Gods, Graves & Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "In the year 1738 Maria Amalia Christine, daughter of Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, married Charles of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, and moved..." (more)
Key Phrases: noche triste, royal graves, cuneiform writing, Valley of the Kings, Howard Carter, New Empire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

C.W. Ceram visualized archeology as a wonderful combination of high adventure, romance, history and scholarship, and this book, a chronicle of man's search for his past, reads like a dramatic narrative. We travel with Heinrich Schliemann as, defying the ridicule of the learned world, he actually unearths the remains of the ancient city of Troy. We share the excitement of Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter as they first glimpse the riches of Tutankhamen's tomb, of George Smith when he found the ancient clay tablets that contained the records of the Biblical Flood. We rediscover the ruined splendors of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient wold; of Chichen Itza, the abandoned pyramids of the Maya: and the legendary Labyrinth of tile Minotaur in Crete. Here is much of the history of civilization and the stories of the men who rediscovered it.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 2 Revised edition (July 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394743199
• ISBN-13: 978-0394743196
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,177 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unveiling the Past., August 15, 2004

By	Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Gods Grave&scholar Rev (Hardcover)

This wonderful book was first published in 1953. Fifty years of new archeological discoveries and theories had elapsed.
Nevertheless it stands, undiminished, as magnificent introduction to Archeology and the Worlds of the Past: Egypt, Sumeria, Greece and Yucatan.

Mr. Ceram (pen name of the author) writes passionately about his subject.
The reader starts a discovery travel going along with amazing characters: with Schliemann in his search of Troy; with Champollion in search of the key for reading Egyptian hieroglyphs; with Carter and Howard for the unearthing of Tutankhamen's tomb. The list continues jumping from one era to other; from one continent to a different and distant one. They constitute a heterogeneous bunch united by a burning desire for knowledge, wild imagination and undaunted persistence to make their dreams real.

I first read this work when I was seventeen and discovering Europe. It helped me a lot to understand and appreciate the archeological treasures of European museums and sites.
It also instilled in me an unstoppable desire to "be there". In my adult years, I was fortunate to visit some of those places and always before starting a journey I went back to reread "Gods, Graves and Scholars".

One more feature: at the end of the book you will find useful chronologies, maps and genealogic charts, which will aid the reader to visualize easily the events described.

A book to enjoy and start a romance with the origins of our culture.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely readable popularization of archaeology, March 26, 1999

By	RAY L ROBINSON (Colorado Springs, COLORADO USA) - See all my reviews

I highly enjoyed this book. I have gone through three paperbacks of it and finally broke down and bought my hard copy. I've reread this great book numerous times, and I swear it gets better with every rereading. NOTE: A great companion to this volume is Ceram's "The First American," which covers the story of NORTH AMERICAN archeaology and is every bit as exciting to read as is "God's, Graves, and Scholars." (For instance, did you know that North America also has mummies!)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Adventuring, June 27, 2006

By	J. A. Eyon "Little Raven" (Seattle - USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If there's an archeologist inside you struggling to get out, here's an inspiring book.

This is an old book and much has happened in the field since its publication, but since this book presents the stories behind past archeological discoveries, that is not a crucial weakness.

It's great strength is the writing. Author C.W. Ceram (actually German journalist Kurt Wilhelm Marek) has a knack for turning drudgery into the sort of adventure that stirs the romantic dreamer in us. An intellectual's idea of adventure.

I haven't been the same since I first read it.