Mysteries of the Ancient World [Hardcover]

National Geographic Society (U. S.) Special Publications Division (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1979

Mysteries of the Ancient World

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Natl Geographic Society; Could not find an ISBN in the book. edition (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870442597
• ISBN-13: 978-0870442599
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,013,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars O.K. but disappointing (a history teacher's review), January 8, 2008

By 

DWD "DWD's Reviews" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mysteries of the Ancient World (Hardcover)

So, why am I disappointed?

I was hoping for an theme-based work that looked at different mysterious objects, behaviors and cultures of the ancient world across the world and made comparisons and connections between them.

Instead, this book is a series of unrelated articles that have the look and feel of the National Geographic style. Don't get me wrong - I like the National Geographic style but the book as a whole lacks flow and feels more like a copy of the magazine than a special book. It is not an integrated work and leaves out plenty of big mysteries (Great Zimbabwe, Nazca Lines, Petra, the Olmecs) in favor of smaller mysteries such as the Etruscans and Catal Huyuk.

Topics include:

Etruscans
Ice age cave paintings
Stonehenge and related Megaliths
Minoan civilization
Mycenaean civilization
Catal Huyuk & Jericho
Easter Island, South Pacific Ocean
Ancient Egypt
Ancient India

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but limited, July 1, 2000

By 

Mike Schroeder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mysteries of the Ancient World (Hardcover)

When I got this book I was expecting it to contain so much more than it did. Basically what the reader gets is the same information about the pyramids, Stonehenge, and Easter Island that can be found in just about any other book. There is no new information in it, but it does have some great pictures and photos.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ancient wisdom outdoes modern skills, July 27, 2007

By 

AmberWolf "Universal Energy Field Light Worker" (Rolling Hills of Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mysteries of the Ancient World (Hardcover)

I admit that the book may seem to some as going over old ground, but this book is compiling the main artifacts from nine separate points on a global scale that occurred up to 75,000 years ago!
The similarities of each of these cultures should spell-bound any thought provoking individual. How, before the creation of the wheel, the water vessels, and written languages, let alone possible verbal skills did they do almost the same form of functions?
Each society worshiped the female deities, a mother goddess rendition and they were thousands of miles away from one another.
Each early civilization used the swirl work of art to depict the unseen energy field, the universal powers that worked for or against their efforts of life.
Each culture adhered to utilizing stone, from pebble sized on up to several tons to depicted spiritualness and forms of entertainment.
This book summarizes the similarities, through scientific impossible tasks with modern day head scratching to the known reasonings of long ago. While the scientist speculate, we should observe the wonderment of how societies in the beginning maintained a delicate balance with nature that steered clear of catastrophic proportions- like the ones our sciences today claim we are experiencing and have contributed to during our civilized societies of today.
The photography is the best that can be viewed on the ancient artifacts that should have long but crumbled from 75,000 years ago. When several books claim that the so called artifact is made of gold, this book had no need to explain it, from the professionally done photography, you will see for yourself that the piece is non other than gold, pure quartz crystal, or even marble versus granite stone. Wait until you see the obsidian mirror that ancient Catal Huyuk women had once used 8,000 years ago (pg 50), it's a polished beauty that will outlast many more civilizations yet to come!