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Vanished Civilizations: The Hidden Secrets of Lost Cities and Forgotten Peoples
More than 370 full-color illustrations, photographs, and detailed maps highlight an intriguing look at some of the world's long-lost civilizations, taking a close-up look at each culture's artifacts and efforts of archaeologists to reconstruct these complex societies--including Catal Huyuk, Mycenae, Babylon, Pataliputra, and others.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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Reader's Digest Association
4,606 books493 followersThe Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.
The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.
The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 24, 2018
This fascinating coffee table book, is an exciting time capsule, filled with beautiful photographs, artworks and maps and is a tribute to the efforts to uncover ancient civilizations and to recreate the lives lived by the people in these fascinating societies of antiquity.
What has survived by chance through the millennia such as pottery, shards, ruined buildings, fragments of mosaic and some writing on clay tablets etc reveals something to archaeologists and historians of the day to day life of people in ancient civilizations.
This book covers 40 civilizations in Anatolia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, India, Israel, Transjordan, Italy, Germany, Gaul, North Africa, Siberia and the Americas.
As the introduction states : "This book looks at people in their daily lives at work, eating and drinking, at prayer and at public entertainment.
Thus we can learn what homes in Catal Hoyuk, in Antatolia (modern day Turkey), looked like, in the city-state that flourished thousands of years before civilization is thought to have been born; how accounts were kept in Susa in Elam (Persia); sports and entertainment in Knossos in Crete; the life of the royal Egyptian family of Akhenaton, Nefertiti and their little princesses in Armana, Ancient Egypt and the cult of the Sun god introduced by Akhenaton; the Ishtar Gate in Babylon; the equality of women in Tarquinia, the Etruscan City-State; the Borobudur monument of faith at Java; and the early Christian community at Ani in Armenia.
A vast panorama comes alive in this book of much beauty, building and learning as well as the more turbulent events of the time.
What has survived by chance through the millennia such as pottery, shards, ruined buildings, fragments of mosaic and some writing on clay tablets etc reveals something to archaeologists and historians of the day to day life of people in ancient civilizations.
This book covers 40 civilizations in Anatolia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, India, Israel, Transjordan, Italy, Germany, Gaul, North Africa, Siberia and the Americas.
As the introduction states : "This book looks at people in their daily lives at work, eating and drinking, at prayer and at public entertainment.
Thus we can learn what homes in Catal Hoyuk, in Antatolia (modern day Turkey), looked like, in the city-state that flourished thousands of years before civilization is thought to have been born; how accounts were kept in Susa in Elam (Persia); sports and entertainment in Knossos in Crete; the life of the royal Egyptian family of Akhenaton, Nefertiti and their little princesses in Armana, Ancient Egypt and the cult of the Sun god introduced by Akhenaton; the Ishtar Gate in Babylon; the equality of women in Tarquinia, the Etruscan City-State; the Borobudur monument of faith at Java; and the early Christian community at Ani in Armenia.
A vast panorama comes alive in this book of much beauty, building and learning as well as the more turbulent events of the time.
February 20, 2021
Very good! Quite interesting book. It contains many cities and a lot of information and details, thus I ended up absorbing/memorizing relatively little, might be helpful to reread it a few times.
Muito bom! É um livro bem interessante. São várias cidades e há muita informação e detalhes, portanto acabei absorvendo/memorizando relativamente pouco, pode ser útil reler algumas vezes.
Muito bom! É um livro bem interessante. São várias cidades e há muita informação e detalhes, portanto acabei absorvendo/memorizando relativamente pouco, pode ser útil reler algumas vezes.
April 24, 2021
A survey of ancient civilisations written in a clear style by folks who are experts in their field filled with lavish illustrations, diagrams, maps and timelines. Perfect for a history dilettante such as myself.
August 27, 2017
A lovely book from my childhood.Very informative and intricate details.Love the part about Queen Nefertiti.Helped me in lot of school projects.
January 9, 2025
Kniha je dobře čtivá a informace jdou plynule za sebou. Najdeme zde zajímavé poznatky a průřez nejznámějšími civilizacemi. Osobně bych ocenil detailnější rozbor civilizací.
March 1, 2017
Some more information about Angkor Wat and the Khmer. Another book from my childhood.
May 23, 2015
This book was written in 2002, and it shows. The format is a mix between the heavy use of text used in previous history textbooks and the incorporation of lots of images (a more modern trend) to keep the reader's attention. The layout is also reminiscent of early 2000's designs.
Aside from that this is still a good book for history fans. This book is called "Vanished Civilizations" for a reason. Most people know about the ancient Egyptians, Mayans, Romans, Vikings, etc. This book touches some of that but focuses mostly on older lesser known civilizations. In fact, most of the cities I had never heard of and I have a minor in ancient civilizations. (Mostly European).
The book provides a nice table at the start comparing what was going on across the different continents at the same time. I'd recommend reading that before starting this book. It gives the reader a nice backstory as to why everything is in the order it is. The book starts thousands of years ago. It starts before writing even existed. That should give you an idea about how old these civilizations are.
This is a nice book that covers a lot of information and a lot of cultures across a long period of time. It was a nice find. Not my favorite, but I think that has to do with its age. Aside from that, it was an interesting read for a summer afternoon.
Aside from that this is still a good book for history fans. This book is called "Vanished Civilizations" for a reason. Most people know about the ancient Egyptians, Mayans, Romans, Vikings, etc. This book touches some of that but focuses mostly on older lesser known civilizations. In fact, most of the cities I had never heard of and I have a minor in ancient civilizations. (Mostly European).
The book provides a nice table at the start comparing what was going on across the different continents at the same time. I'd recommend reading that before starting this book. It gives the reader a nice backstory as to why everything is in the order it is. The book starts thousands of years ago. It starts before writing even existed. That should give you an idea about how old these civilizations are.
This is a nice book that covers a lot of information and a lot of cultures across a long period of time. It was a nice find. Not my favorite, but I think that has to do with its age. Aside from that, it was an interesting read for a summer afternoon.
November 25, 2013
An absolutely enjoyable read. If you have any interest in archaeology or ancient history, I think you will be well pleased with this book. The writing is engaging and highly informative and the illustrations and pictures go well with the text. There are so many books about the more famous civilisations (e.g., the Romans) that it is nice to see a book focus on those that have slipped under the radar. It also does a very good job of putting these civilisation into context with their more well-known counterparts.
July 9, 2013
Lovely book. Informative with maps and pictures. Might be a little outdated by now though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews