The Secret Sacred explores the hidden religious practices of the classical world. These cults, shrouded in secrecy, promised initiates a transformative afterlife. While many rituals remain mysterious, artworks and historical texts provide glimpses of their underlying beliefs.The book examines Greco-Roman religious traditions and their divergence into mystery cults, including Bacchic ceremonies depicted in frescoes, Orphic gold tablets guiding souls in the underworld and the...

Famed for their skill in battle, the Hittites flourished in central Anatolia from the seventeenth to the thirteenth century BCE. They were much more than a military power, however – their religion held particular reverence for the sun and storms that provided fertility to their land, and their eclectic art produced some of the most unique rock-cut relief carvings of the Bronze Age.The Hittites is a fine introduction to the culture and art of this vibrant civilization. The b...

Juicy, crunchy, tart: with its multitude of seeds and juice akin to blood, it’s not hard to see why the pomegranate has so appealed to the imagination. After being held in high esteem in the rituals of the polytheistic religions of the ancient world, the pom-egranate came to be revered in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This book explores how people throughout history interacted with pomegranates, featuring a cast of well-known characters from the Ashurnasirpal to Anne Boleyn, from Sandro...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Magisterial . . . [A] rich portrait of ancient Egypt’s complex evolution over the course of three millenniums.”—Los Angeles TimesNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYThe Washington Post • Publishers WeeklyIn this landmark volume, one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first natio...

This riveting narrative explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra--women who ruled with real power--and shines a piercing light on our own perceptions of women in power today.Female rulers are a rare phenomenon--but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly, repeatedly, and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But througho...

Civilization was born eight thousand years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place.In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of ...

Here, archaeologically documented,is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Under her, women’s roles were far more prominent than in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures. Stone describes this ancient system and, with its disintegration, the decline in women’s status.

Situated in an area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Mesopotamia is one of the great, ancient civilizations, though it is still relatively unknown. Yet, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the very first cities were created. This is the first book to reveal how life was lived in ten Mesopotamian cities: from Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, to that potent symbol of decadence, Babylon - the first true metropolis: multicultural, multi-ethnic, the last centre of a dying civilization.

In ancient Egypt women enjoyed a legal, social and sexual independence unrivalled by their Greek or Roman sisters, or in fact by most women until the late nineteenth century. They could own and trade in property, work outside the home, marry foreigners and live alone without the protection of a male guardian. Some of them even rose to rule Egypt as ‘female kings’. Joyce Tyldesley’s vivid history of how women lived in ancient Egypt weaves a fascinating picture of daily life – marriage and t...

Everyone has heard of Ramesses the Great - but what is the truth behind the legend? Joyce Tyldesley's lively book explores the life and times of Egypt's greatest king. Ramesses II was the archetypal Egyptian pharoah: a mighty warrior, an extravagant builder and the father of scores of children. His momuments and image were to be found in every corner of the Egyptian empire. This is his amazing story.

Queen - or, as she would prefer to be remembered King - Hatchepsut was an astonishing woman. Brilliantly defying tradition she became the female embodiment of a male role, dressing in men's clothes and even wearing a false beard. Forgotten until Egptologists deciphered hieroglyphics in the 1820's, she has since been subject to intense speculation about her actions and motivations. Combining archaeological and historical evidence from a wide range of sources, Joyce Tyldesley's dazzling piec...

The ancient Near East is known as the "cradle of civilization"--and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of writing and law, kingship and bureaucracy, diplomacy and state-sponsored warfare, mathematics and literature. This Very Short Introduction offers a fascinating account of this momentous time in human history. The thr...