PARALLELS
Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions
by
Diane E. Wirth
We
have unreservedly featured Diane Wirth's new book Parallels
alongside our
top authors and their key subjects. As result of her straightforward
and compelling scholarship, we consider that the archaeological
establishment, who overturned the concept of diffusionism around
eighty years ago, will have to re-write their teaching text
books, and join us in exploring the evidence and records on
the archaic worldwide civilisations, initially stimulated by
the activities of the Shining Ones.
The long debated subject of isolationism and diffusionism is
brought into the open by comparing the many common traditions
of the Ancient Middle East and Mesoamerica.
Parallels
is fascinating, scholarly, reader-friendly, and discusses the
plausibility of foreigners from the Middle East having an effect
on Mesoamerica. "One of the most puzzling problems for
culture historians and archaeologists has been how to account
for shared similarities in diverse parts of the world,"
said Brian M. Stross, professor of anthropology, University
of Texas at Austin. And Robert M. Schoch of Boston University
commented, "It is too much for all of this to be dismissed
as merely coincidence and independent invention. . . . With
this important book, Diane E. Wirth is helping to rewrite not
only the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, but the history
of the ancient Middle East as well."
Topics
such as bearded foreigners, fish traditions, creation and re-creation,
Mesoamerican and Egyptian scribes, the king and the World Tree
motifs, are some of the chapters outlining Wirth's findings.
Included in the 211 pages are illustrations, tables and bibliographical
sources to help the reader understand and enjoy the text.
With
a BA degree in Art (most of the illustrations in Parallels are
her work), she has studied Mesoamerican and Middle Eastern art
for over 30 years. Her travels are extensive throughout the
world, especially to the sites in Mesoamerica including travel
for 6 weeks with the famed Linda Schele (art historian, iconographer
and epigrapher). Wirth has given papers which were read at the
Conference of the American Society for Phenomenology, Aesthetics
& Fine Arts, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University;
The Ancient American Western Conference, Utah State Valley College;
The Society of Early Historic Archaeology, Brigham Young University;
and the New England Antiquities Research Association in both
New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Wirth has also published numerous
articles in magazines and scholarly journals.
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