(Part 3) Top products from r/ArtefactPorn

I have one more that is most definitely not academic, but was my introduction to paleopathology as an amateur interest: Rosalie David's Conversations With Mummies. Another one I picked up one sale close to fifteen years ago, which had a profound effect on me. She talks about some of the most important cases that shaped the field, and several chapters are more comprehensive studies of a single person. It covers some of the processes involved in paleopathology, and how the field has developed, with technology allowing archaeologists to study people and specimens while still preserving their integrity. It's starting to get a little bit old, but it's still a fascinating read with lots of pictures. Sorry these are Amazon UK links; I'm not sure where you are, and it's probably a good idea to cross-reference with Amazon US. British books look deceptively affordable, but the last time I made a major order for thesis-related reading materials, I spent over $100 without even thinking about it!

Oh, and if parasitology is your thing too, David's book has a fair bit about it. A friend of mine who's a marine parasitologist (I'm not sure if that's his official title, but he studies marine parasites) recommended Parasite Rex to me, and I devoured it in a few days (poor choice of words, I know). It's more pop than academic but I enjoy reading anything that will bolster my understanding of something else.

And thank you, for your recommendation. Hubby started med school this year and I'm on the hunt for possible Christmas presents. This looks like something both of us would enjoy.

There is an interesting book called The Origins of the World's Mythologies by a Harvard professor named E.J. Michael Witzel which provides a great deal of information on this topic. I haven't actually read it yet, I've just read the description and a sample chapter but it's very interesting. I'll attach a link and the description from Amazon below, but what seems to be the major underlying theme of the book is that just like all people came from Africa long ago so too did the World's mythologies.

>This remarkable book is the most ambitious work on mythology since that of the renowned Mircea Eliade, who all but single-handedly invented the modern study of myth and religion. Focusing on the oldest available texts, buttressed by data from archeology, comparative linguistics and human population genetics, Michael Witzel reconstructs a single original African source for our collective myths, dating back some 100,000 years. Identifying features shared by this "Out of Africa" mythology and its northern Eurasian offshoots, Witzel suggests that these common myths-recounted by the communities of the "African Eve"-are the earliest evidence of ancient spirituality. Moreover these common features, Witzel shows, survive today in all major religions. Witzel's book is an intellectual hand grenade that will doubtless generate considerable excitement-and consternation-in the scholarly community. Indeed, everyone interested in mythology will want to grapple with Witzel's extraordinary hypothesis about the spirituality of our common ancestors, and to understand what it tells us about our modern cultures and the way they are linked at the deepest level.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0199812853/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=247VMV2CMXW7Z&coliid=I1HWP702NS4MC7

Hey not to call you out (that username tho) but have you been to grad school or checked any programs out?

I personally studied under people who specialize in: Greek elegiac poetry, Greek legal history, Roman republican family structure, etc. And all three had a Sumer/Mesopotamia course. I don't mean they spent a year deciphering tablets like this, but simply learning the basics of cuneiform. The equivalent of this book which I studied in undergrad.

You realize that cuneiform is literally the bedrock on which the other written languages are based right? A basic understanding of it is certainly not a waste.

edited to fix link

Edit: Well since you have made it clear that you intend to stay hostile "hold your ground" and all that, good day.

Here are some links anyway just in case you actually are interested but intend to save face or something.

Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt

Sex in Antiquity: Exploring Sexuality and Gender in the Ancient World

Among Women: From the Homosocial to the Homoerotic in the Ancient World

The Roman Wedding: Ritual and Meaning in Antiquity

The Demography of Roman Egypt

Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra: History and Society under the Ptolemies

Hellenistic Egypt: Monarchy, Economy, Society, Culture

Sorry a lot of these focus on Hellenistic and Roman Egypt but as it I my favourite subject it is what I have the most readily available sources for.

