100 Books Like Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe

I read this book a long time ago and went back to it again as it is so revolutionary and quite startling for its time (1968). His theories were often laughed at, but he has been hugely vindicated by later discoveries. I think he was a very brave man to write this book, addressing one of the greatest mysteries of all—how we became civilized.

He must have known he would be vilified for producing such a book, but he did it anyway and in doing so unleashed a torrent of unconventional archaeologists and explorers of the past. So much has changed since this book came out, but it is still a seminal work that, IMO, should be read by anyone interested in the ancient past and the evolution from simple farmers into advanced societies.

I am fascinated with this episode in Bronze Age history, and this book delves deep into this period of turmoil and chaos that affected the Mediterranean region in a dramatic way.

There are so many unknowns about this period, but the authors do a great job of trying to piece together a coherent story of the disaster that ended or set back civilizations across southern Europe, North Africa, and the Levant.

Akhenaten was a real outlier in Egyptian history, and I found this book very insightful and readable, even though it is an academic book. This Pharaoh was erased from history (by the following 19th dynasty), and this book goes a long way in explaining why this happened.

It’s an incredible story, and one must wonder how he died and why there were so many sudden deaths in the family. Perhaps not all the answers will come to light, but this is an amazing insight into his life and the short-lived religion he created.

This discovery really shook up the world of archaeology, and Vallianatos’ book tries to explain the whole mystery in an easy-to-understand way. I found it quite comprehensive, and it clearly shows that our preconceived ideas about the ancient world are often wrong.

The Greeks and other peoples were considerably more advanced than we generally give them credit for. This device is quite incredible, and such artistry and technical expertise were forgotten and not regained until only a few hundred years ago.

I love discovering new information about the past, and this item is earth-shattering, a unique window on an aspect of Bronze Age life that one would hardly imagine was possible!

I read this book at a time when I was feeling dissatisfied with archaeological writing’s ability to capture the feeling of being at an archaeological site—all of the sensory experiences and historical enigma.

I loved that much of this book was written as a series of dialogues that actually took place while walking around Stonehenge. I also love that this text looks directly at different people’s thoughts and experience of the site, and allowed those contestations and disagreements to remain unresolved.

To me, this book felt like the uncertain social experience of finding so much, and yet never enough, through the archaeological process.

While short book aimed at younger readers, there’s so much to learn for anyone regardless of age that wishes to exercise their terror-inducing writing muscles. I read this book so long ago that I would guess it was back in 2005. While the time frame is hazy, the details and lessons in the book are anything but. The way Zindel handles the horror parts is what gets this book on this list. The antagonist monster is horrendous of course, but it’s the mystery behind it that is what’s more chilling because it is vaguely hinted at but never outright explained.

Even on the final page, when you learn that this creature isn’t anything new nor anything going away, there are still so many mysteries that will not (and maybe should not) be solved. That is why this book is recommended. When things are over-explained, they tend to lose their magic.… show more.

In many books, Freya Stark (1893 to 1993) covered mostly what we used to call the Middle and Near East – Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan.

In The Lycian Shore she sails in a small yacht along the coast of south-west Turkey. I love this book – it shows what women travel writers can do when they blend history and personal observation. I used to take her chapters apart when I started out to learn how she did it.

As publishers Dorling Kindersley have invented a great format, juxtaposing pictures and information in a way nobody else has ever done. The volume on Turkey is a browser’s paradise and if it doesn’t inspire you to want to visit the country and its largest city, then there’s something wrong with you. The introduction to Turkish life and the 80 or so pages on Istanbul are superb, cramming in so much knowledge but in a way that lets you skim and peruse it at your own pace, skipping about in the text, and lost in awe over the photographs of human structures and scenery. A Turkish traveler must-have!

For many, travel reaches a point where it becomes something more than a moveable buffet and checks off a bucket-list. The Art of Pilgrimage helps you make this transition and realize you’re not alone. It traces the history of pilgrimage or mindful journeys with stories and anecdotes from past sojourners to a wide variety of locations for equally diverse reasons.

Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and even Neolithic burials tell those of us living in the 21st century that a large and undeniable part of being human is taken up with asking the question:

What lies behind our visible, ordinary lives? If we could lift the veil, what would we find behind it? It is a question that follows me around like a hungry kitten, demanding attention, even though I have “better” things to do.

I found myself wrapped in the personality of Lagerkvist’s Mendicant Jew, struggling with choices he has made, as he sets out on a long, difficult pilgrimage to quell his own spiritual hunger. The answers the Sibyl gives him are equally amazing as they are confounding.