A rare look at one of the world's finest and most comprehensive collections of Turkmen rugs.

A fascinating, erudite, and witty glimpse of the human side of ancient Egypt—this acclaimed classic work is now revised and updated for a new generation Displaying the unparalleled descriptive power, unerring eye for fascinating detail, keen insight, and trenchant wit that have made the novels she writes (as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels) perennial New York Times bestsellers, internationally renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz brings a long-buried civilization to vivid life. In Red Land, Black Land, she transports us back thousands of years and immerses us in the sights, aromas, and sounds of day-to-day living in the legendary desert realm that was ancient Egypt. Who were these people whose civilization has inspired myriad films, books, artwork, myths, and dreams, and who built astonishing monuments that still stagger the imagination five thousand years later? What did average Egyptians eat, drink, wear, gossip about, and aspire to? What were their amusements, their beliefs, their attitudes concerning religion, childrearing, nudity, premarital sex? Mertz ushers us into their homes, workplaces, temples, and palaces to give us an intimate view of the everyday worlds of the royal and commoner alike. We observe priests and painters, scribes and pyramid builders, slaves, housewives, and queens—and receive fascinating tips on how to perform tasks essential to ancient Egyptian living, from mummification to making papyrus. An eye-opening and endlessly entertaining companion volume to Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs, Mertz's extraordinary history of ancient Egypt, Red Land, Black Land offers readers a brilliant display of rich description and fascinating edification. It brings us closer than ever before to the people of a great lost culture that was so different from—yet so surprisingly similar to—our own.

This text explains the cultural and historical background to the fascinating and complex world of Egyptian myth, with each chapter dealing with a particular theme.

The legendary overland silk road was not the only way to reach Asia for ancient travelers from the Mediterranean. During the Roman Empire’s heyday, equally important maritime routes reached from the Egyptian Red Sea across the Indian Ocean. The ancient city of Berenike, located approximately 500 miles south of today’s Suez Canal, was a significant port among these conduits. In this book, Steven E. Sidebotham, the archaeologist who excavated Berenike, uncovers the role the city played in the regional, local, and “global” economies during the eight centuries of its existence. Sidebotham analyzes many of the artifacts, botanical and faunal remains, and hundreds of the texts he and his team found in excavations, providing a profoundly intimate glimpse of the people who lived, worked, and died in this emporium between the classical Mediterranean world and Asia.

A 1913 scientific survey of coral reefs on the Red Sea coast, containing vivid descriptions of Sudanese landscapes and people.

To save her kidnapped best friend and crush, Zadie must complete an enchanted deadly labyrinth riddled with illusions. Her only hope of survival depends on forming an alliance with the only person who knows the safe path through—a murderous boy she can’t trust.

What is the Blood Red Sphere? Hamilton Helios, cactus juice addict, PTSD survivor and scavenger doesn't know, but everyone else on Mars seems to think he does. Why are Earth's central government, the break-away barons of the Oort Cloud, the native Martians, and more than a few sadistic criminals willing to kill for a nondescript sphere of red lacquer? Helios wishes he knew. Whatever the reason, secret agents, psychopathic religious fanatics, law enforcement officials, and wild Martians are all on his tail. To make matters worse, his business partner has been murdered, and Helios himself is under suspicion. Will Hamilton Helios learn the secret of the Blood Red Sphere before it plunges all of Mars, if not the whole solar system, into war? Or will he, like so many others before him, die for that secret?

Seven conscripts from a village near Dijon set out to follow Napoleon on his campaign to conquer Egypt. Later, the survivors sail with Nicholas Baudin on his expedition to New Holland. They are threatened, by disease and starvation, yet like nothing better than to talk, to think, to dream.