Ancient History category: 8298 books

World-renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz explores the reality behind the bestselling fiction she writes (as Elizabeth Peters) and casts a dazzling light on a remarkable civilization. Afascinating chronicle of an extraordinary people—from the first Stone Age settlements through the reign...

'Man perishes; his corpse turns to dust; all his relatives pass away. But writings make him remembered.' The fascination Ancient Egypt holds in our minds has many sources, but at the heart of it lie hieroglyphics. This extraordinary writing system was for many years seen as the ultimate challenge...

A “richly illustrated . . . engaging, lucid account” of Ancient Egyptian Pyramids, what we know about them now, what we don’t, and what is still debated today (Kirkus Reviews). Hailed by Science News as “the new seminal text,” The Pyramids is a comprehensive record of Egypt’s most...

In ancient Rome, the subtlest details in dress helped to distinguish between levels of social and moral hierarchy. Clothes were a key part of the sign systems of Roman civilization – a central aspect of its visual language, for women as well as men. This engaging book collects and examines...

This book by Jacob Abbott is about Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC), who was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II, to the throne at the age of twenty. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through...

Former Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum, E. A. Wallis Budge (1857-1934) was one of the great Egyptologists of the century and author of a host of books on ancient Egypt. For this collection, he carefully selected nine of the most interesting and important Egyptian...

The Road to Sparta is the story of the 153-mile run from Athens to Sparta that inspired the marathon and saved democracy, as told—and experienced—by ultramarathoner and New York Times bestselling author Dean Karnazes. In 490 BCE, Pheidippides ran for 36 hours straight from Athens to Sparta...

Ostia Antica was Rome's ancient harbor. Its houses and apartments, taverns and baths, warehouses, shops and temples have long contributed to a picture of daily life in ancient Rome. Recent investigations have revealed, however, that life in Ostia did not end with a bang but with a whimper. Only on...

The ninth and tenth centuries were a period of new development and great changes within the Scandinavian countries. The Viking expeditions brought a large part of the population into direct contact with war and battle, while the former petty kings disappeared, or lost most of their importance, before...

Our image of the Roman world is shaped by the writings of upper-class intellectuals. Yet most of the material evidence we have—art, architecture, household artifacts—belonged to artisans, merchants, and professionals. Roman culture as we have seen it with our own eyes is distinctly middle-class and requires a radically new framework of analysis.

Capitalizing on the rich historical record of late antiquity, and employing sophisticated methodologies from social and economic history, this book reinterprets the end of Roman slavery. Kyle Harper challenges traditional interpretations of a transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages, arguing instead...

Walk a day in a Roman’s sandals. What was it like to live in one of the ancient world’s most powerful and bustling cities – one that was eight times more densely populated than modern day New York? In this entertaining and enlightening guide, bestselling historian Philip Matyszak introduces...

The ancient Greco-Roman world was a world of citie, in a distinctive sense of communities in which countryside was dominated by urban centre. This volume of papers written by influential archaeologists and historians seeks to bring together the two disciplines in exploring the city-country relationship.

Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly...