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1. The Wars of God And Men - By Zecharia Sitchin 1985

Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series is based on the premise that mythology is not physiologically based, psychologically metaphorical, or culturally allegorical but rather the repository of ancient memories, and that the Bible ought to be read as a historical scientific document. While the debate regarding the origins of myth is far from conclusive, and the dangers of assuming that the subjectivity of the reader/researcher will not intervene are obvious, Stitchin is an expert in ancient language and history. While the reader may scoff at his unfortunately characteristic long leaps of logic resulting in conclusions (such as that gods from outer space destroyed a spaceport on the Sinai Peninsula four millennia ago), he does present some compelling ideas not easily ignored. The series, of which this is the third volume, deserves a read by those fascinated with the search for the origins of humankind who don't mind spending time separating wheat from chaff. --P. Randall Cohan

The Earth Chronicles series, in six voumes, deals with the history and prehistory of Earth and humankind. Each book in the series, based upon information written on clay tablets by the ancient civilizations of the Near East, records the fantastic and real battles that occurred between the original creator gods over control of planet Earth. Asserting the premise that mythology is not fanciful but the repository of ancient memories, The Earth Chronicles series suggests that the Bible ought to be read literally as a historic/scientific document, and that ancient civilizations--older and greater than assumed--were the product of knowledge brought to Earth by the Anunnaki, "Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came."

The 12th Planet, the first book of the series, presents ancient evidence for the existence of an additional planet in the Solar System: the home planet of the Anunnaki. In confirmation of this evidence, recent data from unmanned spacecraft has led astronomers to actively search for what is being called "Planet X."

The subsequent volume, The Stairway to Heaven, traces man's unending search for immortality to a spaceport in the Sinai Peninsula and to the Giza pyramids, which had served as landing beacons for it--refuting the notion that these pyramids were built by human pharaohs. Recently, records by an eye-witness to a forgery of an inscription by the pharaoh Khufu inside the Great Pyramid corroborated the book's conclusions.

In The Wars of Gods and Men, the third volume of his series, Zacharia Sitchin recounts events closer to our times, concluding that the Sinai spaceport was destroyed 4,000 years ago with nuclear weapons. Photographs of Earth from space clearly show evidence of such an explosion.The Wars of Gods and Men additionally embraces Canaanite, Hittite, and Hindu sources to include in these investigations the incidents of The Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sitchin's unique reexamination of ancient mysteries explains these past cataclysmic events in the history of humanity, opening insights into our future.

2. The Literature of Ancient Sumer - by Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor Robson, Gabor Zolyomi 2005

This anthology of Sumerian literature constitutes the most comprehensive collection ever published, and includes examples of most of the different types of composition written in the language, from narrative myths and lyrical hymns to proverbs and love poetry. The translations have benefited both from the work of many scholars and from our ever-increasing understanding of Sumerian. In addition to reflecting the advances made by modern scholarship, the translations are written in clear, accessible English. An extensive introduction discusses the literary qualities of the works, the people who created and copied them in ancient Iraq, and how the study of Sumerian literature has evolved over the last 150 years.

3. The Judicial Assessment of Expert Evidence - by Déirdre Dwyer 2009

Justice systems increasingly rely on expert evidence. We are therefore obliged to justify the courts' ability to assess this evidence, especially when the courts must resolve disagreements between experts or address possible bias. By reintegrating contemporary evidence theory with applied philosophy, Deirdre Dwyer analyses the epistemological basis for the judicial assessment of expert evidence. Reintegrating evidence with procedure, she also examines how we might arrange our legal processes in order to support our epistemological and non-epistemological expectations. Including analysis of the judicial assessment of expert evidence in civil litigation (comparing practice in England and Wales with that in the United States, France, Germany and Italy), the book also provides the first detailed account of the historical development of English civil expert evidence and the first analysis of the use of party experts, single joint experts and assessors under the Civil Procedure Rules.

4. Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life - By Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge 1990

Now, it is easy to see from the above description of the torments which the wicked were supposed to suffer, that the writer had in his mind some of the pictures with which we are now familiar, thanks to the excavation of tombs which has gone on in Egypt during the last few years; and it is also easy to see that he, in common with many other Coptic writers, misunderstood the purport of them. The outer darkness, i.e., the blackest place of all in the underworld, the river of fire, the pits of fire, the snake and the scorpion, and such like things, all have their counterparts, or rather originals, in the scenes which accompany the texts which describe the passage of the sun through the underworld during the hours of the night.

5. An Introduction to Feng Shui - by Ole Bruun 2008

Feng Shui has been known in the West for the last 150 years but has mostly been regarded as a primitive superstition. During the modern period successive regimes in China have suppressed its practice. However, in the last few decades Feng Shui has become a global spiritual movement with professional associations, thousands of titles published on the subject, countless websites devoted to it and millions of users. In this book Ole Bruun explains Feng Shui's Chinese origins and meanings as well as its more recent Western interpretations and global appeal. Unlike the abundance of popular manuals, his Introduction treats Chinese Feng Shui as an academic subject, bridging religion, history and sociology. Individual chapters explain: • the Chinese religious-philosophical background • Chinese uses in rural and urban areas • the history of Feng Shui's reinterpretation in the West • environmental perspectives and other issues

6. Philostorgius: Church History (Writings from the Greco-Roman World) by Philip R. Amidon 2007

Philostorgius (born 368 C.E.) was a member of the Eunomian sect of Christianity, a nonconformist faction deeply opposed to the form of Christianity adopted by the Roman government as the official religion of its empire. He wrote his twelve-book Church History, the critical edition of the surviving remnants of which is presented here in English translation, at the beginning of the fifth century as a revisionist history of the church and the empire in the fourth and early-fifth centuries. Sometimes contradicting and often supplementing what is found in other histories of the period, Christian or otherwise, it offers a rare dissenting picture of the Christian world of the time.

7. The Two Babylons: Or, the Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife - by Alexander Hislop 2007

The Two Babylons: Or, the Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife is a key religious text written by author Alexander Hislop. This Hislop work is based on the concept that numerous traditions of Roman Catholicism came directly from a mysterious religion largely focused on Nimrod and his family. Coming from this ancient Babylonian religion, many of todays continued practices were incorporated into the teachings of Jesus Christ from this religion, and are revealed in this highly acclaimed early 20th century work. The Two Babylons is highly recommended for those who are interested in the origins of Christian traditions and those who enjoy the writings of author Alexander Hislop.

8. The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel - by
James M. Robinson 2007

The discovery of a previously lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot has electrified the Christian community. What Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us about Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, is inconsistent and biased. Therefore, the revelation of an ancient gospel that portrays this despised man as someone who saw his role in the Passion of Christ as integral to a larger plan—a divine plan—brings new clarity to the old story. If Judas had not betrayed Jesus, Jesus would not have been handed over to the authorities, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. Could it be that without Judas, the Easter miracle would never have happened?

In The Secrets of Judas, James M. Robinson, an expert historian of early Christianity, examines the Bible and other ancient texts and reveals what we can and cannot know about the life of the historical Judas, his role in Jesus's crucifixion, and whether the Christian church should reevaluate his intentions and possible innocence. Robinson tells the sensational story of the discovery of a gospel attributed to Judas, and shows how this affects Judas's newfound meaning for history and for the Christian faith.

9. In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement - by Michael Lienesch 2007

The current controversy over teaching evolution in the public schools has grabbed front-page headlines and topped news broadcasts all across the United States. In the Beginning investigates the movement that has ignited debate in state legislatures and at school board meetings. Reaching back to the origins of antievolutionism in the 1920s, and continuing to the promotion of intelligent design today, Michael Lienesch analyzes one of the most formidable political movements of the twentieth century.

