Builders of the Ancient World

Fülszöveg

On a grassy plain in southern England
the megaliths of Stonehenge stand
cracked, tilted, and stained by centu-
ries of wind and rain. Above the bush
country of Zimbabwe an abandoned
city of stone seems hauntingly out of place in a land-
scape dotted with mud huts. High in the Peruvian
Andes lie the remnants of the ancient stronghold of
Sacsahuaman, built centuries ago without the use of
draft animals or the wheel.
Who were the ingenious people who produced
these wonders? How were they able to move stones
that weigh ten—or eighty—tons, or even more?
Range through time for answers as Builders of the
Ancient World explores the silent ruins that give us a
tangible record of man's earliest architectural in-
sights and achievements.
You'll have archaeologists and engineers for
guides as the writers and photographers of this
book study the secret skills of ancient designers.
You'll visit a Louisiana bayou, a Pacific island; the
center of ancient Athens, the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

On a grassy plain in southern England
the megaliths of Stonehenge stand
cracked, tilted, and stained by centu-
ries of wind and rain. Above the bush
country of Zimbabwe an abandoned
city of stone seems hauntingly out of place in a land-
scape dotted with mud huts. High in the Peruvian
Andes lie the remnants of the ancient stronghold of
Sacsahuaman, built centuries ago without the use of
draft animals or the wheel.
Who were the ingenious people who produced
these wonders? How were they able to move stones
that weigh ten—or eighty—tons, or even more?
Range through time for answers as Builders of the
Ancient World explores the silent ruins that give us a
tangible record of man's earliest architectural in-
sights and achievements.
You'll have archaeologists and engineers for
guides as the writers and photographers of this
book study the secret skills of ancient designers.
You'll visit a Louisiana bayou, a Pacific island; the
center of ancient Athens, the northernmost fron-
tier of ancient Rome; ornate Hindu shrines and
austere Maya temples on immense platforms.
You'll discover traditions lost for many centuries—
as well as some that still survive. You'll find exam-
ples of town planning with drainage systems that ri-
val those of today. In China you'll see works of
hydraulic engineering that turned arid plains into
fertile agricultural land 2,000 years ago. You'll see
why a daring bridge could outlast the floods of cen-
turies, and why a temple could stand through dev-
astating earthquakes. And you'll learn how the
Egyptians could construct the pyramids which have
dominated the skyline of the Nile Valley for more
than 4,000 years.
Builders of the Ancient World brings you works of
enduring beauty. It also gives you a new under-
standing of the organization and sacrifices of labor-
ers, soldiers, slaves, and free artisans—of all who
worked for the glory of a society and its gods. The
most up-to-date scholarship will shed its light on an-
cient genius. From mud and wood and stone came
the cities and monuments that herald the technical
skills and spiritual aspirations of mankind. Vissza