Archeology

[pwalker8]

I've long been interested in the historic aspects of archeology, by that I mean the stories that archeology tells and the stories behind archeology, not the physical way that one does archeology work. One book that I liked is Patrick Hunt's Ten Discoveries that Rewrote History.

So, my question is what ebooks are there out there that are similar. Looking in Hunt's bibliography, most of the general archeology books don't seem available as ebooks. I know that Brian Fagan has some (I like his history of the climate books), though other than Rape of the Nile, they seem to be rather expensive ($150) text books. When I look for archeology books on Amazon's kindle store, I get mostly biblical studies or chariot of the gods type books.

I do have Preston's Lost City of the Monkey God, The Lost City of Z, Jungle of Stone and Kramer's The Sumerians.

[HarryT]

I strongly recommend Joyce Tyldesley's "Egypt: How a Lost Civilisation was Rediscovered". This is a book that she wrote to accompany a 2005 BBC TV series telling the story of how some of the major discoveries in Egyptology happened. Very interesting, and highly readable.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Egypt-How-L.../dp/B0045JKEAI

[pwalker8]

Thanks for the recommendation. It doesn't seem to be available in the US as an ebook, but I'll contact my friend in Wales and get a copy.

Have you read Fagan's Rape of the Nile? If so, what's you opinion of it?

[HarryT]

No, I'm afraid that's a new one on me, but thanks for recommending it.

[HarryT]

Now bought. Looks good - thanks!

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Now bought. Looks good - thanks!

I wasn't actually recommending it, though I do like the author's other books. I was just looking to get your opinion of it since I was thinking about buying it myself.

There are some interesting books about biblical archaeology in the ancient Near East. As asked in the OP, you can find some that are not just about technical methodology, but are drawing out the interesting historical implications of various finds (e.g., this find supports an earlier or later date for the Israel's Exodus from Egypt, or this one supports the historicity of the ancient Hittite people that were mentioned in connection with Abraham in Genesis, etc.). There's quite a range, but the thing I find a lot of them have in common--which sadly makes it harder to find them in ebook format--is that they tend to include tons of large diagrams and photos. That means they tend to be in print, with only a few exceptions. An example of one like this that I have on the shelf is Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the History and Culture of Early Civilizations, by Hoerth and McRay. I really like this one and recommend it as a popular survey of ANE archaeology for the interested non-specialist reader. I also have some archeology works in digital ebook form--a favorite is The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, 3rd ed., ed. by Avraham Negev. But this one, like the others I have, is locked up inside the Logos software program which is specialized (and spendy! :-)) software for studying the Bible in the original languages. So none of these will help you much if you want the book in a popular ebook format.

Here's a popular survey of the findings and historical implications of biblical archaeology that is available in Kindle form. I don't own it, but on the Kindle platform, this would be a good one to check out: Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology.

Taking things in a more specialist direction, but kind of a classic in biblical archaeology, is G.E. Wright's Biblical Archaeology. If you go to this query on archive.org, you can see that book is available as an epub loaner, but there's a waitlist for it. In a similar vein, this query shows some works there by Wright's mentor, W.F. Albright, including some in epub form.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by maximus83

There are some interesting books about biblical archaeology in the ancient Near East. As asked in the OP, you can find some that are not just about technical methodology, but are drawing out the interesting historical implications of various finds (e.g., this find supports an earlier or later date for the Israel's Exodus from Egypt, or this one supports the historicity of the ancient Hittite people that were mentioned in connection with Abraham in Genesis, etc.). There's quite a range, but the thing I find a lot of them have in common--which sadly makes it harder to find them in ebook format--is that they tend to include tons of large diagrams and photos. That means they tend to be in print, with only a few exceptions. An example of one like this that I have on the shelf is Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the History and Culture of Early Civilizations, by Hoerth and McRay. I really like this one and recommend it as a popular survey of ANE archaeology for the interested non-specialist reader. I also have some archeology works in digital ebook form--a favorite is The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, 3rd ed., ed. by Avraham Negev. But this one, like the others I have, is locked up inside the Logos software program which is specialized (and spendy! :-)) software for studying the Bible in the original languages. So none of these will help you much if you want the book in a popular ebook format.

