My father was a curator and archaeologist at the British Museum, so I had to have my own collection in our attic. It was somewhat more modest but included both cultural and natural artifacts and guided me to both a career in geology and an interest in the links between culture and science. I wrote a book with my father on the geology of Greece for archeologists, which eventually led to my latest book on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I write from the perspective that ancient cultures were constrained and shaped by natural resources and events, as they are still today. By understanding that link, we can perhaps better comprehend our world.
This short book starts with my favorite executive summary of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, ‘Two statues, a temple, a roof-top garden, two tombs and a lighthouse’.
Each monument is discussed by an expert on the subject who gives you all you need to know and not much more.
The book was first published in 1988 but is still acknowledged as the best general summary, as the classical sources and archeology have not changed significantly since then.
Sets each of the seven wonders in their historical context, bringing together materials from ancient sources and the results of modern excavations to suggest why particular places and objects have been seen as the touchstone for human achievement.
This book looks back at the ancient reality of the Seven Wonders and forward to their place in history as symbols of beauty and authority.
This book was written to accompany a TV series, but like many such books, vastly exceeds the original show and has aged much better. John and Elizabeth Romer reveal their knowledge of the ancient world, but never make me feel inadequate. My only complaint is the quality of the illustrations, which contrast with the visuals of the TV show.
The seven wonders of the ancient world symbolize all that was magnificent and mysterious in the pre-Christian West. Using the words of ancient writers and modern archaeological techniques, John and Elizabeth Romer recreate the images of these lost monuments. This book tells the story of the "archaeology of wonder" - stories of the travellers and scholars who came into contact with these seven ancient monuments, the stories of the wonders themselves, and the histories of their making and breaking. It traces the archaeological hunt to find the seven wonders, from the earliest digs to the latest discoveries of current excavations.…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Many viewers of British TV will have seen Bettany Hughes’s documentaries on ancient history. Her lively personal style infuses this book with the same approach, but with much more detail.
The book is clearly a historian’s project, showing her passion for the ancient world. She is interested in what people said about the Wonders and how such monuments fitted into ancient societies.
From SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING author Bettany Hughes
'A wondrous wonderful achievement' Stephen Fry 'Fascinating' Observer 'Thrilling' Guardian
Their names still echo down the ages: The Great Pyramid at Giza. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Temple of Artemis. The statue of Zeus at Olympia. The mausoleum of Halikarnassos. The Colossus at Rhodes. The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Seven Wonders of the World were staggeringly audacious impositions on our planet. They were also brilliant adventures of the mind, test cases for the reaches of human imagination. Now only the great pyramid remains fully standing, yet the scale and majesty of these…
The Great Pyramid is the only Ancient Wonder that is still standing, but this comes with a price: more has been written on the pyramids than all the other wonders combined.
The oeuvre ranges from scientific and literary approaches to some of the silliest ideas ever published.
This is my favorite book because it was written by archaeologists who have excavated at Giza. Their enthusiasm is reflected in the clear text and the beautiful colour illustrations.
This is a book that you should own in the print edition, but it is my heaviest book and definitely a health hazard if you like to read in bed.
For more than 4,000 years the pyramids of Giza have stood like giant question marks that have intrigued and endlessly fascinated people. Who exactly built them? When? Why? And how did they create these colossal structures? But the pyramids are not a complete mystery - the stones, the hieroglyphs, the landscape and even the layers of sand and debris hold stories for us to read. Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass, with over four decades of involvement with Giza, provide their unique and personal insight into the site, bringing together all the information and evidence to create a record unparalleled in…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Like every gardener I know the effects of a short period of neglect, so it is not surprising that nothing remains of the 2,500-year-old Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
So, I am very impressed by what Stefanie Dalley managed to tease out from the scant literary and archeological evidence.
It seems that many of the most ruthless Mesopotamian despots had gardens attached to their palaces. My favorite image is a panel showing the King of Nineveh dining with his wife in a beautiful garden, under the severed head of his enemy suspended from a tree like a Christmas decoration.
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. Recognized in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location have long been steeped in mystery and puzzling myths.
In this remarkable volume Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, exposes new evidence and clarifies all the known material about this enigmatic World Wonder. Placing the Garden within a tradition of royal patronage, Dalley describes how the…
Two thousand years ago Philo of Byzantium wrote ‘Everyone knows of the renowned Seven Wonders of the World, but few have set eyes on them’.
In my book I want to resurrect these monuments so that we can see why they so fascinated the ancients. I talk about why and how they were built, and what they looked like. I take a pragmatic approach and assume that human motivations have not changed much since antiquity, leading to a revised history for several wonders. The demise of most of the wonders by natural or human forces was inevitable but led me to think about how we could rebuild them to last for a thousand years or more.
