The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World

by Brian M. Fagan (Editor)

Some of the ancient world's most enigmatic and fascinating mysteries are introduced here in an entertaining mixture of informative text by specialists and colour photographs, maps and diagrams. The 70 mysteries are divided into six sections: Myths and legends; Mysteries of the Stone Age; Ancient civilizations; Tombs and lost treasures; Ancient and undeciphered scripts; The fall of civilizations. They include the quest for the Ark of the Covenant, the Turin Shroud, the origin of humans and language, the Mother Goddess cult, the Iceman, the nationality of ancient Egyptians and the Olmecs, Rome's lost legions, Easter Island, Christ's tomb, the origins of the alphabet, runes, the fall of the Minoans and asteroid impacts. The sheer quantity of mysteries discussed means that some questions are inevitably left unanswered but the volume succeeds in its aim to inform the general reader whilst encouraging further research.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Ancient History, Philosophy, Reference, Historical

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Für mich gibt es nichts Spannenderes, als unsere Vorgeschichte zu ergründen, und herauszufinden, ob sich hinter dem einen oder anderen Mythos vielleicht ein Funke Wahrheit verbirgt bzw. was war das Ereignis wirklich, dass es zu einem Mythos geworden ist? Mir ist vollkommen klar, dass viele Mythen wirklich Fiktion sind, aber allein die Existenz eines Ortes wie Troja lässt mir kalte Schauer über den Rücken laufen (auch wenn zumindest die Schicht in Troja, die Heinrich Schliemann ausgegraben hat, zeitlich nicht zur Ilias passt).

In dem Buch werden Fragen wie „Gab es den Exodus?“, „Was ist mit den Moorleichen passiert“? oder „Wie alt ist die Sphinx?“ erfreulich sachlich besprochen. Natürlich ist das Buch stellenweise mittlerweile veraltet, so finden wir im Kapitel über „Sodom und Gomorrha“ beispielsweise noch nicht die Theorie, dass der Untergang einiger Städte am Toten Meer auf glühende Bruchstücke eines Meteoriten zurückzuführen ist. Auch über „Ötzi“ wissen wir heute viel mehr. Andererseits sind viele Schlussfolgerungen im Buch überraschend modern (zumindest für ein populärwissenschaftliches Buch), etwa, dass die Inselkelten rein von der Abstammung her keine Kelten waren. Am interessantesten fand ich die Kapitel „Mythen und Legenden: Was ist wahr?“ und „Alte und nicht entzifferte Schriften“. Da die Kapitel jeweils nur 2 bis 6 Seiten lang sind, ist klar, dass hier nicht eingehend auf ein Thema eingegangen wird, aber ich glaube auch nicht, dass das der Anspruch des Buches ist. Populärwissenschaftliche Bücher wollen auch unterhalten, und solange dabei die Wissenschaftlichkeit gewahrt bleibt und kein Unsinn erzählt wird, ist das vollkommen legitim. Das Buch bietet einen guten, unterhaltsamen Überblick über Erkenntnisse, die man bezüglich ungeklärter Ereignisse in alten Kulturen gewonnen hat.

[Adam Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 / 5 for 'The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World' by Brian M. Fagan

An interesting and nicely presented catalogue of what the editor feels are the 70 biggest mysteries of the ancient world. From Egyptian Tombs to the fall of Rome, from Mayan hieroglyphs to the final resting place of Christ, this book does cover a wide range of topics from all around the world and from different points through history.

Offering 2 - 4 pages per mystery, one couldn't really say that it gives an in-depth guide to any, but enough information is given for each mystery for a reader to understand the mystery's backstory and understand the editors' hypothesis on what the answer to each mystery might be.

There are lots of illustrations throughout, including black and white and colour photographs, diagrams and maps with keys, as well as little info boxes and occasional stat packs, so overall this book is pretty well presented. The textual information was al very clearly written without any confusing scientific mumbo-jumbo, although some small sections were a little long-winded and skippable

On the whole, this was a very good book and an enjoyable read.

3.5 / 5

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this to be very uneven. Some chapters like the two by J.P. Mallory are good, and the number, types and quality of maps and photos are very good, but I have to take issue with a lot of the articles. It totally assumes that Harappans had written language despite the considerable evidence that has been brought to bear against that. It has a whole chapter on lost Roman legions, but says nothing about those lost at Carrhae. It doesn't address the BMAC at all. Several times, especially in the biblical sections, it is still going with the old mythologies and not basing itself on science. Expected more from this author.

[Joseph Pearce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book containing 70 short articles on mysteries of the ancient world. lt is a good informative read.

[daniel dirnfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting subject

[Siri Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an alright read. It presents seventy archaeological mysteries, each one dealt with on just two to four pages. As such, it doesn't really delve deep into any of these mysteries, which would have been preferable to me, but as a quick overview or introduction, it works quite well. I read the Danish version, which had quite a lot of spelling errors throughout, but I think I will put this down to a sloppy translator. It didn't really affect the quality of the book's content, but it's something that you rarely see in published books. I did enjoy the book, though, especially the chapters on ancient writing and the collapse of ancient civilizations. Recommended for people interested in archaeology, especially archaeological mysteries.

[lucie parenkyuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the myths and legends of The Garden of Eden and The Turin Shroud among all, to the mysteries of stone age, tombs and lost treasures, and ancient scripts, this book has it all. Exciting facts and theories were explained briefly, planting the readers ideas on how did it happen, or on what occurred it to take place. Pictures of related subjects were inserted in as well, making the book less dull and a better understanding of the topics discussed.

Recommended to people who wants to know slightly-but-not-to-deeply information on the past.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read with good pictures of each place that was talked about. I was surprised by some of the things that were included as 'mysteries', but it was put together very well. Unfortunately since this book is older, some of the information is out of date or just isn't accurate anymore as we've found new evidence for certain place/things.
Still worth checking out though.

[Jefferson F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy mystery and this is exactly what you get with this book. Short 3-5 page chapters and tons of illustrations. This book doesn't try to answer any questions it just reveals mysteries that you may or may not have heard of before.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short snappy articles that helped me learn so much. The author's writing style makes history accessible and interesting. I will use these as read alouds for my students.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably expected too much of this book, since it had such a promising title, but it just wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be.

[Anh Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me expect too much. Then, it failed to delivery the info I hoped to get.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible reference book. Excellent way to learn new things about what you thought was common place. Read a new mystery a day and start the day off with something new. Highly recommended

[Luru]

(I own a Finnish translation.)