutankamun were the persons that the Bible calls David, Moses, and Jesus, respectively. He argues that the accounts in the scriptures held sacred by the Jews and by Christians, known as the Old Testament, and which were written down only after many centuries of oral tradition, are seriously flawed and ahistorical. Osman further suggests that there is no proof whatsoever, aside from the biblical account, that there ever was an important Jewish kingdom in Palestine ruled by David or Solomon. Essentially, he contends that Jesus did not live a mortal life in the first century AD, but rather that embellished accounts of a life from more than 1000 years earlier were used as a model in what amounted to a great deception. His book is a serious problem for either a believing Christian or a believing Jew, undercutting as it does the veracity of the scriptures, and basic tenets of both faiths. Nonetheless, the book might be a serious challenge to conventional scholarship, were it not flawed itself. Osman has an annoying and ultimately self-undermining habit of making a great many unsupported suppositions. He makes a claim, which he promises to prove "later", and then later he continues his argument with "As we have seen..." as though he has offered solid proof, when in fact he has offered nothing of the sort. There is far too much here that lacks substantiation, and the author relies far too heavily on the Bible itself (which he himself claims is completely unreliable) and his personal interpretation thereof, to measure up to even a weak academic standard. It IS an entertaining read; but far too many speculations are held together with very little solid evidence for Osman's argument to be taken completely seriously. Even his research was less than thorough. His bibliography, for example, does not include Immanuel Velikovsky, who wrote of a similar theory regarding the Pharaoh Akhenaten decades ago. To conclude, the book promised much, but failed to deliver. Ultimately, I was disappointed.

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Parallels: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions a Tradition Review

Parallels: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions a Tradition
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Diane Wirth has collected an impressive number of cultural parallels between the Old World (Near East) and the New World (Mesoamerica). She presents a large number of examples that show bearded figures in the early cultures of Mesoamerica which have usually been considered as beardless. These examples parallel Near Eastern cultural and physical features. She shows a close parallel between the characteristics of the Egyptian god Osiris and the Maya Maize god. She draws parallels in creation and renewal beliefs as well as in birth and resurrection as revealed in the iconography. She demonstrates how the World Tree (Tree of Life) is common to both Near Eastern and Mesoamerican beliefs. She reveals the similarities between the Egyptian and Mayan scribal traditions. Both hieroglyphic writing systems were highly developed and both used logograms, syllabic signs and determinative markers that aided in determining the meaning of ambigious glyphs. She uses the glyphs and the icons from works of art and sculpture to explain the complexity of these parallels. Diane is very qualified to do this kind of comparison. She has studied these things for many years and has been a student of many of the leading Mesoamerican scholars. I recommend this book to anyone interested in furthering their knowledge of the diffusion of culture from the Old World to the New. There are many excellent references cited that can lead one to a more comprehensive understanding of these two cultural areas.

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The Kybalion: A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece Review

The Kybalion: A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece
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I don't care if The Kybalion was authored by William Walker Atkinson, either alone or with others OR it was Harriet Case (Paul Foster Case's wife at the time), Ann Davies (who succeeded Paul Foster Case as head of the B.O.T.A.), Mabel Collins (a prominent Theosophical writer), Claude Bragdon (an architect, Theosophist, and writer on "mystic geometry"), and Claude Alexander (a well-known stage magician, mentalist, proponent of crystal gazing. This is a great book in content and in style of writing.

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This little book will tell you all you ever wanted to know about the "Ancient Wisdom". It is rather easy reading for a receptive and open mind.

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Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature Review

Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia: The Gilgamesh Epic and Other Ancient Literature
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This is an interesting way of viewing myths. It is a scholarly book, even if one does not read the footnotes. For scholars, this is a useful book, and I refer to the author's viewpoints when I write about mythology.
The author has clearly done a great deal of useful research. Her style of writing is accessible, not convoluted like many scholarly works which are meant for a limited group of people willing to read the book and every single footnote.
Karen Nemet-Nejat

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Rivkah Harris's cross-cultural and multidisciplinary approach breaks new ground in assessing Mesopotamian attitudes toward youth and mature adulthood, aging and the elderly, generational conflict, gender differences in aging, relationships between men and women, women's contributions to cultural activities, and the "ideal woman."

To uncover Mesopotamian perspectives, Harris combed through primary sources - including literature and myth, letters, economic and legal texts, and visual materials. Even such pivotal cultural influences as the Gilgamesh Epic and Enuma Elish are reinterpreted in an original manner.


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Ancient Egypt Jigsaw Book (Luxury Jigsaw Books) Review

Ancient Egypt Jigsaw Book (Luxury Jigsaw Books)
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We can look down on this jigsaw book the ancient Egyptian world under pharaoh's ruling where their cultural and technical ways are quite similar to ours at present. Whenever you pick up each piece of jigsawed pages, vivid smiles of those ancient people with animals may let you know their magnificent world. I could face to this ancient Egypt many times during my tour in Egypt last May and found this book at the Cairo Airport.


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Ancient Civilizations (Questions and Answers Paperbacks) Review

Ancient Civilizations (Questions and Answers Paperbacks)
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My boys are 6 and 7 and this book has definitely caught their interest! I have learned things as well, and it is easy to just read a bit and then come back to it later. Elementary school doesn't tend to go into this type of material, and I love the fact that it opens my boys up to the concept of history at such a young age. On each 2 page spread there is also a short review quiz of some of the terms, etc. that put your "listening" skills to work as well.

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Who built the first cities? Did people really fight wild animals?Who developed the most effective weapons?Who had the worst punishments?Find the answers to these and other intriguing questions while you explore the great civilizations of the past.

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Short Role-playing Simulations for Middle School World History Review

Short Role-playing Simulations for Middle School World History
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The ideas for the role playing activies are good, some are new to me as well. I use the one where the kids set off on an exploration to set up a new colony (I adapt the lesson to fit my standards) and they roll a dice to see how the weather is, where they land, how the natives react to them, etc. However, the book itself looks self-published, the handouts are boring.

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An Introduction to the Ancient World Review

An Introduction to the Ancient World
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This book is a great introduction to the History of the Fertile Crescent, Greece, and Rome. Needless to say, the Romans get the most attention, but the coverage is good all around (Rome lasted longer anyway, right?). The translation into English is clear and, interestingly, flows well; you wouldn't know the book was originally in Dutch unless you read it in the copyright section. This is the text for the Greco-Roman civilization class I took at FSU, and most of the students in there paid like a hundred and twenty dollars for the hardcover edition. Can't say it's that great but buy this paperback if you would like a primer in Ancient History.

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Integrating the results of scholarly work from the past decade, the authors of An Introduction to the Ancient World, Lukas de Blois and R.J. van der Spek, have fully-updated and revised all sixteen chapters of this best-selling introductory textbook. Covering the history and culture of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome within the framework of a short narrative history of events, this bookoffers an easily readable, integrated overview for students of history, classics, archaeology and philosophy, whether at college, at undergraduate level or among the wider reading public. This revised second edition offers a new section on early Christianity and more specific information on the religions, economies, and societies of the ancient Near East. There is extended coverage of Greek, Macedonian and Near Eastern history of the fourth to second centuries BC and the history of the Late Roman Republic. The consequences of Julius Caesar's violent death are covered in more detail, as are the history and society of Imperial Rome.Thisnew edition is:comprehensive: covers 3,000 years of ancient history and provides the basis for a typical one-semester course lavishly illustrated: contains maps, line drawings and plates to support and supplement the text, with updated captions clearly and concisely written: two established and respected university teachers with thirty years' experience in the subject areas well-organized: traces the broad outline of political history but also concentrates on particular topics user-friendly: includes chapter menus, an extensive and expanded bibliography organized by subject area and three appendices, an improved introduction and the addition of an epilogue.

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Ramses: The Son of Light - Volume I Review

Ramses: The Son of Light - Volume I
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This book kept me entertained, which is usually all I ask from a book. In the historical fiction genre, however, I usually assume that the basic plot elements are either provable fact or at least in some way believable to historians. While I read the book, I was shocked to find out that much of what I thought about this period was wrong; when I finished and did research on the subject, I was disappointed to find out that I had been misled by someone who knew better.
I know that many will defend this work on the grounds that it is fiction, but I believe that someone with Jacq's credentials has a responsibility to his readers. Many people will read this book and 'learn' that Ramses II was contemporary with Helen of Troy, and that Homer was contemporary with them both - which is only the greatest of the wild inaccuracies in this book. One misguided reviewer on this site states, "The fact that the author, Christian Jacq, has a doctorate degree in Egyptian studies made me presume that the contents should not be too far from the truth". In actuality, the contents bear little resemblance to any defensible version of history. It's not just that conversations and minor characters are created, which is expected. It's not just that unexplained events are explained away in a controversial manner, which is reasonable. The problem is that established facts in history are actually contravened here. If you read this book and take for granted that anything you read is true, you are taking a great risk.
I am not telling you to avoid this book. It is very entertaining, and it may interest you in Egyptology. Certainly it propelled me to research the Trojan War, among other subjects. Just make sure that you understand; this is not historical fiction along the lines of George, Penman, and Shaara. This is closer to the alternate history novels of Harry Turtledove. Read and enjoy, but do not take it to heart.

