Pacaritambo

THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World
edited by Marvin W. Meyer. B&W photos. Condition: Gently pre-read 1993 HarperSanFrancisco trade paperback, 8th printing. B&W photos. Spine crease with light edge wear. Interior clean & tight. Content: Reviewer: "The Mysteries (the term comes from the Greek word for "initiation") were a group of Pagan religions, dating from roughly 600 BC, that were distinct from the more familiar Pagan temple worship. The Gods of the Mystery religions had differing names and myths, but the faiths themselves had features in common: their Gods died and came back to life; they were personal religions entered into voluntarily via initiation ceremonies that reenacted the God's death and rebirth and were often described as giving salvation and even eternal life; they had ritual celebrations including food and drink that reenacted a holy meal established by the God; their teachings brought the faithful closer to an understanding of God. This book, complied by a mainstream scholar, is made up of a concise introduction to the Mysteries, followed by extended excerpts from ancient sources. You'll read about: the pagan god "incognito, disguised as a man"; pagan Gods dying and being reborn with the meaning that "the God is saved, and we shall have salvation."; initiation ceremonies described as "a voluntary death"; sacred meals; ceremonial washing; pagan miracles; the pagan god who changed water into wine; the pagan version of the great flood. And much more. Not always easy reading, but a powerful book for serious students." Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE SEA: Sailing with Jason and the Argonauts, Ulysses, the Vikings, and Other Explorers of the Ancient World
by Mauricio Obregon. B&W maps, wind and star charts illustrate. Condition: NEW 2001 Random House small hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. Content: Obregon takes his reader on a maritime adventure through time, imagining the great explorers and their journeys, from Jason and the Argonauts to early Polynesians to Odysseus and the Vikings. Sweeping in scope, this slim text touches on every aspect of ancient travel by water, offering brief lessons in astronomy, cartography, oceanography, and carpentry. Some of Obregon's attempts to draw connections between extremely diverse and distant cultures through their ocean-faring ways are quite strained, but this book offers several surprisingly provocative and plausible conclusions. Could the Polynesians have traveled to South America? Perhaps, Obregon argues, if they chose to follow extraordinary winds, rather than prevailing ones. The choppy narrative is bound to make some readers figuratively seasick, but many will want to hang on for the ride, as the fascinating history of the sea, its mythic and historical figures, and the boats that changed the world are brought into a fresh and interesting perspective. Dozens of illustrations provide helpful information for the nautically challenged. [Note: To me the question is not whether the Phoencians (or other ancient sailors) could have reached the new world - if the Atlantic was in a good mood, but whether they could have returned home.] Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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FOREIGN BRIDES FROM ANTIQUITY (Doll Costumes)
by Frank and Elizabeth Haines. Color plates plus B&W illustrations and patterns. Condition: UNREAD 1990 Hobby House Press Trade Paperback, no printing given. Light shelfwear to cover edges. Content: Why in the world, you might ask, would a doll costuming book be listed in ancient history? The history and the costuming details are of historical interest and a nice source for history majors and writers/researchers. The "brides" covered are: Babylon, 1600 B.C.E.; Egypt, 1375 B.C.E.; Gaul, 600 B.C.E.; Rome, 500 B.C.E.; Germany, 500 B.C.E.; Greece, 451 B.C.E.; Venice, 950 C.E.; France, 1250 C.E.; Flanders, 1434 C. E.; Burgandy and Austria, 1477 C. E.; England, 1565; and France, 1720 C.E. Excellent! Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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MYTHICAL JOURNEYS, LEGENDARY QUESTS: The Spiritual Search - Traditional Stories from World Mythology
by Moyra Caldecott. Color illustrations by Cheryl Yambrach Rose. B&W text illustrations by Rachel Caldecott-Thornton. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1996 Blandford (London) hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first impression. DJ shows light edge wear-shelf wear. Interior clean & tight. Content: This book retells 16 myths from many ancient cultures ranging from Sumeria through Greece, Egypt, India, Scandinavia, Russia and Ireland. While the myths themselves are related in appropriately unsophisticated language, Caldecott's analyses of their themes, historical backgrounds and universal principles are incisive and informative. Cheryl Yambrach Rose's colored illustrations depict visionary experiences in almost hallucinatory terms. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
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THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
edited by Peter Clayton & Martin Price. B&W photos & drawings ilustrate. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1991 Routledge (London) Trade Paperback, reprint. Problem: shelfwear diagonal crease top front cover corner. Rest of the book is perfect. Content: The chapters in this book describe the seven wonders of the ancient world - the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria. Their history, location, purpose, building and description are provided along with many illustrations and drawings. The last chapter gives a list of other monuments which could be considered wonders, and tells why the actual seven wonders of the ancient world were chosen. Another interesting benefit of this book is a discussion of which wonders probably did not exist and why. [1 copy available]