10. Original Sin: A Cultural History by Alan Jacobs 2008

In this brilliant account, Wheaton College literature professor Jacobs (The Narnian) traces the idea of original sin from the Bible to the present day. The doctrine has inspired fierce debate for the last two millennia. In every generation, it seems, someone defends the doctrine, pointing to all manner of evidence that people are (as Jacobs, in one of his rare stylistic lapses, too cutely puts it) bad to the bone. Their opponents in turn ridicule the notion, noting the unfettered greatness of human potential. Thus Augustine tangles with Julian of Eclanum, and John Wesley clashes with Rousseau. It is a compliment to Jacobs that in his hands these abstruse theological disputes are utterly engrossing. Jacobs makes clear that he has a dog in this fight—he thinks original sin is the most persuasive explanation of the world he lives in (though he dissents, irenically and charitably, from some classic Christian formulations, such as Augustine's view on infant damnation). Jacobs hazards some quirky and intriguing ideas, such as the notion that the kind of kinship created by a universal doctrine of original sin is perhaps as good a basis as any for a brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity, in which no one lords it over anyone else. This book is truly sui generis.

11. The Science of the Swastika - by Bernard Moes 2008

This is the first theoretically informed study of the relationship between an academic discipline and what the Nazis termed their Weltanschauung. The first study of Sinnbildforschung, German ideograph or swastika studies, though more broadly it tells the tale of the development of German antiquarian studies (ancient Germanic history, archeology, anthropology, folklore, historical linguistics and philology) under the influence of radical-rightwing politics, and the contemporary construction of 'Germanicness' and its role in Nazi thought. The swastika and similar symbols were employed by the ancestors of the modern-day Germans. As these had also become emblematic symbols of the forces of German reaction, Sinnbildforschung became intrinsically connected with the National Socialist regime after 1933 and disappeared along with the Third Reich in 1945.With the Nazi seizure of power, ideographic studies became directly supported by the state. In 1935, an organization was founded within the SS to further its study, the SS-Ahnenerbe. Most infamous as the organ through which medical experiments were arranged to be performed on the inmates of concentration camps, the Ahnenerbe was founded as a historical research institution before it expanded its horizons to the physical sciences.

12. The Universe is One - by Paul A. Olivier 1999

The Universe is One places the ancient synthesis of Stoicism, Platonism, Judaism, and Christianity in active dialogue with modern process science in order to conjoin science, philosophy, and theology into the human quest for meaning. Paul A. Olivier proposes a comprehensive theory of knowledge, which he expands into a theory of life, correlating modern process science and the western-Judeo-Christian heritage into a grand theory of the Universe. He brings together the ideas of influential thinkers from the world of science with those from the world of New Testament studies. Olivier clearly explains concepts from diverse fields to construct a satisfying theory of knowledge and life. He accomplishes this through an examination of the dominance of polarity in all aspects of the universe, such as chaos and order, predictability and unpredictability. Through this complex blend of opposites Olivier develops his theory as an interaction of Word and Spirit that provides the Universe with everything necessary to account for its creation and ongoing evolution. The Universe continually creates and sustains itself out of its own internal necessity coupled paradoxically with the fluidity of its own inherent unpredictability.

13. Anti-Gravity and the World Grid (Lost Science (Adventures Unlimited Press) By David Hatcher Childress 1987

David Childress compiled this now classis collection of works relating to the geometric structure of the planet, the "world grid". Ancient civilizations knew about this geometry and sited their monuments at its points, including the Great Pyramid, Easter Island, and the Chinese and Maya pyramids. The Bermuda triangle is one such point among many. Many unusual natural features also occur at points which correlate with the earth grid geometry. For example, the Hawaiian volcanic seamount occurs at a 'tetrahedral' point which will be of interest to readers of Hoagland's Mars materials and followers of Drunvalo's flower-of-life work.

The book includes, among others, articles by Bethe Hagens & William Becker, who designed the EarthStar globe; Barbara Hero calculates and explains the musical equivalents of globe distances; Bruce Cathie's early method of detecting grid patterns through UFO sightings, and anomolies at other points, including nuclear testing.

A.G.W.G. shows many maps of the geometric relationship of sacred places, including the world, Europe, Afica, and Cairo. Also shows the maps of sites in Somerset England in the pattern of the costellation Canus Major. I highly recommended it for students of Earth Mysteries, Sacred Geometry, and for alchemists.

