Vanished Cities

by Hermann Schreiber, Georg Schreiber

Through legends, the Bible, philosophers' stories we hear about ancient and now non-existent cities. Some were centers of trading and commerce; others claimed priorities on vice and sin. Through active volcanoes or unwieldy waters these cities were destroyed leaving exiguous records for posterity. Primary evidence has become a locus for the speculations of historians, archeologists and students of Higher Criticism. Collecting the myths and their contemporary interpretations the authors re-explore vanished vistas without adding anything new to the literature. Unholy cities- Sodom and Gomorrah, the sunken Breton city of Ys-carried within them the seeds of their own destruction; the postulations of Pastor Spanuth about the location of Atlantis, Plato's fable of that city; lost cities in Africa, Mycense and Persia; the cities of Jenghis Khan -- these descriptive, rather dry, reports are culled from such ancients as Homer and Strabo, Plato and Aristotle and their modern counterparts and include discussions about coinage, gold, sexual ceremonies, and language. Try the uncommercialized, unaccidental periphery of the Dead Sea Scroll market. Chronological table.
--(Kirkus review)

A book by Hermann and Georg Schreiber called in German "Versunkene Städte - Ein Buch von Glanz und Untergang", in English: "Sunken cities - A book of glitter and downfall".

Genres: History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante compendio di città e villaggi, località e insediamenti storicamente svaniti, per lo più per azione del mare e di cambiamenti climatici, e di come questi eventi, a volte antichi di molti secoli ma a volte recenti, abbiano dato origine a diverse leggende.

[Public_enemy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories.

[Marko]

I have the slovenian edition.