History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics)

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Modern Translation in an Attempted Perfectionism
This is the one scholars quote from . . .
Very Interesting
Great Collection Of Early Mesopotamian Literature
A good introduction, but not the most recent translation

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics)
Stephanie Dalley
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192835890

Book Description

The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia thrived between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over 4,000 years ago. The myths collected here, originally written in cuneiform on clay tablets, include parallels with the biblical stories of the Creation and the Flood, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of a man of great strength, whose heroic quest for immortality is dashed through one moment of weakness. Recent developments in Akkadian grammar and lexicography mean that this new translation, complete with notes, a glossary of deities, place-names, and key terms, and illustrations of the mythical monsters featured in the text, will replace all other versions.

Customer Reviews:

Modern Translation in an Attempted Perfectionism.......2007-08-06

Revised review: I read the revised edition of 2000 - with 10 new primary sources - of the originally 1989 book. The author chose rather the Akkadian versions over the Sumerian ones. Included are ten stories of variating length: Atrahasis, The Epic of Gilgamesh*, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, Nergal and Ereshkigal*, Adapa, Etana, Anzu*, The Epic of Creation, Theogony of Dunnu, Erra and Ishum. (* = including standard version and older & shorter version). As you see, there isn't a story called "The Flood" as suggested by the title of the book. However, the flood is a recurring theme in several of the other stories.

Usually I detest footnotes, however, it makes perfect sense to use them here, as a translated text by someone else, from a distant civilisation has to be explained. Lost in translation puns and alliterations are pointed out. Also variating translations, which differ considerably. If the Bible translations via various languages have been done in a similar vagueness, I am not surprised that one or the other message has been misinterpreted. This book now uses modern English, which I am very thankful for, as it wouldn't make any sense to indulge in some sort of pretentious antique "translation". Stephanie Dalley is a perfectionist in the sense that she meticulously includes any missing line and lost word. Which sometimes leaves only a word per line extant. That is frustrating for sure occasionally, but unavoidable, if a reliable translation is sought. With some pages I was happy that I still have 99% of human vision, this tiny the text has been printed.

Though at times purposefully repetitious, the stories themselves are mostly interesting or/and indeed worthy to read. Not only for themselves, but also for the origin of some Western-known stories. However, one should be careful to draw direct lines of origin, as for one thing the same subject may be very different or, as the author points out, may variate considerably WITHIN the very long time of the Mesopotamian culture(s). In fact, the longer stories have largely been pieced together from different sources.

What she fails to mention is that the Mesopotamian culture(s) are derived from the Egyptian culture, as she avers the Mesopotamian one would be the first of mankind. That's an old Western urban legend attempting to dissociate from African culture, from Black culture as far as possible. Which is rather futile as Mesopotamia is located in Africa in geological reality for one thing and for the other, these specific ancients had been Black just the same. Which doesn't become clear at all in this book. Read The Africans Who Wrote the Bible or When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations among many other books elaborating on that. However, I find it amazing that the derivations of the goddess Ishtar are mentioned, but she herself is presented as the original. Whereas it is long and officially accepted fact, even by the conservative science establishment that Ishtar in turn is derived from the Egyptian "Isis". In other words the Mesopotamian version may just be a sister derivation from Egypt, not the direct source for Western culture. In some instances that sister culture got remarried into the sources for later Western culture.