14. The Sun and How to Observe It (Astronomers' Observing Guides) by Jamey L. Jenkins 2009

In Part 1, the book describes the very latest thinking on solar physics in (mostly non-mathematical) detail, incorporating the latest results from research concerning the structure and behaviour of the Sun. There is particular emphasis on the surface features visible from the Earth, and how these are the result of the extraordinary processes that are taking place within the Sun.

In Part 2, the book details the techniques for observing and imaging the Sun with commercially-available equipment. The many recent advances in optical equipment now allow amateur astronomers to observe phenomena that until recently could only be seen with the extremely expensive equipment available at universities and research observatories – notably H-alpha and Calcium-K telescopes.

This is a completely up-to-date solar observing book, while providing the science background necessary for an understanding of the observations with the latest equipment. It also features the most complete solar observing and imaging guide available.

15. Professional Vegetarian Cooking - By Ken Bergeron 1999

A contemporary bible of vegetarian cooking filled with fresh and fabulous ideas for today's fine dining

Vegetarian cuisine is now more popular than ever. Increasing health and ethical concerns-and an appetite for adventure-have sparked a growing demand for attractive, appetizing, and creative vegetarian dishes that hold their own with any meat choice on the menu. This book shows how to harness traditional cooking methods and techniques to produce exciting, elegant meatless creations bursting with freshness and flavor. Moving from appetizers and side dishes to delicious entrees, breads, and desserts, Professional Vegetarian Cooking is filled with dynamic ideas for building flavor with the help of vegetable stocks and a global array of herbs, spices, oils, condiments, and more. A far cry from the rough-hewn, grain-heavy approach that once typified standard vegetarian fare, it shares recipes and tips that open up a whole new world of taste for the vegetarian palate-complete with instructions that are clearly written and easy to follow.
* Explains how to integrate vegetarian dishes into every phase of a meal
* Includes 200 ready-to-use recipes
* Lists best sources of purveyors and mail order products

16. Food of the Gods : The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution - by Terence Mckenna 1993

The ethnobotanist co-author of Psilocybin: The Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide (not reviewed) puts forth the theory that magic mushrooms are the original ``tree of knowledge'' and that the general lack of psychedelic exploration is leading Western society toward eventual collapse or destruction--controversial statements, to say the least, though the argument's details often prove fascinating. In the beginning, McKenna tells us, there were protohumans with small brains and plenty of genetic competition, and what eventually separated the men from the apes was an enthusiasm for the hallucinogenic mushrooms that grew on the feces of local cattle. Claiming that psilocybin in the hominid diet would have enhanced eyesight, sexual enjoyment, and language ability and would have thereby placed the mushroom-eaters in the front lines of genetic evolution--eventually leading to hallucinogen-ingesting shamanistic societies, the ancient Minoan culture, and some Amazonian tribes today--McKenna also asserts that the same drugs are now outlawed in the US because of their corrosive effect on our male-dominated, antispiritual society. Unconsciously craving the vehicles by which our ancestors expanded their imaginations and found meaning in their lives, he says, we feast on feeble substitutes: coffee, sugar, and chocolate, which reinforce competition and aggressiveness; tobacco, which destroys our bodies; alcohol, whose abuse leads to male violence and female degradation; TV, which deadens our senses; and the synthetics--heroin, cocaine and their variations--which leave us victimized by our own addiction. On the other hand, argues McKenna, magic mushrooms, used in a spiritually enlightened, ritual manner, can open the door to greater consciousness and further the course of human evolution- -legalization of all drugs therefore is, he says, an urgent necessity. Provocative words--often captivating, but not often convincing.

