"This outstanding study spans four rich civilizations in ancient Mexico, from 1500 B.C. to the Spanish conquest soon after A.D.1500: The "Olmecs," hunters and farmers who worshipped the man-jaguar and became the first great carvers in stone and jade. The culture of "Teotihuacan," with its sumptuous palaces and gigantic Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. The "Toltec" dynasty, whose temples, wreathed with carvings of predatory beasts, serpents and warriors, testify to a new militaristic phase in Mexican history. The "Aztecs," fierce empire-builders whose gods demanded complex rituals and the blood of human sacrifice. Writing for students, travellers and non-specialists, Nigel Davies puts these fascinating cultures into historical context. Drawing on the latest research, he discusses their arts, beliefs and customs, and their changing economic and political conditions, to build up a vivid picture of life in the kingdoms of ancient Mexico." --provided by Goodreads.

This is a general history of the cultures and civilizations of pre-Hispanic Peru from pre-history to the Conquest. Although archaeological excavation, together with analytical study of colonial chroniclers, began in the early part of the twentieth century, the scope of investigation has been greatly intensified over the last two decades, with spectacular results. This is the first book for the general reader and student to incorporate these fresh insights and discoveries, and is as highly readable and engaging as its penetrating and informative.

Experts calculate that a culture began more than 6000 years ago, which emerged as the Nile's richest lands and rivaled that of the great Egypt downriver.

CONTAINS DIAGRAMS OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE, CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL SOURCES, AND RE-VISITS THE CHRONOLOGIES OF MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS. KEEP AN OPEN MIND AS YOU READ THIS BOOK. YOUR VIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!

A lushly illustrated gazetteer of the archaeological sites of southern Egypt and northern Sudan and named a 2012 American Publishers (PROSE) Awards winner for Best Archaeology & Anthropology Book For most of the modern world, ancient Nubia seems an unknown and enigmatic land. Only a handful of archaeologists have studied its history or unearthed the Nubian cities, temples, and cemeteries that once dotted the landscape of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Nubia’s remote setting in the midst of an inhospitable desert, with access by river blocked by impassable rapids, has lent it not only an air of mystery, but also isolated it from exploration. Over the past century, particularly during this last generation, scholars have begun to focus more attention on the fascinating cultures of ancient Nubia, ironically prompted by the construction of large dams that have flooded vast tracts of the ancient land. This book attempts to document some of what has recently been discovered about ancient Nubia, with its remarkable history, architecture, and culture, and thereby to give us a picture of this rich, but unfamiliar, African legacy.

The Hellenistic period—the nearly three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C., and the suicide of the Egyptian queen Kleopatra VII (the famous "Cleopatra"), in 30 B.C.—is one of the most complex and exciting epochs of ancient Greek art. The unprecedented geographic sweep of Alexander's conquests changed the face of the ancient world forever, forging diverse cultural connections and exposing Greek artists to a host of new influences and artistic styles. This beautifully illustrated volume examines the rich diversity of art forms that arose through the patronage of the royal courts of the Hellenistic kingdoms, placing special emphasis on Pergamon, capital of the Attalid dynasty, which ruled over large parts of Asia Minor. With its long history of German-led excavations, Pergamon provides a superb paradigm of a Hellenistic capital, appointed with important civic institutions—a great library, theater, gymnasium, temples, and healing center—that we recognize today as central features of modern urban life. The military triumphs of Alexander and his successors led to the expansion of Greek culture out from the traditional Greek heartland to the Indus River Valley in the east and as far west as the Strait of Gibraltar. These newly established Hellenistic kingdoms concentrated wealth and power, resulting in an unparalleled burst of creativity in all the arts, from architecture and sculpture to seal engraving and glass production. Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World brings together the insights of a team of internationally renowned scholars, who reveal how the art of Classical Greece was transformed during this period, melding with predominantly Eastern cultural traditions to yield new standards and conventions in taste and style.

Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa is the accompanying catalogue for an exhibition at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World that explores the rich cultures of ancient Nubia in present-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The exhibition traces the rise, fall, and re-emergence of Nubian power over the course of some 2,500 years, from the earliest Nubian kingdoms of about 3000 BC through the conquest of Egypt beginning in about 750 BC. Beautifully illustrated, the catalogue includes a historical overview of Nubia and its excavations by Guest Curator Geoff Emberling; a series of archival excavation photos from one of Nubia's most prodigious excavators, George A. Reisner; a checklist of objects from the exhibition; and a selected bibliography for further study of these rich but little understood African kingdoms.

This volume accompanies a major international loan exhibition featuring more than three hundred works of art, many rarely or never before seen in the United States. It traces the development of gold working and other luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity until the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Presenting spectacular works from recent excavations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, this exhibition focuses on specific places and times—crucibles of innovation—where artistic exchange, rivalry, and creativity led to the production of some of the greatest works of art known from the ancient Americas. The book and exhibition explore not only artistic practices but also the historical, cultural, social, and political conditions in which luxury arts were produced and circulated, alongside their religious meanings and ritual functions. Golden Kingdoms creates new understandings of ancient American art through a thematic exploration of indigenous ideas of value and luxury. Central to the book is the idea of the exchange of materials and ideas across regions and across time: works of great value would often be transported over long distances, or passed down over generations, in both cases attracting new audiences and inspiring new artists. The idea of exchange is at the intellectual heart of this volume, researched and written by twenty scholars based in the United States and Latin America.

In Civilizations of Ancient Iraq, Benjamin and Karen Foster tell the fascinating story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements ten thousand years ago to the Arab conquest in the seventh century. Accessible and concise, this is the most up-to-date and authoritative book on the subject. With illustrations of important works of art and architecture in every chapter, the narrative traces the rise and fall of successive civilizations and peoples in Iraq over the course of millennia--from the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians to the Persians, Seleucids, Parthians, and Sassanians. Ancient Iraq was home to remarkable achievements. One of the birthplaces of civilization, it saw the world's earliest cities and empires, writing and literature, science and mathematics, monumental art, and innumerable other innovations. Civilizations of Ancient Iraq gives special attention to these milestones, as well as to political, social, and economic history. And because archaeology is the source of almost everything we know about ancient Iraq, the book includes an epilogue on the discovery and fate of its antiquities. Compelling and timely, Civilizations of Ancient Iraq is an essential guide to understanding Mesopotamia's central role in the development of human culture.