Speaking of conservatism and pseudo-origins: Elsewhere, the Epic of Gilgamesh is fancied as the first homosexual story in the world. To begin with, again, the Egyptians are able to top that. (For example with the story of Horus and Seth, though of course the concept of "homosexuality" differs from the modern one.) For another, the Gilgamesh story is rather bisexual, using modern Western terminology, as that concept was viewed differently back then and there as well. However, I find it remarkable that Stephanie Dalley isn't including that information in her veneration list. Accordingly, one can almost read this translation without noticing its however homosexual content. Gilgamesh's mother clearly speaks of Enkidu as if a son-in-law, but in the rest of the text he is translated in the like-a-brother routine. Well, maybe a "warm brother" as dated German slang would term him. Personally, I don't care about the translator's or my own view on this issue. It's even fun and safe for me, no matter my personal opinion, as in Rasta terminology, homosexuals happen in "Babylon" anyway (smile)... It's just interesting that she obviously leaves her path of perfectionism as soon as it comes to her bias. As I am a layperson on this, I wouldn't know, where else she missed some points. But maybe the reason for this is that the running gag in this story is that as soon as it turns homosexual, further text has been lost... Sure interesting to read in the ancient text that God made some humans nonbreeders to slow overpopulation. That almost sounds like modern slang.

I do recommend this book. Be sure to get the latest revision or another more recent book respectively.

This is the one scholars quote from . . ........2005-09-06

A collection of the major Mesopotamian myths translated by a respected scholar. This is an excellent source for those desiring an authoritative translation. Even so, these myths can be somewhat awkward to read given Dalley's use of square brackets to indicate gaps in the text and omission dots to indicate an unknown word or phrase. No doubt these are accepted academic techniques for translating ancient texts, but I do hope someone will come along and render these myths in a more enthralling format. For just such an example of how ancient texts can be made to come alive for the modern reader, see "Gilgamesh: A New English Version" by Stephen Mitchell . Nonetheless, I give Dalley five stars, but also highly, highly recommend Mitchell's new version of Gilgamesh.

Very Interesting.......2005-02-20

This is a thorough compilation of Akkadian myths. These are modern translations based on up to date scholarship. While Dalley does a good job of bringing out the poetry of these myths, these are direct translations of the original texts showing all omissions and as yet untranslated words and phrases. This approach gives a very good idea of both the character of the myths and also of the difficulties encountered by scholars in reconstructing these texts from the fragmentary available records. Readers will end numerous echoes of better known myths in these translations. The introductory essays, footnotes, and background information are excellent.

Great Collection Of Early Mesopotamian Literature.......2004-10-27

This is an excellent collection of several ancient Mesopotamian mythical stories. The original sources used for these translations were all written in Akkadian (which includes Semitic Babylonian and Assyrian dialects). Included in this collection are "Atrahasis", "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (standard and Old Babylonian versions), "The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld", "Nergal and Ereshkigal" (standard and Amarna versions), "Adapa", "Etana", "Anzu" (standard and Old Babylonian versions), "The Epic of Creation", "Theogony of Dunnu", and "Erra and Ishum".

This large collection of stories, along with the well written introductions and notes provided, enables the reader to put these epic stories into context, and recognize the parallels within the different stories. I prefer this book to those that concentrate only on the Gilgamesh epic.

A good introduction, but not the most recent translation.......2004-10-05

Dalley presents many of the major myths of the Mesopotamian culture including "The Epic of Creation", "Atrahasis" (The Flood Myth), and "The Epic of Gilgamesh". Additionally, short essays are provided for most of the translations that help the modern reader to understand the stories. I thought Dalley's introduction did a good job of discussing structural markers and literary devices used in Mesopotamian poetry.

Since this book was published in 1990, more recent translations have become available. For example, Benjamin Foster's "From Distant Days" was published in 1995 and provides more complete translations of many of the same myths presented in Dalley. For example, the "Etana" myth in Foster includes a major portion of Tablet IV, which is completely missing in Dalley. Andrew George's "The Epic of Gilgamesh", which was published in 2003, contains a more complete translation of this story, along with Old Babylonian and Sumerian predecessors.

Despite these translation issues, general readers who want to sample a bit of Mesopotamian literature will most likely be pleased with Dalley's book. Dalley's translations are very accessible, despite the numerous gaps and ommissions present in the texts. For the person who wants a more complete anthology of Mesopotamian literature, I would recommend Foster's book, since he presents other types of literary genre, such as king legends, prayers, and love charms, in addition to more current translations of the major myths.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Creation of Consciousness: Jung's Myth for Modern Man (Studies in Jungian Psychology, 14.)