17. People of Ancient Assyria - by Jorgen Laessoe 1963

AS Assyria merely a more brutal, more uncivilized and less interesting offshoot of the culture created by Sumerians and
Babylonians in Southern Mesopotamia at the dawn of history? Do the countless Assyrian reliefs that fill our museums give a
complete picture of the phenomenon that was Assyria? Was the contribution of this people to world culture merely an
incredibly effective military organization? Is it a true picture of Assyria that the reliefs and annals give us, with their
presentation of war chariots, archers, battering-rams surrounding besieged cities, the punishment of prisoners of war, and the
triumphal march of the Assyrian army through the realms of the Near East? Have we no evidence of the human element behind
this phenomenon? How far may we rely on the Biblical descriptions of the cruelty of the Assyrian armies and the depravity of
Assyrian cities? How are we, who can look back on the incredible events of the European wars of religion, on the conduct of
Europeans towards the Indians of America, and on man's recent treatment of his fellow-man, to judge these Assyrians?

18. A Colossal Hoax: The Giant from Cardiff that Fooled America - by Scott Tribble 2008

This book relates the story and implications of The Cardiff Giant hoax. This hoax was one of the leading questions of the day, and how citizens answered it said much about Americans in 1869 as well as about America more generally.

"I had almost no knowledge about the Cardiff Giant before coming across this gem. What an amazing and unbelievable story...It's hard to believe so many people were fooled so badly!

While the lives of the perpetrators are given extraordinary depth and detail throughout the book, the depiction of 1869 America is what truly tells the tale. Tribble does an excellent job of placing the hoax within the context of the times, exploring how the state of the nation played a major role in its success.

An extremely enjoyable book, very well written, and highly recommended." - reader's review.

19. Maya Political Science: Time, Astronomy, and the Cosmos - by Prudence M. Rice 2004

How did the ancient Maya rule their world? Despite more than a century of archaeological investigation and glyphic decipherment, the nature of Maya political organization and political geography has remained an open question. Many debates have raged over models of centralization versus decentralization, superordinate and subordinate status - with far-flung analogies to emerging states in Europe, Asia, and Africa. But Prudence Rice asserts that neither the model of two giant 'superpowers' nor that which postulates scores of small, weakly independent polities fits the accumulating body of material and cultural evidence. In this groundbreaking book, Rice builds a new model of Classic lowland Maya (AD 179-948) political organization and political geography. Using the method of direct historical analogy, she integrates ethnohistoric and ethnographic knowledge of the Colonial-period and modern Maya with archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic data from the ancient Maya. On this basis of cultural continuity, she constructs a convincing case that the fundamental ordering principles of Classic Maya geopolitical organization were the calendar (specifically a 256-year cycle of time known as the may) and the concept of quadripartition, or the division of the cosmos into four cardinal directions. Rice also examines this new model of geopolitical organization in the Preclassic and Postclassic periods and demonstrates that it offers fresh insights into the nature of rulership, ballgame ritual, and warfare among the Classic lowland Maya.

20. The Early History of Heaven - by J. Edward Wright 2000

When we think of "heaven," we generally conjure up positive, blissful images. Heaven is, after all, where God is and where good people go after death to receive their reward. But how and why did Western cultures come to imagine the heavenly realm in such terms? Why is heaven usually thought to be "up there," far beyond the visible sky? And what is the source of the idea that the post mortem abode of the righteous is in this heavenly realm with God?

Seeking to discover the roots of these familiar notions, this volume traces the backgrounds, origin, and development of early Jewish and Christian speculation about the heavenly realm -- where it is, what it looks like, and who its inhabitants are. Accessible to a wide range of readers, this provocative book will interest anyone who is curious about the origins of this extraordinarily pervasive and influential idea.

21. A Short Introduction to Classical Myth - by Barry B. Powell 2001

A Short Introduction to Classical Myth by Barry B. Powell was used in my Greek and Roman mythology class as a companion book to the original sources studied. Those included Hesiod's Works and Days, and Theogony, Euripides' The Bacchae, and The Women of Troy as well as excerpts from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey taken from Stanley Lombardo's Essential Homer. This was a readable and concise introduction that deals with the definitions and interpretation of myth, the background of myth, and the themes of myth. Along with an extensive index, the author provides further readings, maps and a table of the Greek and Roman Pantheon. It's a great book that provides a solid foundation for an introduction to Greek and Roman mythology.