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SOCIETY IN PREHISTORY: The Origins of Human Culture
by Tim Megarry. Condition: Gently pre-read 1995 New York University Press hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: Reveals a profound understanding of evolutionary biology, and an excellent up-to-date knowledge of human evolution studies. It is not only very well done, but it is written from a novel point of view. It needs to be very widely read and I hope that it will be. Megarry is doing his subject a great service.--Bernard Campbell University of CaliforniaSocial scientists have tended to neglect prehistory in their approach to human societies. Tim Megarry's lucid and authoritative book remedies this neglect. It will be of great value to students of anthropology, psychology, and sociology.-- Paul Hirst, Birkbeck College. Stressing the importance of culture as a formative agent in the evolutionary emergence of modern humans, this book provides an impressive, interdisciplinary, and deeply informed survey of prehistory. Individual chapters focus on culture and evolution; biology and culture; primate societies; the first hominids; tools and culture; the economics of foraging; modern humans and human behavior; sex and the division of labor; and sexuality and social life. The book reveals that, while social behavior is biologically grounded, it is not biologically determined. [1 copy available]
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SOCIETY IN PREHISTORY: The Origins of Human Culture
by Tim Megarry. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1995 New York University Press large Trade Paperback, no printing given. Pale near-crease bottom front cover corner is the only "flaw." Illustrated. Content: Reveals a profound understanding of evolutionary biology, and an excellent up-to-date knowledge of human evolution studies. It is not only very well done, but it is written from a novel point of view. It needs to be very widely read and I hope that it will be. Megarry is doing his subject a great service.--Bernard Campbell University of CaliforniaSocial scientists have tended to neglect prehistory in their approach to human societies. Tim Megarry's lucid and authoritative book remedies this neglect. It will be of great value to students of anthropology, psychology, and sociology.-- Paul Hirst, Birkbeck College. Stressing the importance of culture as a formative agent in the evolutionary emergence of modern humans, this book provides an impressive, interdisciplinary, and deeply informed survey of prehistory. Individual chapters focus on culture and evolution; biology and culture; primate societies; the first hominids; tools and culture; the economics of foraging; modern humans and human behavior; sex and the division of labor; and sexuality and social life. The book reveals that, while social behavior is biologically grounded, it is not biologically determined. [1 copy available]
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TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO: The World at the Time of Jesus
by Charles A. Frazee. B&W photos illustrate. Condition: NEW 2003 Eerdmans Publishing hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. Content: The shelves are filled with books describing the life of Jesus and his homeland, but rarely has Jesus life been placed within the larger context of world history. This book is an absorbing work that surveys for the first time the people who were alive and the historical events taking place around the world at the time of Jesus.Drawing on historical records and the work of archaeologists and anthropologists, Frazee explores the full sweep of human society contemporary with Jesus' own first-century Palestine. Each chapter looks at one of the worlds major regions from the Arctic, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas to Europe, Africa, and Asia and provides a short background of its history and its status at the time Jesus walked the earth. In providing a birds-eye view of the world at this pivotal point in history, Frazee gives readers a new perspective on the life of Jesus in the Holy Land, allowing them to compare and contrast it with life taking place elsewhere on the globe. Written with an inviting voice and enhanced with informative illustratations and maps, [1 copy available]
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THE UNENDING MYSTERY: A Journey Through Labyrinths and Mazes
by David Willis McCullough. Illustrated with B&W drawings. Condition: NEW 2004 Pantheon Books Trade Paperback, first edition, first printing. Content: McCullough takes on the fascinating task of explaining the history of labyrinths and mazes--and explaining the crucial differences between them--in this diverting excursion into one of the byways of civilization. Beginning with the Greeks, McCullough moves through the centuries (Mediterranean, Tuscan, Scandinavia, England, Italy, and France) until he arrives at some unexpected destinations: a maze in a forest clearing in the Catskills of New York State, the world's largest cornfield maze in Pennsylvania, and the labyrinths created in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx by a young Scotswoman with the help of neighborhood children. [1 copy available]
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