The Phoenicians and The West
by M Aubet, Cambridge Univ. Press 1996.

Between the eighth and sixth centuries BC, the Phoenicians established the first trading system in the Mediterranean basin, from their homeland, in what is now Lebanon, to colonies in Cyprus, Tunisia, Sicily, Sardinia and southern Spain. The Phoenician state was able to maintain its independence, despite the territorial expansion of the Assyrians, in return for tribute provided by its western colonies. Archaeological research over the past decades, and still ongoing, has transformed our understanding of these colonies and their relationship to local communities. This updated version of Maria Eugenia Aubet's highly praised book, The Phoenicians and the West, originally published in English in 1993, incorporates the most recent research findings, an expanded bibliography, and an appendix on radiometric dating. As the only English-language synthesis on the Phoenicians, it will be welcomed by scholars and students of Mediterranean history and archaeology, and anyone interested in early trading systems.

From Egypt to Mesopamia: Study of Pre-Dynastic Trade Routes
Samual Mark

In Near Eastern studies, it has come to be accepted by many as fact that predynastic trade routes connected Egypt and Mesopotamia. The case for such trade routes, however, has until recently largely been based upon the two regions' shared influences rather than on archaeological evidence. In "From Egypt to Mesopotamia", Samuel Mark ferrets out the two possible trade routes between these two vastly different cultures. Ancient shipwreck sites and recently discovered artifacts allow Mark to delineate avenues of trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Taking to task previous studies that describe the Egypt-Mesopotamia trade connection as being one between two homogeneous cultures, Mark focuses on the variety of cultural differences, rather than their shared similarities, to map the infusion of these cultures. Scholars, students, and nautical archeology and Egyptology enthusiasts will appreciate this probing, fascinating trek through sea, sand, and time, unfolding the development of trade routes in the East.

The Sphinx and the Megaliths
by John Ivimy. Turnstone 1974.

The Ages of Homer
by Carter and Morris. Texas Univ. Press 1995.

Brings together 31 articles that use techniques of analysis from comparative philology and mythology, literary theory, historical linguistics, anthropology, and iconography applied to two millennia of literature and artifacts from Minoan Crete to the Roman period, in order to shed light on the Homeric epics.

The Sunken Kingdom
by Peter James. Pimlico.

Reviewing previous theories about the site of Plato's city of Atlantis - some fantastic, some rational - this work offers a solution to the mystery that has baffled historians and archaeologists for centuries. That solution lies in the catastrophic destruction of a late-Bronze Age civilization close to the modern Turkish port of Izmir. The author takes readers on a journey between historical sources in Greece and Egypt, offering evidence of geological disaster in the Near East, focusing on the derivation of the word "atlas", and identifying Tantalus, founder of the Hittite kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, with the ruler of Atlantis.

Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age
by Richard Rudgley.

This work presents Stone Age civilization as far more sophisticated than previously believed in terms of its technology, mathematics, medicine, communications (which were worldwide) and art. The author attempts to re-establish Rousseau's notion of the "Noble Savage".

Saint Columban
by Marguerite - Marie Dubois.

Paradox's of Paradise
by F. Landy.

History of Cartography
by J.B. Harley

The first book of volume 2 of the monumental "History of Cartography" focuses on mapping in non-Western cultures, an area of study traditionally overlooked by Western scholars. Extensive original research makes this the foremost source for defining, describing, and analyzing this vast and unexplored theater of cartographic history. Book 1 offers a critical synthesis of maps, mapmaking, and mapmakers in the Islamic world and South Asia; Book 2 (scheduled for 1993) will cover East and Southeast Asia. "[The six-volume set] is certain to be the standard reference for all subsequent scholarship. The editors ...have assembled and analyzed a vast collection of knowledge...If the first volume is an indication, the complete set will be comprehensive and judicious." --John Noble Wilford, "New York Times Book Review""As well as enlarging the mind and lifting the spiritsthrough the sheer magnitude of its endeavor, the collection delights the senses. The illustrations are exquisite: browsing fingers will instinctively alight on the sheaf of maps reproduced on stock slightly thicker than that of the text.