The Ptolemaic dynasty, sometimes also known as the Lagids or Lagidae, was a Macedonian Greek royal family, which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC. They were the last dynasty of ancient Egypt.This is the history of the House of Ptolemy.

The House of Seleucus, by noted historian Edwynt Bevan, chronicles the history of the Seleucid Empire, founded by Seleucus I Nicator following the death of Alexander the Great.

The lectures contained in this volume were given for the University of Edinburgh on Lord Gifford's foundation in the years 1933 and 1934. I have delayed their publication in the hope that with process of time I might, by further reading and thought, be able to expand and modify them, so as to make them more worthy of presentation to the public in the form of a book. This hope has been so meagrely realized that it now seems best to let them go forth, with all their imperfections on their he...

The ancient world as a whole believed in the existence of a world of spirits beyond, or alongside, the visible, tangible world. They believed also that communications between these two worlds frequently took place: everywhere we find diviners and prophets, oracles and visionaries.First published in 1928, Sibyls and Seers investigates the various aspects of this ‘superstition’ in the Ancient Near East, in Homer, the Greek tragedians, and the myriad religions of the Roman Em...

First published in 1938, this title presents the greater part of the 1933 Gifford Lectures in natural theology, given by Edwyn Bevan. The questions raised regarding the element of symbolism in religious conceptions takes the reader to the very heart of the religious problem, and addresses some of the most fundamental questions posed by theology and comparative religion: the nature of ‘Spirit’; the spiritual efficacy of sacred histories and the images they utilise, in particular those found...

First published in 1927, this title presents a well-regarded study of this intriguing and often over-looked period of Egyptian history, both for the general reader and the student of Hellenism.Edwyn Bevan describes his work as ‘an attempt to tell afresh the story of a great adventure, Greek rule in the land of the Pharaohs…which ends with the astounding episode of Cleopatra’. The result is a remarkable synthesis of historical scholarship, prose style and breadth of vision, which wi...

First published in 1929, this title presents some reflections from one of the leading cultural commenters of his day, Edwyn Bevan, on the notoriously controversial subject of burgeoning Indian Nationalism during the twilight of the British Empire.Bevan’s analysis of the peculiarities, tensions and divisive issues of the Indian situation as it existed at the end of the 1920s is of particular relevance today, as historians attempt to develop a nuanced and, as far as possible, objecti...

First published in 1921, this title examines the relationship between what the author labels the ‘rationalist’ element in Western culture on the one hand, derived from the ancient Greeks, and Christianity, on the other. Bevan contends that these two traditions are distinct, but not mutually exclusive, and that to understand fully their mutuality and reciprocity it is necessary to examine the distinct history of both: their individual provenances, their fusion and interpenetration, and also...

Firstpublished in 1940, this title presents four of the Gifford Lectures in natural theology given by Edwyn Bevan in 1933: ‘An Inquiry into Idolatry and Image-Worship in Ancient Paganism and Christianity’. Reference is made throughout all four lectures not only to the conventional disputes in Western Christianity, but also to the attitudes of Hebrew, Pagan, Patristic, Muslim and Eastern thinkers towards the role of symbols and symbolism in worship. In this way, a subject of perennial fasci...

In this radical approach to the Bible, an acclaimed Hebrew scholar and translator looks at the Old Testament with a fresh perspective.With a fundamental return to its narrative prose, Robert Alter translates this section of the Bible through the eyes of a literary critic. He considers the Bible as literary text, guiding readers to approach scripture in a profoundly thoughtful way, proving himself to be a timeless poet in his field.

Before there was The Secret, there was The Kybalion. The entire framework for The Law of Attraction is detailed in depth. One of the Three Initiates is said to have been William Walker Atkinson, whose 1906 book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World, can be credited as the basis for the teachings of The Secret's Law of Attraction. This edition contains the following appendices: History of the Kybalion (an original essay); The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trigmegistus (...

"With crisply prophetic joy, Meyers calls seekers and believers alike to leave belief about God behind in favor of becoming imitators of Jesus." — Diana Butler Bass, author of A People's History of ChristianityRobin Meyers, a rising star of liberal Christianity, restores the true mission of the faith that captures the heart of Jesus's concern for people over "right belief." Saving Jesus from the Church will resonate deeply with tho...