The Hanging Gardens of Babylon may not actually contain hanging plants, but they do contain mysteries all their own, including speculation that they never even existed. Readers travel back in time to learn about this fascinating world wonder through interesting facts, historical images, and helpful graphic organizers. Accessible text emphasizes the history of this fascinating wonder as well as the civilization that created it. This book's fun fact format appeals to struggling readers as well.
The Code of Hammurabi (Codex Hammurabi) is a well-preserved ancient law code, created ca. 1790 BC (middle chronology) in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi. One nearly complete example of the Code survives today, inscribed on a seven foot, four inch tall basalt stele in the Akkadian language in the cuneiform script. One of the first written codes of law in recorded history. These laws were written on a stone tablet standing over eight feet tall (2.4 meters) that was found in 1901.
The Colossus of Rhodes, the majestic Pyramids of Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the spellbinding Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the breathtaking Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Just one of them survives today. But with the book How the Wonders of the World Were Built you can go back in time and learn the secrets of how these gems of ancient architecture were created. They shine from the past... and their light is not diminishing. The gems of antiquity are proof of human endeavours to cope with the wonders of nature. People have always wanted more: to improve existing process and methods and find new opportunities. They want to create something new, something that evokes a feeling of amazement and admiration. A masterpiece that will provide the creators with immortality and fame during their lives.
E. H. Gombrich's Little History of the World, though written in 1935, has become one of the treasures of historical writing since its first publication in English in 2005. The Yale edition alone has now sold over half a million copies, and the book is available worldwide in almost thirty languages. Gombrich was of course the best-known art historian of his time, and his text suggests illustrations on every page. This illustrated edition of the Little History brings together the pellucid humanity of his narrative with the images that may well have been in his mind's eye as he wrote the book. The two hundred illustrations—most of them in full color—are not simple embellishments, though they are beautiful. They emerge from the text, enrich the author's intention, and deepen the pleasure of reading this remarkable work. For this edition the text is reset in a spacious format, flowing around illustrations that range from paintings to line drawings, emblems, motifs, and symbols. The book incorporates freshly drawn maps, a revised preface, and a new index. Blending high-grade design, fine paper, and classic binding, this is both a sumptuous gift book and an enhanced edition of a timeless account of human history.
This book is a combination of 365 Things People Believe That Aren't True 365 More Things People Believe That Aren't True Another 365 Things People Believe That Aren't True 500 Things People Believe That Aren't True The world map is inaccurate. Silencers don't exist. Everyone mispronounces "Mt. Everest." Samurais rarely used swords. The Wild West was nothing like you would imagine. The Illuminati only existed for eight years. Satanists don't worship the Devil. Abraham Lincoln didn't care about black people. Amelia Earhart did not mysteriously vanish. Egypt doesn't have the most pyramids nor the biggest. Radiation isn't dangerous. We don't know anything about Druids. Not all pirates were criminals. Some of them were government agents. Rastafarians don't call themselves Rastafarians. The Sun is not on fire. Hamlet wasn't a popular play during Shakespeare's time. Archeologists know who built the Easter Island heads. The Amish do use electricity. Nazis never called themselves Nazis.
The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is an exciting story of detection involving legends, expert decipherment of ancient texts, and a vivid description of a little-known civilization. Recognised in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location still remains a mystery steeped in shadow and puzzling myths. In this remarkable volume Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, gathers for the first time all the material on this enigmatic World Wonder. Tracing the history of the Garden, Dalley describes how the decipherment of an original text and its link to sculpture in the British Museum has enabled her to pin down where the Garden was positioned and to describe in detail what it may have looked like. Through this dramatic and fascinating reconstruction of the Garden, Dalley is also able to follow its influence on later garden design. Like a palimpsest, Dalley unscrambles the many legends that have built up around the Garden, including the parts played by Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar, and following the evolution of its design, she shows why this Garden deserves its place alongside the Pyramids and the Colossus of Rhodes as one of the most astonishing technical achievements of the ancient world.
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
Civilization was born eight thousand years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place. In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period and explores the political and social systems, as well as the technical and cultural innovations, which made this land extraordinary. At the heart of this book is the story of Babylon, which rose to prominence under the Amorite king Hammurabi from about 1800 BCE. Even as Babylon's fortunes waxed and waned, it never lost its allure as the ancient world's greatest city. Engaging and compelling, Babylon reveals the splendor of the ancient world that laid the foundation for civilization itself.