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Read this Book!
THE Best book on the relevance of Jungian thought today
philosophically limited but excellent Jungian reading

Creation of Consciousness: Jung's Myth for Modern Man (Studies in Jungian Psychology, 14.)
Edward F. Edinger
Manufacturer: Inner City Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0919123139

Customer Reviews:

Read this Book!.......2003-02-14

Absolutely outstanding. Simple, straightforward vision for modern humanity. Anyone who thinks Edinger "never really understood current issues in epistemology" has not read enough Edinger. No one understood Jung like this great writer. Read on and watch your world open, if you're lucky.

THE Best book on the relevance of Jungian thought today.......2002-12-10

What relevance does Jung have for mankind today?

This book slices through his dense writing, adds a modern perspective and "pulls it all togather" to give the "Big View" of what he was saying and how it applies to us today and to the future of Mankind

some prior knowledge of Jung required but truly inspiring

philosophically limited but excellent Jungian reading.......2000-05-18

Although Edinger never really understood current discoveries in epistemology, he treats the topic of consciousness and its origins from a superbly depth-psych perspective, spicing the book with priceless observations and commentary. I wish it had been a longer book--very enjoyable.

Book Description

Here is a complete translation of all the published cuneiform tablets of the various Babylonian creation stories, of both the Semitic Babylonian and the Sumerian material. Each creation account is preceded by a brief introduction dealing with the age and provenance of the tablets, the aim and purpose of the story, etc. Also included is a translation and discussion of two Babylonian creation versions written in Greek. The final chapter presents a detailed examination of the Babylonian creation accounts in their relation to our Old Testament literature.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent translations marred by apologetics in the commentary.......2005-12-29

On the one hand, this book contains readable, scholarly translations of various Mesopotamian myths- "Enuma Elish", "Adapa and the South Wind", "The Slaying of the Lion", and several others. While I don't know Akkadian, the translations appear to be very thorough. In places where the text is missing, this is indicated by a gap, rather than simply ignored or even "filled in" as it is in many of the more popular (read: for the layman) translations of these myths.

On the other hand, as the author himself writes in his introduction, the purpose of this book is not primarily for those interested in Assyriology, but for the use of "the Old Testament scholar and the Christian minister." This dissapointed me, as this is not mentioned at all on the back cover, and I was expecting a book that would be accessible to an amateur Assyriology enthusiast like myself; what I got was essentially a translation followed by a Christian apologetic. As someone who also happens to be interested in the Near Eastern background of Hebrew thought, I was well aware of the biblical myth of the Leviathan and its connection to the Marduk-Tiamat combat motif found throughout Ancient Near Eastern literature. In his commentary to the Enuma Elish however, the author often goes to ridiculous lengths in order to remove this story from the Bible- the various biblical passages that refer to Yahweh slaying the Leviathan in the context of Creation are not to be taken at face value, he says; rather, they are mere metaphors for the story of the crossing of the Red Sea. The evidence used to support this point is typical apologetic wordplay and hocus-pocus: the author posits that because Egypt is identified poetically with the Leviathan in one instance, we should extend this poetic interpretation to ALL mentions of the Leviathan. In the instances where the Leviathan's status as a large animal cannot be denied even by the most acrobatic apologetics (as in Job 41), the author claims that it is a description of a crocodile, apparently interpreting the reference to it breathing fire as another "metaphor." The author refers to the opening chapters of Genesis as "free from all mythological references", and takes theological statements from the New Testament and retroactively assumes that the authors of the Old Testament shared the same theology. Sympathetic references to the doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy are found throughout the commentary, and the Babylonians' "crude" polytheism is constantly contrasted with the Bible's "philosophical" monotheism. In one instance where the author dares to suggest that the Bible is referencing a common superstition of the time (Job 3), he is quick to point out that this is Job (a non-Israelite) talking, not the Bible. He is apparently unable to entertain the idea that the Bible is a product of the world it was written in. Maybe this was considered a respectable academic position in the '40s, but not now.

