Readers of Peter Lerangis’s Seven Wonders and Brandon Mull’s Five Kingdoms will love the mesmerizing Egyptian setting in the fourth installment of this epic survival story series Hylas and Pirra finally arrive in Egypt, only to find that the dagger Userref guarded is missing. Even worse, Telamon and the Crows are also in Egypt to hunt for the dagger, and they'll stop at nothing until they get what they've come for. But when Hylas realizes where the dagger is hidden—in Egypt’s ancient tombs, buried with the restless souls of the dead—it's going to take all of his courage to slip inside. And as his otherworldly visions grow stronger, Hylas isn't confident that he'll have the strength to make it out alive. With Havoc the lioness and Echo the falcon at their sides, Hylas and Pirra must rescue the dagger and make a daring escape...before the gods of Egypt consume them all.
"An achaeological mystery, the story of young American Bruce Brandon, eager to ascertain more about the graves of Egyptian gods, is set against a clearly focused background of the Land of the Pyramids. Bruce is determined to find mummified crocodiles, which he believes were spirited away by reactionary priests during the reign of the ruler Akhenaten, who tried to introduce monotheism into Egypt."--Preface
This book explores the visual narratives of a group of decorated tombs from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (c.300 BCE-250 CE). The author contextualizes the tombs within their social, political, and religious context and considers how the multicultural population of Graeco-Roman Egypt chose to negotiate death and the afterlife.
His killing intent shook the heavens, and he cut down all the cold water to bring justice to the world. Eternal Heroic Soul for my use, I have a sword that can pierce the heavens. A swordsman was the sovereign of all weapons. Those who wielded a sword wielded a Dao. The sovereign of heaven and earth ruled the world, annihilating ghosts and deities. In ancient times, there was a tomb, a tomb to judge the heavens. Close]
What is presented here is a preliminary crystallization of thinking about questions, problems, and aspects that presented themselves during research into the iconography of Old Kingdom elite tombs in the so-called Leiden Mastaba Project (LMP), started in 1980 for teaching advanced students. Since the Egyptian culture has been given shape mainly in connection with the residences of the kings, the elite tombs of the Memphite area only were incorporated into the database. The original paper database consists of individual files on each tomb, giving a plan, wall scheme, a concise description of each sub-theme and its accompanying texts (if present). For details on the set-up, the original questions, the intention and some preliminary results on the partially collected material in 1985, see Van Walsem, Mastaba project. The core of this essay is a combination of and an elaboration of two former lectures by the author entitled: "Some un(der)exposed aspects in the study and interpretation of mastaba scenes" and "Religious iconography of Ancient Egypt: methodological and theoretical problems".
This book explores the development of tombs as a cultural phenomenon in ancient Egypt and examines what tombs reveal about ancient Egyptian culture and Egyptians' belief in the afterlife. Investigates the roles of tombs in the development of funerary practices Draws on a range of data, including architecture, artifacts and texts Discusses tombs within the context of everyday life in Ancient Egypt Stresses the importance of the tomb as an eternal expression of the self
This is the first study of Menches, village scribe (komogrammateus) of Kerkeosiris between 120 and 110 B.C., on the basis of the complete body of documents from his archive. The author first presents and discusses the only source material: the papyri found inside crocodile mummies at the Egyptian village Tebtunis during the winter of 1899/1900. After establishing the precise nature of these papyrus documents, the book goes on to explore what we can learn from them about Menches' (re)appointments to the post of village scribe; his position in the Ptolemaic bureaucracy; his contacts - written and otherwise - with peers and superiors; his day-to-day tasks, mainly concerned with fiscal land administration; and, in a final chapter, his dealings with a 'strike' of colleague village scribes and a 'strike' of farmers at his village.
The ancient Greeks and Romans lived in a world teeming with animals. Animals were integral to ancient commerce, war, love, literature and art. Inside the city they were found as pets, pests, and parasites. They could be sacred, sacrificed, liminal, workers, or intruders from the wild. Beyond the city domesticated animals were herded and bred for profit and wild animals were hunted for pleasure and gain alike. Specialists like Aristotle, Aelian, Pliny and Seneca studied their anatomy and behavior. Geographers and travelers described new lands in terms of their animals. Animals are to be seen on every possible artistic medium, woven into cloth and inlaid into furniture. They are the subject of proverbs, oaths and dreams. Magicians, physicians and lovers turned to animals and their parts for their crafts. They paraded before kings, inhabited palaces, and entertained the poor in the arena. Quite literally, animals pervaded the ancient world from A-Z. In entries ranging from short to long, Kenneth Kitchell offers insight into this commonly overlooked world, covering representative and intriguing examples of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Familiar animals such as the cow, dog, fox and donkey are treated along with more exotic animals such as the babirussa, pangolin, and dugong. The evidence adduced ranges from Minoan times to the Late Roman Empire and is taken from archaeology, ancient authors, inscriptions, papyri, coins, mosaics and all other artistic media. Whenever possible reasoned identifications are given for ancient animal names and the realities behind animal lore are brought forth. Why did the ancients think hippopotamuses practiced blood letting on themselves? How do you catch a monkey? Why were hyenas thought to be hermaphroditic? Was there really a vampire moth? Entries are accompanied by full citations to ancient authors and an extensive bibliography. Of use to Classics students and scholars, but written in a style designed to engage anyone interested in Greco-Roman antiquity, Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z reveals the extent and importance of the animal world to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It answers many questions, asks several more, and seeks to stimulate further research in this important field.
The book is the volume of “The Political History in Remote Antiquity Period and The Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasty)” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became independent and warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times.In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949.Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, and periods of war and failed statehood – the most recent being the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). China was occasionally dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were eventually assimilated into the Han Chinese culture and population. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. Traditional culture, and influences from other parts of Asia and the Western world (carried by waves of immigration, cultural assimilation, expansion, and foreign contact), form the basis of the modern culture of China.