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Ancient Egypt comes alive in this eagerly anticipated new series that's breaking sales records in Europe! "Ramses, Vol. I: The Son of Light" recounts the thrilling story of Ramses, the legendary king who ruled Egypt for more than 60 years. Chosen by the pharaoh Seti, the 14-year-year-old Ramses sets into motion a tapestry of royal intrigue, treacherous plots, and romantic adventures that will keep readers spellbound and hungry for more.

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Ancient Egypt and Black Africa Review

Ancient Egypt and Black Africa
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Dr. Theophile Obenga has written a great book showing the African background to Greek philosophy. The book traces the Greek student's routes when travelling to Egypt in addition to providing the words of the students themselves and their references to learning in Egypt. Dr. Obenga's mastery of ancient Greek and Medu Netcher (hieroglyphics) provides the reader with the words of the ancients themselves. This book should be required reading for all college students. Dr. Obenga's arguments make the book, Not Out of Africa, by Mary Lefkowitz seem almost juvenile.

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The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs Review

The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs
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This book attempts to reconstruct the ancient mind set of the Egyptians, in so far as possible, and relate it to our own. Assmann writes "ancient Egypt is an intellectual and spiritual world that is linked to our own by numerous strands of tradition." He discusses, for example, the influences of works such as "The Admonitions of Ipuwer" [13th cent.BC]on Bertold Brecht who used parts of it in his play "The Caucasian Chalk Circle". He explains the most important Egyptian philosophical concept "ma'at" or "connective justice" (illustrated in "The Eloquent Peasant" a Middle Kingdom work but holding "for Egyptian civilization in general" in terms of the ideas of both Karl Marx and Nietzsche.
Most importantly he shows what the Egyptian state really stood for as opposed to the false images found in Old Testament propaganda that mispresents Eqypt as an oppressive slave state. "The Egyptian state." he says, "is the implementation of a legal order that precludes the natural supremacy of the strong and opens up prospects for the weak (the 'widows' and 'orphans') that otherwise would not exist."
Unlike many who think that the revolution initiated by Akhenaten perished with him, Assmann presents evidence that its main principles survived in other religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well in secular venues from Greek philosophy "to the universalist formulas of oun own age as embodied in the physics of Einstein and Heisenberg."
It is possible that many of the ideas of "Christianity" were originally formulated by the Egyptians.
Today we know more about the Ancient Egyptians than ever before so we should "attempt to enter into a dialogue with the newly readable messages of ancient Egyptian culture and thus to reestablish them as an integral part of our cultural memory."
I have only skimmed the surface of this important book. Anyone who wants to understand ancient Egypt must read this book."

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Moses: A Life Review

Moses: A Life
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Since there is no archeological evidence that Moses ever existed, author Jonathan Kirsch uses the words of the bible,together with modern biblical scholarship to re-create the great prophet who exists between the lines of scripture. Kirsch goes through each chapter of the bible beginning with the book of Exodus and ending with the book of Deuteronomy and shows where various traditions and counter-traditions might have intersected. He shows the Moses who is portrayed as a great hero by the "Deuteronomist" and the Moses whose role is diminished by the "Priestly source." He discusses virtually every theory including the theory that their were two Moses and the first was murdered! This is surely not the book to read if you are a bible literalist (or an Orthodox Jew) and I certainly don't agree with all his points, being partial to the biblical story myself. But Kirsch is a lively writer and it is an interesting read nonetheless, as is Kirsch's "King David".

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Walk Like an Egyptian: The Expanded Edition Review

Walk Like an Egyptian: The Expanded Edition
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this book was very helpfull in my quest for egyptian religious practices. it taught me many things, and ive been reading books and all the information i can get on egyptian religion.and how to practice this in todays world. this book covers many aspects from backgrounds on many of the god to what an egyptian marriage would be like.if you are studing ancient egyptian religion or would like to learn some background on ancient egyptian gods this book is a must.