Good overview for the uninitiated........1999-07-21

The book is not intended for students of Akkadian as there is no cuneiform or transcripted Akkadian. Everything is in translation. The book centers around the Enuma Elish (the biggest creation account), but has many other smaller creation legends. There is a synopsis of the Elish as well as various theories about its dating, composition, etc. There is also a lengthy (58 page) article showing parallels to the Old Testament creation account. The author does a good job of being objective, but leans toward showing the uniqueness of the Genesis account and contrasts it quite a bit against the remaining semitic literature.

The Legends of the Jews: From the Creation to Exodus: Notes for Volumes 1 and 2 (Legends of the Jews)

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The Legends of the Jews: From the Creation to Exodus: Notes for Volumes 1 and 2 (Legends of the Jews)
Louis Ginzberg
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801858941

Book Description

The notes for Volumes One and Two tell where legends appear and reappear, where versions differ and where they contradict each other. When legends have been the subject of learned interpretation or debate, Ginzberg provides guidance to the commentaries and disputants; when the legends are part of a larger controversy, he provides context.

Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World

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Authoritative!
Deja vu all over again
How the World was Created -- According to the World

Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World
Barbara C. Sproul
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060675012

Book Description

A comprehensive collection of creation stories ranging across widely varying times and cultures, including Ancient Egyptian, African, and Native American.

Customer Reviews:

Authoritative!.......2005-03-02

NICE. It's an intimidatingly weighty textbook, unillustrated. When it says "from around the world," it really does mean from around the world. Everything is sorted according to area and culture of origin. The myths are presented more or less as they originally were, not paraphrased or censored, although they usually have a limited amount of commentary preceding each story, explaining a few words and what you need to know about that culture to understand the story. There are the usual creation myths you've probably already encountered, such as the Enuma Elish and some Judeo-Christian things. There are also lots and lots of legends (and even some peoples) who you may not have heard of before, or at least, you heard some parts and not others.

There were a couple stories that took my interest. One of them was an Eskimo genesis about how Raven created the world, discovered humans, and started teaching the first people how to live... I'd heard a few variants, but this one has Raven introducing various animals to the first men, and explaining how to hunt them. Most of the animals are deer, but there are a few fantastic creatures in there, presented with just the same solemnity and depth of detail. One of these was a six-legged, horned animal that I had to make a drawing of; I've never heard of them before, its name was not mentioned, and I've never seen any pictures of them, traditional or otherwise.

Another story that caught my eye was the Hopi genesis, which I've heard of before, with the successive worlds being created, destroyed by a different catastrophes each time, and survived by a select few who later migrated to the next world. What interested me was the elaborate description of "vibratory centers" aligned down the spine, and how the ancient people used them to heal... I mean, they're identical in location, description, and function to the chakras described in India, although the Hopi system doesn't mention the lower two chakras.

Deja vu all over again.......2003-01-31

Forget Joseph Campbell. This is the ultimate myth book, hundreds of creation myths from all over the globe. Sproul shows that our socalled modern ideas--from the big bang to the steady state universe--repeat myths formed thousands of years ago, from the inhabitants of Mesopotamia to the South Sea islanders. Who needs a big bang when you have a "great cosmic copulation?"

How the World was Created -- According to the World.......2001-03-22

This is an incredibly thorough book that lists, in short story form, the creation myths from all over the world. It is incredibly thorough, covering even Inuit and Siberian legends. A great way to learn about the world's peoples by learning their folk tales of how the world was created. And what a great price for such an invaluable Cultural Anthropology book!