Here's a popular survey of the findings and historical implications of biblical archaeology that is available in Kindle form. I don't own it, but on the Kindle platform, this would be a good one to check out: Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology.

Taking things in a more specialist direction, but kind of a classic in biblical archaeology, is G.E. Wright's Biblical Archaeology. If you go to this query on archive.org, you can see that book is available as an epub loaner, but there's a waitlist for it. In a similar vein, this query shows some works there by Wright's mentor, W.F. Albright, including some in epub form.

Thanks for the response. Yes, I saw a lot of biblical archeology books in the kindle store. I'm somewhat skeptical towards the search for Noah's Ark and prove the Bible type books. I am interested in the various ancient civilization books. For example, I have a number of books on Bronze age civilizations, but for the most part they are either very expensive as ebooks or aren't available as ebooks.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Thanks for the response. Yes, I saw a lot of biblical archeology books in the kindle store. I'm somewhat skeptical towards the search for Noah's Ark and prove the Bible type books.

The books I referenced are by scholars who have done actual archeological work, not the type you mention. W.F. Albright for instance was a household name in the field of archaeology.

A beautiful looking general overview that is of the type I *think* you are looking for, is:

Archaeology: The Essential Guide to Our Human Past, by Paul Bahn. I have that one on hold at my local library.

Sadly, once again, only available in print AFAIK.

ETA 2/26: FWIW, picked this up today, wow this book is an impressive one-volume overview from Smithsonian books. The full size photos and diagrams are stunning; for example I was just looking at the chapter about Egypt. So if you want a recent book and are willing to forego the ebook requirement, the pictures alone in this thing are a reminder of why, sometimes, paper books are still the way to to go. This is so good I'm thinking about buying a copy. A good blurb is here.

[issybird]

This is one I picked up a while ago and haven't got to yet:

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code

It might not be exactly what you want, as while it features the excavation of Crete by a noted archaeologist, Arthur Evans, much of it is devoted to interpreting the language on tablets discovered there, with enormous importance to the study of the ancient Greeks. However, it is available as an ebook.

I was interested to learn in another recent read that the scholar who cracked the language used a lot of techniques developed in code-breaking during World War II.

You might want to have a look at The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. I read it hoping to learn more about P.I.E., and while I did, the focus was a lot more heavily on physical archaeology than linguistic reconstruction. So it might be something akin to the sort of book you're after. It was an interesting read, and I did learn a lot, even if not quite what I was expecting/hoping to.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by issybird

This is one I picked up a while ago and haven't got to yet:

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code

It might not be exactly what you want, as while it features the excavation of Crete by a noted archaeologist, Arthur Evans, much of it is devoted to interpreting the language on tablets discovered there, with enormous importance to the study of the ancient Greeks. However, it is available as an ebook.

I was interested to learn in another recent read that the scholar who cracked the language used a lot of techniques developed in code-breaking during World War II.

That looks interesting, that's for the recommendation. Just picked up a copy.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

You might want to have a look at The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. I read it hoping to learn more about P.I.E., and while I did, the focus was a lot more heavily on physical archaeology than linguistic reconstruction. So it might be something akin to the sort of book you're after. It was an interesting read, and I did learn a lot, even if not quite what I was expecting/hoping to.

Yep, I've got that one. It's a good read.

The Patrick Hunt book is more of a survey of famous archeological finds with a chapter on each find.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by issybird

This is one I picked up a while ago and haven't got to yet:

The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code

It might not be exactly what you want, as while it features the excavation of Crete by a noted archaeologist, Arthur Evans, much of it is devoted to interpreting the language on tablets discovered there, with enormous importance to the study of the ancient Greeks. However, it is available as an ebook.

I was interested to learn in another recent read that the scholar who cracked the language used a lot of techniques developed in code-breaking during World War II.

I was about to say "This looks very interesting - I'll buy it", but when I went to Amazon UK it tells me that I actually did buy it in 2014, probably as the result of another recommendation. Now moved up my reading list!