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The calendar material in this expanded edition of Walk Like An Egyptian provides further insight into the mind of the ancient world, a glimpse into a world in which every element of reality was a manifestation of the divine and the cosmic, a time in which even the counting of days and months into years was a mystery of divine proportions. The calendar of ancient Egypt is older than astrology. The Egyptian calendar itself is almost forgotten, yet it is the direct ancestor of the Western calendar in use today. The ancient Egyptians were keenly focused on the concept of life as a journey through time, and the calendar was their map. In Walk Like An Egyptian, you will find one of the world's oldest guides to self-navigation in an easy-to-use format, a daily horoscope from the dawn of history. Each season, month and day is listed with its ancient name, together with the warnings and requirements, stories and scenarios of the gods involved in the story of the year. The day is divided into eight-hour segments of morning, afternoon and night. Sacred ceremonies and ritual feasts are also listed, making the calendar a complete guide to the Egyptian year, a horoscope unlike any other available in the modern world.The earlier editions of Walk Like An Egyptian brought the concepts of ancient Egyptian religion and philosophy into the context of the modern world. Readers around the globe found the once-obscure ideas of ancient wisdom interpreted as profound contemplations of the reality of human nature. Many familiar names in the ancient pantheon were revealed in modern terms, such as: Osiris, the divine and immortal portion of each human's soul clothed in mortal flesh; Re, the divine light of consciousness in the mind; Horus, who is the paradox of the universal nature of each soul's unique identity; Isis, bonding force of the soul; Thoth, representing the power of human thought and intellect, and more.The success of Walk Like An Egyptian led to Wheeler's collaboration with Diana Janeen Pierce, who had assembled a daily calendar of ancient Egyptian ceremonies, rituals and festivals. Wheeler and Pierce worked together on a translation of the lengthy and difficult Cairo Calendar Papyri, one of the few surviving documents detailing the system by which Egyptians organized their daily lives. Wheeler's accompanying interpretation of the Egyptian cosmos makes a lively counterpart to the horoscope, clarifying the often confusing material. Together, Wheeler and Pierce provide a modern evaluation of how to "walk like an Egyptian," attuned to eternity in your daily life and guided by eternal principles.

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The Serpent Grail: The Truth Behind the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life Review

The Serpent Grail: The Truth Behind the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life
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The authors ignore respected sources that apply very directly to their work, and the various observations regarding the serpent icon, meaning and myth.
By not including Marija Gimbutas various archeolgical books ("The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization" for one), nor Barbara G. Walker's "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects" as well as "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" Serpent Grail authors rob their arguments of strong investigators of relevant subject matter. Further, they do not seem to know of Jeremy Narby's "Cosmic Serpent" which offers much insight into an intriguing indigenous and shamanic interpretaion of serpent, life force, and what we call DNA.
Worse, in my opinion all too often the authors ramble on and in sudden "deus ex machina" fashion include "And so it is obvious that...."
What follows is a conclusion unsupported by reasoned presentation based on facts. Rather, a string of events, and suppositions are offered, and quickly summed up as clearly proving whatever the authors are selling.
I wanted this book to be so much better than it is. I think it a shame Gimbutas and Walker are not included as their work is so very relevant to this book and its premises. Further, with more rigorous scholarship and intellectual discipline the case the authors are making would be much better served.

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The truth has been buried for hundreds of years beneath myth, symbolism, and propaganda—but it finally comes to light in these pages and can no longer be denied. This is the story of an extraordinary journey of discovery that uncovers the existence of a serpent-worshipping cult that thrived throughout the world in ancient times and whose influences have permeated all the major religions. The cult's central rite involved mixing together snake blood and venom in a ceremonial bowl, forging a powerful healing elixir—and the evidence shows that this ritual holds the key to solving such enigmatic mysteries as the Holy Grail, Elixir of Life, Philosopher's Stone, and the lost city of Atlantis. It's nothing less than a radical reinterpretation of world history.

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Muti's Necklace: The Oldest Story in the World Review

Muti's Necklace: The Oldest Story in the World
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What a great gift for a young child. The writing doesn't talk down to kids but keeps their attention. The story is tightly constructed with a strong woman character (so hard to find in books sometimes!) - combined with a sorccercer and a snake what more could you ask for. Set in ancient Egypt timeless ideas about power and family are raised. The pictures are gorgeous!!!

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