The Legends of the Jews: From the Creation to Jacob (Legends of the Jews)

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Good read

The Legends of the Jews: From the Creation to Jacob (Legends of the Jews)
Louis Ginzberg
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801858909

Book Description

"A truly monumental work of scholarship... Read for pleasure by millions of Jews and Christians, consulted by students, scholars, and ordinary folk, The Legends of the Jews has itself become legendary, the magnum opus of one of the twentieth century's greatest and most original Jewish scholars." -- James R. Kugel, from the Introduction

The first books of the Bible describe powerfully but briefly the creation, the first generations of humanity, and the early history of the Jews. In addition to their power to inspire thought and worship, they inspired imagination. Much of the richness of Jewish belief and wisdom comes from the many legends that answered questions raised by the silences of the Bible. From the second to the fourteenth centuries, the Talmud, Midrash, and their Targums incorporated apocryphal views of Biblical persons and events to help explain scripture. Other legends found their way into the Kabbalah, into Biblical commentaries, and into Christian literature.

Never before available in paperback, Louis Ginzberg's landmark, seven-volume The Legends of the Jews assembles the many elaborations and embellishments of Biblical stories that flourished in the centuries following the Bible's own creation. From a portrait of Adam and Eve as innocent cannibals to tales of Moses ascending the throne of Ethiopia and visiting both hell and paradise, these legends offer strange, delightful, and occasionally bizarre variations of familiar Biblical stories. Other tales describe Eden and the building of the Tower of Babel, explain how the first Sabbath was celebrated, and chronicle the punishment of the rebel angels. There are legends that detail how Noah cared for the animals on the ark and tell of David purchasing Jerusalem rather than conquering the city.

Ginzberg devoted most of his life to gathering these Jewish legends from their original sources -- written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syrian, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Arabic, Persian, and Old Slavic -- and reproducing them completely, accurately, and vividly. He presents these legends following the traditional Biblical sequence and reconciling the sometimes contradictory versions of the same stories found in different sources. In addition to four volumes of the legends themselves, The Legends of the Jews includes two indispensable volumes of notes that provide the sources for every legend and attest to the immense depth and range of Ginzberg's research, as well as a comprehensive index to the people, places, and motifs found in the legends and their sources. Nearly one hundred years after Ginzberg began, his work remains a fundamental tool of contemporary research and a classic of Jewish literature.

Customer Reviews:

Good read.......2002-02-23

I really like this book, the background of Genesis. I've borrowed it out so many times it looks all rough, it's very popular.

Average customer rating:

Very readable!
Insight into the Creative Process

Creation Myths
Marie-Louise Von Franz
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1570626065
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Book Description

Creation myths are the deepest and most important of all myths because they are concerned with both the basic patterns of existence and the ultimate meaning of life. In this book, an eminent Jungian analyst examines the recurring motifs that appear in creation myths from around the world and shows what they teach us about the mysteries of creativity, the cycles of renewal in human life, and the birth of consciousness in the individual psyche. Among the topics discussed are: Why the creative process is often accompanied by anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fear of the unknown. The meaning of creation motifs such as the egg, the seed, the primordial being, the creative fire, the separation of heaven and earth, and the four stages of creation. Creation symbolism in the alchemical opus of medieval tradition. How creation-myth motifs appear in the dreams of people who are on the verge of a leap forward in consciousness.

Customer Reviews:

Very readable!.......2001-06-24

Although this is a transcription from lectures it deserves the highest grade because M-L von Franz here combines here erudition and interpretative faculty to produce very thought-provoking interpretations of creation myths from all over the world. Von Franz introduces her own theories within the framework of Jungian psychology. C.G. Jung said that M-L von Franz was the one theorist that had accomplished the most congenial development of his own ideas. This book is no exception. It conveys some new ideas, while keeping the reader fascinated from cover to cover. Von Franz subdivides the myths into different categories like: "the first victim", "the two creators", "germs and eggs", etc. and interprets the different categories accordingly. She explains that the incipient of many creation stories seem to be a state of pre-conscious wholeness which is broken in two when "subject" and "object" are created. The book can be read by the layman without foreknowledge of Jungian psychology, but is equally interesting to the professional as creation myths often appear in the individual's unconscious. It also serves as a good mythological reference as particularly interesting creation myths are picked out. This is a fine piece which does not reduce the creation myths into grey two-dimensionality, but holds their mystery in high esteem. /Mats W

