Focuses on the religious passions that make fundamentalists battle over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and why this sacred site has become a catalyst for potential conflict.
Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium provides an account of the changing world of archaeological theory and a challenge to more traditional narratives of archaeological thought. It charts the emergence of the new emphasis on relations as well…
Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until no…
Sieges played a central role in the many conflicts of the Ancient World and many famous generals, including Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar and Trajan, successfully used siegecraft to gain their objectives. This title explores the range…
The human race is on a 10,000 year urban adventure. Our ancestors wandered the planet or lived scattered in villages, yet by the end of this century almost all of us will live in cities. But that journey has not been a smooth one and urban civilizat…
'History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon', said Napoleon. Yet the actual writing of history, especially ancient history, is a practice that often prompts more discord than assent. In his new textbook, Luke Pitche…
The Gallic War, published on the eve of the civil war which led to the end of the Roman Republic, is an autobiographical account written by one of the most famous figures of European history. On one level a straightforward narrative of the campaigns…
The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. Beginning as a small city-state in central Italy, Rome gradually expanded into a wider world filled with petty tyrants, barbarian chieftains, and despotic…
The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. After its founding in 509 BCE, Rome grew from an unremarkable Italian city-state to the dominant superpower of the Mediterranean world. Through it all, th…
'Suetonius, in holding up a mirror to those Caesars of diverting legend, reflects not only them but ourselves: half-tempted creatures, whose great moral task is to hold in balance the angel and the monster within' GORE VIDAL As private secretary to…
20,000 B.C., the peak of the last ice age--the atmosphere is heavy with dust, deserts, and glaciers span vast regions, and people, if they survive at all, exist in small, mobile groups, facing the threat of extinction.But these people live on the br…
The ancient world saw the birth and collapse of great civilizations. In mainstream history the Classical world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and the Biblical world is centred on the Hebrews. Yet the roughly four-and-a-half thousand years (4000 bc…
In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After c…
Arkeologernas uppfattning om forntidens människor, deras inbördes relationer och deras sätt att leva har i grunden förändrats under det senaste decenniet. Med ny metodik och med hjälp av tvärvetenskapligt forskningsarbete kan den moderna arkeologin…
Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this Very Short Introduction, Karen Radner sketches the history of Assyria from city state to empire, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 7th century BC. Si…
Among the most evocative items to be discovered by archaeologists are the scraps of silk and wool and other fabrics that signal so eloquently their owner's status and concerns. Such clothing and textile finds have figured prominently in excavations…
The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. It had a population of sixty million people spread across lands encircling the Mediterranean and stretching from drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria, and fro…
***THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER***'Hancock's books provide a fascinating, alternative version of prehistory. America Before, detailed and wide-ranging, turns what was myth and legend into a new story of the past.' Daily Mail Was an advanced…
In Romans at War ground-breaking research is presented in an accessible, entertaining, and sumptuously illustrated format, including:* A new consideration of the nature of late Roman military leaders; the author argues they were effectively independ…
Tacitus (Cornelius), famous Roman historian, was born in 55, 56 or 57 CE and lived to about 120. He became an orator, married in 77 a daughter of Julius Agricola before Agricola went to Britain, was quaestor in 81 or 82, a senator under the Flavian…
Until recently, very little was known about medieval shoes. Glimpses in manuscript illustrations and on funerary monuments, with the occasional reference by a contemporary writer, was all that the costume historian had as evidence, not least because…
The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history happened some 251 million years ago. In this cataclysm at least 90% of life was killed, both on land and in the sea, almost bringing evolution to a halt. What caused destruction on such an unimaginable…
Collecting the most incisive and influential writings of one of Rome's finest orators, Cicero's Selected Works is translated with an introduction by Michael Grant in Penguin Classics. Lawyer, philosopher, statesman and defender of Rome's Republic, C…
This book is a history of ancient Greek and Roman professionals: doctors, seers, sculptors, teachers, musicians, actors, athletes and soldiers. These individuals were specialist workers deemed to possess rare skills, for which they had undergone a p…
From the clash of bronze weapons on bronze armor to the fall of Rome, war often decided the course of ancient history. This volume is a practical introduction to the study of warfare in the ancient world, beginning with Egypt and Mesopotamia, and tr…
The Digital Future of Museums: Conversations and Provocations argues that museums today can neither ignore the importance of digital technologies when engaging their communities, nor fail to address the broader social, economic and cultural changes…
This book defines the processes used for delivering a range of food items to the city of Rome and its hinterland from the first century AD using modern supply chain modelling techniques. The subject matter delves into the wider supply of goods, such…
This guide to the unique theatrical venues of London, from 1567, when the first playhouse was built, to 1642, when Cromwell closed them down, sets out the rich dramatic history of this period in relation to the latest exciting archaeological evidenc…
By their social and material context as markers of graves, dedications and public signs of honour, inscriptions offer a distinct perspective on the social lives, occupations, family belonging, mobility, ethnicity, religious affiliations, public hono…
Throughout the world, competing interest groups lay claim to the material remains of the past. Archaeologists, developers, indigenous 'first peoples' , looters, museum curators, national government officals, New Age worshippers, private collectors,…
Engraved Gems and Propaganda in the Roman Republic and under Augustus deals with small, but highly captivating and stimulating artwork - engraved gemstones. Although in antiquity intaglios and cameos had multiple applications (seals, jewellery or am…
The Early Formative Olmec are central in a wide variety of debates regarding the development of Mesoamerican societies. A fundamental issue in Olmec archaeology is the nature of interregional interaction among contemporaneous societies and the possi…
This is the first guide to reading hieroglyphs that begins with Egyptian monuments themselves. Assuming no knowledge on the part of the reader, it shows how to interpret the information on the inscriptions in a step-by-step journey through the scrip…
`The story I now commence is rich in vicissitudes, grim with warfare, torn by civil strife, a tale of horror even during times of peace.' Edward Gibbon called The Histories an `immortal work, every sentence of which is pregnant with the deepest obse…
In AD68 Nero's suicide marked the end of the first dynasty of imperial Rome. The following year was one of drama and danger, though not of chaos. In the surviving books of his Histories the barrister-historian Tacitus, writing some thirty years afte…
Until recently, popular biographers and most scholars viewed Alexander the Great as a genius with a plan, a romantic figure pursuing his vision of a united world. His dream was at times characterized as a benevolent interest in the brotherhood of ma…
Sami culture has undergone powerful changes recently. Traditions have been integrated with contemporary influences and perspectives. New kinds of Sami participation and activism have evolved including innovative politics, informative media, expressi…
The two volumes of The Archaeology of Medieval Europe together comprise the first complete account of Medieval Archaeology across the continent. This ground-breaking set will enable readers to track the development of different cultures and regions…
Early Islamic civilisation spread across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, forming a massive empire. Find out about the birth of Islam, amazing inventions and trade across the empire. Read about weapons and wa…
Conservation of Cultural Heritage covers the methods and practices needed for future museum professionals who will be working in various capacities with museum collections and artifacts. It also assists current professionals in understanding the com…
Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Greece and you had to start a new life there. How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? Where would you go to have your hair done? Who would you go to if you got ill, or if y…
Travel back to the time of the Anglo Saxons! Who was Alfred the Great? Where did the Anglo Saxons come from, and what traditions and beliefs did they bring with them? Explore this ancient civilisation to understand how prehistoric people have influe…
This is the first published summary of the entire complex of the great necropoles of Rome, which were situated on Vatican Hill. The work concerns one of the most extensive, richest, and least-known Roman archaeological phenomena and bears witness to…
This volume publishes hand copies of 292 cuneiform texts in the Yale Babylonian Collection dating to the Sargonic and Pre-Sargonic periods. It continues publication of the Pre-Ur III texts begun by George Hackman and Ferris Stephens in the series Ba…
Named 2006 Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com "An authoritative and exciting portrait not only of Caesar but of the complex society in which he lived."--Steven Coates, New York Times Book Review "The best introduction to Caesar and his world that i…
The two volumes of 'The Archaeology of Medieval Europe' will together comprise the first complete account of medieval archaeology across Europe. Archaeologists from academic institutions in fifteen countries are collaborating to produce these two bo…
What did 'history' mean to the Greeks and the Romans? This volume traces the development of conceptions of history and its practice from Homer to the writers of the Roman Empire. It serves as an introduction to the great historians of the ancient wo…
Caesar (C. Iulius, 102?44 BCE), statesman and soldier, defied the dictator Sulla; served in the Mithridatic wars and in Spain; pushed his way in Roman politics as a ?democrat? against the senatorial government; was the real leader of the coalition w…
Om du skulle råka hitta en gammal gravkammare, var försiktig! Kanske har faraon, som vilar där, lagt en förbannelse över sin grav. Då kan du råka riktigt illa ut. Om det nu inte bara är en myt, förstås. Faraos förbannelse är den första delen i en se…
This book is an in-depth treatment of the antecedents and first florescence of early state and urban societies in the alluvial lowlands of Mesopotamia over nearly three millennia, from approximately 5000 to 2100 BC. Susan Pollock’s approach is…
This book is an in-depth treatment of the antecedents and first florescence of early state and urban societies in the alluvial lowlands of Mesopotamia over nearly three millennia, from approximately 5000 to 2100 BC. Susan Pollock's approach is expli…
Features key questions that archaeologists ask about the past. With an introduction to archaeology, this book includes examples from every part of the world. It offers a coverage of the discovery of Richard III's burial; excavations at the Neolithic…