These scrolls are a really big deal. IIRC, only the outer layer was carbonized, which meant that some of the writing is preserved in the interior layers. Some fragments from finds like this were what brought the ancient work "De Rerum Natura" (On the Nature of Things) to the attention of early scholars.

According to Greenblatt in The Swerve, the rediscovery of this work is what kicked off much of the secular/scientific turn in European history.

I read the Swerve a while back and I'm currently reading a translation of De Rerum Natura when I'm on the shitter, and it's utterly fascinating. It's an epic poem that basically lays out the vision of a secular/scientific view of the universe. It's one of those works (like the dome of the Pantheon, etc.) which makes clear how much was lost in the fall of the Roman Empire.

I've been fascinated by Celtic art since I saw photos of the Book of Kells, Book of Durrow and the Lindisfarne Gospels when I was a kid.

I found this book (Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction by George Bain) that explains how these kind of drawings were made. It's amazing how something so complex can be made with very simple methods.

You should read Guns Germs and Steel! It's a super interesting analysis of why it happened that way.

Some people say that the idea of the griffin came from dinosaur fossils in Mongolia. Apparently, there are mostly complete fossils in upright positions.

The First Fossil Hunters is a pretty good book on the subject.

Not only lucky for the baby but considered lucky for others, too. Farley Mowat wrote about his caul being sold to a sailor. (IIRC the sailor drowned!)

The book Escape from Sobibor is a good read to get more information about those that actually lived in the camps. The author interviewed a lot of the (very few) survivors. Very good, very sobering read.

The Apis Bull was a bull seen as a Devine mediator between the gods and man. It was chosen at birth, and selected for having a whole list of features: it had to be a certain color, have certain markings, born at a certain time, etc. They kept it in its own sanctuary where it could be watched by the priests, and it’s movements and actions were seen as portents and messages from the gods. When these Apis Bulls died they were given a state funeral and mummified in their own tombs. It was a very old tradition, with Apis bull mummies found from the Old Kingdom, all the way to Ptolemaic Egypt. Alexander the Great is said to have met with the bull that was alive during his time.

Full disclosure, I have no clue if that’s what this bull is. I just finished a book on ancient Egypt and remembered that part.

Sooo good. The Power Broker

https://www.amazon.com/Popol-Vuh-Definitive-Mayan-Glories/dp/0684818450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550511133&sr=8-1&keywords=popol+vuh

His book seems like the most cited.

There are a lot of theories on collapse of complex societies which are really interesting archaeologists at the moment, though probably not as interesting as Atlantis myths. The basic principle is that societies have the capacity to be resilient based on how "healthy" their system is - economically, politically, environmentally, etc. When too many of those things are out of whack, they become vulnerable to things like floods and droughts. The 4.2 kiloyear event theory ("Megadrought" theory) is a really interesting and scientifically supported theory, which caused collapses all over the world. Joseph Tainter and Jared Diamond are both experts on collapse theory, though their books can get a little depressing at times. Always happy to give recommendations though, people usually only get to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to archaeology!

This cross is the subject of a book titled [King of the Confessors] (https://www.amazon.com/King-Confessors-Thomas-Hoving/dp/0671433881) by [Thomas Hoving], former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The nonfiction work reads like a blend of spy novel, Indiana Jones, art history, geopolitics, and time machine.

Hovel found part of the cross early in his career at the Met. However, there were issues concerning the cross's authenticity and price, and a couple of the panels on the terminals were missing.

Hoving had to trace the origins of the cross, while looking for the terminal pieces. Until reading the book, I hadn't realized there was a market in fragmentary pieces of artifacts that could be used to complete larger pieces of artifacts. In some cases there are photographs or drawing of these fragments, but no records of what has happened to them for decades or centuries.

I won't spoil the book, but the seller of the last terminal panel was not the type of person with whom you do traditional business.

Another issue Hoving faced was that he had to request major donations from members of the Met board who were Jewish - after discovering that the Bury Saint Edmunds Cross portrayed an anti-Jewish sentiment.