Insight into the Creative Process.......2000-08-12

Marie-Louise von Franz is the most pre-eminent of Carl Jung's disciples, and one of the most respected expositors of Jungian psychology. This Jungian analysis of creation myths is one of her masterpieces. In the Jungian view, creation deals with the threshold between the conscious and the Unconscious. When we create a new "world" for ourselves (by a change in job, relationship, residence, life-status, etc.), we are at this inner threshold. This book uses images from ancient mythological systems to illustrate how a psychologically healthy person approaches the creative process. Although the theme may initially seem esoteric, the author is discussing issues that strike us all at our core.

The Everything Seed: A Story of Beginnings

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Wonderful text!
More Big Bang for your buck
Only one detail awry, but it's the big one.
Acknowledging the spiritual aspect of all creation
Beginnings & Continuings

The Everything Seed: A Story of Beginnings
Carole Martignacco
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1582461619

Book Description

From a single seed cradled and nourished in the rich soil of space, comes the entire universe...and even you! The Everything Seed is a new myth for a new generation, one that explains to the youngest child where we, and the world around us, originated. This joyous celebration of the origins of life is told through captivating poetry and luminous artwork.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful text!.......2007-03-20

This is a wonderful book for introducing teh creation myth to young children! The pictures are equally beautiful and inspiring!

More Big Bang for your buck.......2006-06-05

If you were to walk up to me as I sat at my Children's Reference Desk in my library and ask me to come up with as many picture books written by Unitarians that I could think of, you'd have me stumped. And if you were to walk up to me and ask me to come up with as many spiritual Big Bang picture books as I could think of, you'd have me stumped. In general, I'm pretty easy to stump. Now I've at least one book to consider should either question come flying at my Reference Desk from parts unknown. We have, before us, "The Everything Seed". Coming via the publisher Tricycle Press, the book is a kind of experiment in combining a worthy subject alongside beautiful art, then failing to package the title in a pleasing manner. Do not, under any circumstances, get me wrong here. This is a book that definitely fills a need. Just the same, it would have been nice if the publisher could have granted this title the care and attention it so richly deserved.

You've all seen seeds right? You're aware of how a little tiny speck of a thing can be planted and grow and turn into something entirely different? Well let me tell you a story about a similar kind of seed. You see, in the beginning there was a whole lot of darkness and a single ... well, let's call it an Everything Seed. Everything that would ever appear in the entire world was contained in that seed until one day it unfolded. Then the universe was created, planets formed, life began, and every thing or creature, "that is now, ever was, or ever will be was inside that first tiny seed". With full multi-colored batiks by illustrator Joy Troyer (who represents that seed-in-everything as a kind of peppermint-like swirl of red and white) we see the entire universe unfold in a series of full-color prints of surprising depth and range.

The School Library Journal review of this book lamented that, "The text is very earnest, but, in the end, dull". First time children's book author Carole Martignacco explains in her Author's Note that she is a poet. When she couldn't find a picture book that was, "true to the emerging understanding of physics that would use the language of poetry", she decided to write a book herself. Not that this book is written in verse, mind you. Instead she hoped to write something that wasn't all cold-hard scientific facts without a trace of meaning behind them. At the same time she had to balance it out so that this wasn't a book that pounded a single religious theme in with the story of how the universe began. Tricky stuff. For the most part she's done a good job, neither going too far one way or another. Now the book does not speak in a vernacular that immediately will appeal to children. Martignacco may be a fabulous poet but she still needs to hone her voice to the entling set. So while I would disagree that the book is "dull", it could have stood a more casual feel towards young `uns.

Can we talk about the design elements here? For reasons I won't even begin to imagine, Tricycle Press didn't feel this book merited any special attention. First of all, the pages are glossy and cheap and the binding done in such a way that to turn to the title page already pulls dangerously at the poor little pages from their spine. The text is done in a generic typewritten font, then put on one page or another without the benefit of trying to be anything but paragraphs of text. Then there are the batik images and this is where it gets particularly sad. Artist Joy Troyer is a genius. A self-taught batik genius, no less. Her illustrations for this book are beautiful and lush and are worth poring over for hours on end. Unfortunately (this really gets my goat) the publisher apparently didn't want to shell out the extra bucks required to reproduce the pictures here in focus! So breathtaking images of a firey orange/yellow/red blaze of the sun, which by all rights should leave you panting at their glory, instead leave you feeling as if your eyes have been watching television for several hours strain-wise. Bad, Tricycle Press! Bad! When I consider that some small publishers like Simply Read Books will pay extra money for the SMELL of the glue in their bindings and then I look at a book like this that didn't even respect its author and illustrator enough to focus the freakin' camera taking pictures of the batiks... well, as you can see, I get a teensy bit huffy.

Now obviously if you want a creation myth picture book, this is not going to be your first choice. "The Everything Seed" bears far more similarities to the evolution-centric, "Our Family Tree", by Lisa Westberg Peters than the fabulous, "Big Momma Makes the World", by Phyllis Root. This is not a creation myth. It is the story of the Big Bang (a term Martignacco doesn't much care for) done in such a way as to tie it into scientific fact but done for little ones who don't need scientific terms quite yet. Actually, the book is visually quite similar to Gerald McDermott's, "Creation". Both books utilize the swirly creation out of black nothingness in mighty similar yet individual ways. Should you wish to complement this book with a Christian creation story, the two would slip together beautifully. A rather nice book, but one shanghaied by a lazy publisher who apparently doesn't care diddly over squat about presentation.

Only one detail awry, but it's the big one........2005-04-29

The Everything Seed was read as a story-for-all-ages in my church recently. It is a beautiful book that seems at first glance to be giving preschoolers an engaging foretaste of the mystery and grandeur alive in our best current understanding of how the universe developed.

But there's one detail in which The Everything Seed does not reflect that understanding, one I'm surprised no one has pointed out already. It is the kind of detail that looks small but is at the very heart of a concept.

As a metaphor for the earliest moments of the universe, an "everything seed" is a lovely image--provided one doesn't say everything was already there, just unfolding as from a real seed. But the author does say that, and so the book misses its chance to present the single deepest insight in the whole story: the amazing element of change, of new development, altogether more wonderful than the everyday growth of a seed, is completely missing from this book!

For some readers, the book's presentation--more like an overture for intelligent-design creationism--may seem "more spiritual." But there are points of view on that, and sooner or later, as they learn, children will need to be able to tell them apart. This book might just make that harder.

Acknowledging the spiritual aspect of all creation.......2003-08-11

The Everything Seed: A Story Of Beginnings is written by Carole Martignacco (an ordained minister serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of North Hatley, Quebec, Canada) and illustrated by Joy Troyer (a Batik artist and seminary student). This the story of the very first seed, the one that unfold to become everything in the Universe. Author Carole Martignacco incorporates scientific theories while acknowledging the spiritual aspect of all creation in a work that will resonate with young readers of all religions and denominational backgrounds. The batik illustrations are beautiful, simple, elegant, and perfectly showcase a story of our beginnings that is as thoughtful as it is entertaining. The Everything Seed is a very welcome and highly recommended addition to family, church, school, and community library collections.

Beginnings & Continuings.......2003-06-05

This book has more "stick-to-your-ribs" nourishment for the soul than oatmeal in the morning has for the stomach! It is a tremendously hope filled, warm, book that attaches itself to its reader and rekindles feelings of joy and growth.

This is a book that looks like it's written for children, with marvelous illustrations taken from original batik works. In fact, it is for people of all ages. I suppose it's a creation myth story based on what more mechanical types would call the "big bang" theory. It goes much further than suggesting a more biological, gentler approach based on "the everything seed." It proposes that the seed is still going about its business, growing new things, plants, and animals. Each of us has his or her own portion of the seed to work out in our lives, and it and we are works in progress.

It works at so many levels!

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