Fagan Brian M. (ed.). The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World. Unlocking the Secrets of Past Civilizations

Thames and Hudson, 2001. — 304 p. — ISBN: 0-500-51050-4.King Arthur and the Holy Grail, the lost tomb of Alexander the Great, the story of Atlantis: the human past is full of unsolved mysteries. The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World draws on modern science and the latest research to explore some of archaeology's most baffling controversies and enigmas, from our origins to the mysterious collapse of powerful civilizations.
Leading authorities discuss the key questions, beginning with the truth behind myths and legends. Was there ever a Garden of Eden? What became of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and what is the significance of the Aboriginal Dreamtime? The book then examines mysteries of the Stone Age: the beginnings of language, the fate of the Neanderthals and the meaning of cave paintings. The much-debated first settlement of Australia and the Americas and the controversial Kennewick skull are considered, as is the significance of the European megaliths. Ancient civilizations present fascinating enigmas: were the Egyptians black Africans? How did Tutankhamun die?
What happened to the lost legions of Rome? And mysteries are found in all parts of the globe: did the Olmecs originate in Africa, were the bog bodies of northern Europe murder victims and what was the purpose of the world-famous Nazca lines?
The book pays close attention to puzzling sepulchers like Tomb 55 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings - possibly the pharaoh Akhenaten's burial place - and to undeciphered scripts, from Cretan Linear A to Etruscan, runes and rongorongo.
Finally, it examines the controversies surrounding the collapse of such civilizations as the Minoan, the Maya and the Moche of lowland Peru.
Packed with evocative photographs and informative diagrams, maps and plans, The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World is a unique guide to some of the most contentious issues of the human past.
With 431 illustrations, 177 in color.Myths & Legends: Hidden Truth?The Garden of Eden.
The Biblical Flood & Noah's Ark.
Moses & the Exodus: Myth or Reality?
The Lost Gities of Sodom & Gomorrah.
Atlantis: Fact or Fiction?
The Trojan War.
Theseus & the Minotaur.
Jason & the Argonauts.
The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant.
The Star of Bethlehem.
King Arthur & the Holy Grail.
TheTurin Shroud.
Maya Myth: Will the World End in 2012?
Aztlan & the Myth of the Aztec Migration.
Memories of the Dreamtime.
Mysteries of the Stone Age.The Puzzle of Human Origins.
How Did Language Evolve?
What Happened to the Neanderthals?
The Enigma of Palaeolithic Cave Art.
Who Were the First Australians?
The First Americans & Kennewick Man.
What Wiped Out the Big Game Animals?
How Did Farming Begin?
The Mysteries of Rock Art.
The Meaning of the Megaliths.
Was There a Mother Goddess Cult?
The Iceman: Shepherd or Shaman?
How Did They Build Stonehenge?
Where Did the Indo-Europeans Come From?
Ancient Civilizations.Were the Ancient Egyptians Black Africans?
How Did They Erect Pyramids & Obelisks?
The Riddle of the Sphinx.
Where Was the Land of Punt?
Was Tutankhamun Murdered?
The Tarim Mummies: Who Were They?
Were the Olmecs African?
Why Did the Carthaginians Sacrifice Children?
Ancient Oracles: Prophets or Profiteers?
Who Were the Celts?
Bog Bodies: Murder Victims or Sacrifices?
The Lost Legions of Rome.
The Mysteries of Mithraism.
Lost City of the Maya:The Hunt for Site Q.
The Mystery of the Nazca Lines.
Who Built Tiwanaku?
Why Did the Incas Sacrifice Children?
How Did the Polynesians Find Their Homeland?
Statues & Survival on Easter Island.
Tombs & Lost Treasures.The Puzzle of Tomb.
The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great.
The Tomb of China’s First Emperor.
The Hidden Treasure of the Dead Sea.
The Tomb of Christ
Ancient & Undecipherd Scripts.The Origins of Writing.
The Proto-Elamite Script.
The Indus Script.
Linear A & the Phaistos Disc.
The Origins of the Alphabet.
The Etruscan Alphabet.
The Meroitic Script.
The Zapotec & Isthmian Scripts.
Runes & Pictish Symbol Stones.
Rongorongo.
The Fall of Civilizations.TheThera Eruption & the Fall of the Minoans.
The Fall of Rome.
El Ninos & the Collapse of Moche Civilization.
Why Did Maya Civilization Collapse?
What Happened to the Anasazi?
Catastrophic Impacts from Outer Space?