Gods of Eden: Egypt's Lost Legacy and the Genesis of Civilisation [Import] [Paperback]

Andrew Collins (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publications; New Ed edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747258996
• ISBN-13: 978-0747258995
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,121,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tracing the footprints of "lost wisdom", May 3, 2002

By 

Burak Eldem (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gods of Eden: Egypt's Lost Legacy and the Genesis of Civilization (Paperback)

After his sensational "debut" with "From The Ashes To Angels", Andrew Collins gets one step further with this well-structured, well-planned and well-presented study on the apparent existence of a "lost and advanced civilization." Walking on the similar paths with Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and John Anthony West, Collins traces the footprints of the ancient knowledge and proposes an "antediluvian" civilization which could well be the roots of the now-lost wisdom, Ancient Egyptians once had.

The books starts with some basic facts and "anomalies" of the most enigmatic monuments of the ancient world: Great Sphinx, Valley Temple and the enormous pyramids of Giza plateu. Quoting the pioneer Egyptologists' accounts on the subject (such as W. Flinders Petrie) he underlines the perfect craftsmanship of these monuments without apparent existence of essential tools to form the hard and large stone blocks which weighted hundreds of tones.

Then he presents an alternative explanation for this excellent masonry: Probable usage of now-lost "sound technology" to levitate the giant stone blocks. He goes on with convincing arguments, supported with some "enigmatic" verses from the Old Testament. His conclusion is an ancient (probably "antediluvian") technology which was preserved by some cults in Ancient Egypt (in Heliopolis and Thebes) then somehow obtained by Biblical Moses, who was supposedly raised by Egyptians. During the course of his work, Collins also suggests his dating of Biblical Exodus.

Though I personally disagree on a number points with Collins (including the existence of Moses as a real personality and the dating of Exodus), and I found his "sound technology" theory just an interesting "fantasy", I must admit that "Gods of Eden" is definitely a very impressive book which deserves a careful reading. Furthermore, it includes a well-written, detailed panorama of Ancient Egyptian sacred cults which is somehow unique among contemporary works on the subject. If you are somehow interested with the Ancient Egyptian culture, this book should be on your bookshelf.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of the mysteries of Egypt, January 8, 2003

By 

L. Blumenthal "lynn" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gods of Eden: Egypt's Lost Legacy and the Genesis of Civilization (Paperback)

I accidentally came upon Andrew Collins when researching material on Atlantis, and read his excellent GATEWAY TO ATLANTIS. I had to go to Amazon.uk to find his previous works. Good thing they are now readily availble in the USA.

GODS OF EDEN is one of those books that one needs to pick up periodically to mull over. It's nearly impossible to take in all of Collins' theories in one go. But he makes impressive arguments that the Egyptian culture is much older than traditional archeologists will admit. While kicking a bit of dust at the stodgy, old Egyptologists at the British Museum, Collins also deftly avoids the smoke and mirrors of "pyramidiots" old and new.

I admit he loses me a bit when he travels too far afield of Egypt, but I attribute the fault with myself and not with him. The book is copiously footnoted (they make good reading in themselves) and well researched.

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid facts, odd conclusions, April 26, 2003

By 

Vadim Cherny (Odessa Ukraine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gods of Eden: Egypt's Lost Legacy and the Genesis of Civilization (Paperback)

I would give this book 5 stars for a good research done. But there are some very strange arguments.

Notably, the author actually relies on revelations by psychics. Well, this seems too much for me.

Very irritating is the author's manner of attaching words like "unquestionably" to what should be properly regarded as wild suppositions.

Many statements of facts raise doubts, especially when skilled artisan work and agriculture are assigned to 8000-9000 BCE.

The author attempts to make a point that ancient Egyptians had technology, unavailable even now. That's because we can't build pyramids like they did. So, what technology is that? Believe it or not, the author spends much effort to prove they possessed... saws. You got it right, the incredible technology was the brass saw, perhaps with sapphires on the edge. Of course, this is more than what is normally allowed for that time, but come on, you can't say someone built the pyramids with brass saws and then claim they had higher technology than we do.

Another proof is equally strange, although in its own way. It is commonly thought that Egyptians employed drills under pressure of 1 to 2 tons. This equipment is no rocket science, you see. But the author prefers to conjecture they used ultrasonic drills. Excuse me, but ultrasonic drill should work like a hammer, it won't leave spiral traces, like those found.

Other traces of this antedeluvian culture are equally unimpressive. There are no factories or spacecraft, just a few stones and artefacts, worked up better than we expect of this era. But doesn't it make sense to question their dating, then?

Authors' hypothesis on using sound to lift stones, right or wrong, is pure fantasy.

In order to find similarities between different cultures, the author discusses only those religious ceremonies and gods, which are alike. Not even exact, just somewhat alike. But if we look for dissimilarities, there is much more of them.

The author's point is unclear, but he seems to imply that these highly developed people of the previous civilization, who built pyramids, were in fact bird-worshipping shamans. And fish-worshipping, too. And star-worshipping. In effect, they were just shamans. Would you believe these people left us highly advanced knowledge, hidden below the pyramids?