A popular introduction to archaeology and the methods archaeologists use to reconstruct the history of ancient Israel.

The revelatory, unputdownable true story of how a British Museum expert decoded the Old Testament's Story of the Flood.'One of the most important human documents ever discovered . . . his conclusions will send ripples into the world of creationism and among ark hunters.' - Guardian'The charged thrill of Finkel's chase permeates the book - the pages don't just join dots, they supply new pieces for a beautiful, Bronze-Age jigsaw-puzz...

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 ...

Public interest in biblical archaeology is at an all-time high, as television documentaries pull in millions of viewers to watch shows on the Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant, and the so-called Lost Tomb of Jesus. Important discoveries with relevance to the Bible are made virtually every year--during 2007 and 2008 alone researchers announced at least seven major discoveries in Israel, five of them in or near Jerusalem. Biblical Archaeology offers a passport into this fascinating re...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of Zealot examines humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this “timely, riveting, enlightening, and necessary” (HuffPost) history of our understanding of God.“A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”—Pittsburgh Post-GazetteIn Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with ...

Sumerians were the ?rst people to write. Using a sharp three-cornered stylus, they wrote on claysmall wedge-shapes called cuneiform. With writing, Sumerians turned the corner from prehistory to history! After at least two million years of humans telling stories, the Sumerians introduced literacy.Most civilizations passed down their heritage through orally recited traditionsstories were passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. The Sumerians were the ?rst to write down...

Experience a photographic search for the Bible’s Exodus. Join two authors and television broadcasters on their four year quest to investigate the mystery of the Hebrew exodus out of Egypt. Witness in full colour pictures, scenes of Semitic people with multi-coloured coats entering ancient Egypt, find Semitic settlements in the Bible’s land of Goshen and discover how archaeological finds combined with new computer technology can help reveal the face of Joseph and the exodus pharaoh!...

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 ...

The ancient Near East is known as the "cradle of civilization"--and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of writing and law, kingship and bureaucracy, diplomacy and state-sponsored warfare, mathematics and literature. This Very Short Introduction offers a fascinating account of this momentous time in human history. The thr...

Petra: A Brief History is an easy to read, popular history of Petra, "the rose red city, half as old as time" and the mysterious Nabataeans who carved into from the living rock.The author, with a dramatic flair, explains how geography and geology made the eventual site of Petra the most attractive real estate in the Middle East. He then tells the story of how the Nabataeans, coming from Arabia, moved into the region and established their capital there in the fifth century BCE. With...

The fascinating, true account of the quest for one of the Old Testament’s most infamous cities.Like many Christians today in the academic world, Dr. Steven Collins felt pulled in different directions when it came to apparent conflicts between the Bible and scholarly research and theory—an intellectual crisis that inspired him to lay it all on the line as he set off to locate the lost city of Sodom.Recounting Dr. Collins’s quest for Sodom in absorbing detail...

The evidence from the Bible describes the ancient Hebrews as being Afro-haired and Black. Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon were Black. Pictures of the ancient Hebrews show this part of Biblical record to be accurate. These pictures are presented here! Most people do not know that the original Arabs of ancient times were Black. This book quotes ancient authorities and the ancient Arabs themselves to show that they were considered by themselves, and others, as Black. It also demonstrates ho...