Trees Of Paradise And Pillars Of The World

Author : Elizabeth A. Newsome
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 0292788029
Total Pages : 533 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World written by Elizabeth A. Newsome and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-07-05 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assemblies of rectangular stone pillars, or stelae, fill the plazas and courts of ancient Maya cities throughout the lowlands of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras. Mute testimony to state rituals that linked the king's power to rule with the rhythms and renewal of time, the stelae document the ritual acts of rulers who sacrificed, danced, and experienced visionary ecstasy in connection with celebrations marking the end of major calendrical cycles. The kings' portraits are carved in relief on the main surfaces of the stones, deifying them as incarnations of the mythical trees of life. Based on a thorough analysis of the imagery and inscriptions of seven stelae erected in the Great Plaza at Copan, Honduras, by the Classic Period ruler "18-Rabbit-God K," this ambitious study argues that stelae were erected not only to support a ruler's temporal claims to power but more importantly to express the fundamental connection in Maya worldview between rulership and the cosmology inherent in their vision of cyclical time. After an overview of the archaeology and history of Copan and the reign and monuments of "18-Rabbit-God K," Elizabeth Newsome interprets the iconography and inscriptions on the stelae, illustrating the way they fulfilled a coordinated vision of the king's ceremonial role in Copan's period-ending rites. She also links their imagery to key Maya concepts about the origin of the universe, expressed in the cosmologies and mythic lore of ancient and living Maya peoples.

Author : Gerald Massey
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.47/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World written by Gerald Massey and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 1907 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Gerald Massey
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134568916
Total Pages : 961 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ancient Egypt Light Of The World 2 Vol set written by Gerald Massey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 961 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2005. This expansive and fascinating treatment of ancient Egyptian mythology and its influence on the traditions that followed from it includes explorations of sign-language in mythological representation, totemism, fetishism, spirits and Gods, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Egyptian wisdom in the Hebrew Genesis. Readers will enjoy the wealth of information offered by Massey, as well as his clear and readable style.

Author : Matthew G. Looper
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 0292778171
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Lightning Warrior written by Matthew G. Looper and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-06-23 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Maya city of Quirigua occupied a crossroads between Copan in the southeastern Maya highlands and the major centers of the Peten heartland. Though always a relatively small city, Quirigua stands out because of its public monuments, which were some of the greatest achievements of Classic Maya civilization. Impressive not only for their colossal size, high sculptural quality, and eloquent hieroglyphic texts, the sculptures of Quirigua are also one of the few complete, in situ series of Maya monuments anywhere, which makes them a crucial source of information about ancient Maya spirituality and political practice within a specific historical context. Using epigraphic, iconographic, and stylistic analyses, this study explores the integrated political-religious meanings of Quirigua's monumental sculptures during the eighth-century A.D. reign of the city's most famous ruler, K'ak' Tiliw. In particular, Matthew Looper focuses on the role of stelae and other sculpture in representing the persona of the ruler not only as a political authority but also as a manifestation of various supernatural entities with whom he was associated through ritual performance. By tracing this sculptural program from its Early Classic beginnings through the reigns of K'ak' Tiliw and his successors, and also by linking it to practices at Copan, Looper offers important new insights into the politico-religious history of Quirigua and its ties to other Classic Maya centers, the role of kingship in Maya society, and the development of Maya art.

Author : Ken Follett
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101442190
Total Pages : 1009 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Pillars of the Earth written by Ken Follett and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-06-29 with total page 1009 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 New York Times Bestseller Oprah's Book Club Selection The “extraordinary . . . monumental masterpiece” (Booklist) that changed the course of Ken Follett’s already phenomenal career—and begins where its prequel, The Evening and the Morning, ended. “Follett risks all and comes out a clear winner,” extolled Publishers Weekly on the release of The Pillars of the Earth. A departure for the bestselling thriller writer, the historical epic stunned readers and critics alike with its ambitious scope and gripping humanity. Today, it stands as a testament to Follett’s unassailable command of the written word and to his universal appeal. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect—a man divided in his soul . . . of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett’s historical masterpiece.

Author : Michael Witzel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199812853
Total Pages : 688 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins of the World's Mythologies written by Michael Witzel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Witzel persuasively demonstrates the prehistoric origins of most of the mythologies of Eurasia and the Americas ('Laurasia').

Author : Moshe Idel
Publisher : Central European University Press
ISBN 13 : 6155053782
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ascensions on High in Jewish Mysticism written by Moshe Idel and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2005-02-15 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ascensions on high took many forms in Jewish mysticism and they permeated most of its history from its inception until Hasidism. The book surveys the various categories, with an emphasis on the architectural images of the ascent, like the resort to images of pillars, lines, and ladders. After surveying the variety of scholarly approaches to religion, the author also offers what he proposes as an eclectic approach, and a perspectivist one. The latter recommends to examine religious phenomena from a variety of perspectives. The author investigates the specific issue of the pillar in Jewish mysticism by comparing it to the archaic resort to pillars recurring in rural societies. Given the fact that the ascent of the soul and pillars constituted the concerns of two main Romanian scholars of religion, Ioan P. Culianu and Mircea Eliade, Idel resorts to their views, and in the Concluding Remarks analyzes the emergence of Eliade's vision of Judaism on the basis of neglected sources.

Author : Kapila Vatsyayan
Publisher : Abhinav Publications
ISBN 13 : 8170172527
Total Pages : 690 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Concepts of Space, Ancient and Modern written by Kapila Vatsyayan and published by Abhinav Publications. This book was released on 1991 with total page 690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 532 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Journal of Field Arfchaeology written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : William Gleason
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1620551225
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido written by William Gleason and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1995-11-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Morihei Ueshiba, who founded Aikido early in this century, intended that his martial art would give form to profound spiritual truth, and lead to a unification of the world's peoples. He saw Aikido not as a fighting method or as a competitive sport but rather as a means of becoming one with the laws of universal order--ki, or life energy. Unfortunately, the subtleties of Ueshiba's teachings, veiled in the esoteric terminology of Shinto, can be puzzling for even the most advanced practitioners. They are not passed down today, and have never been introduced to the West. Gleason, a fifth-degree (Godan) black belt in Aikido, recognizing the importance of the spiritual aspects of the discipline, researched its roots in Shinto, and in this book is able to offer a clear explanation of Ueshiba's teachings. • Unlike the common "how-to" manuals on basic technique, this is the first book to introduce the underlying spiritual principles of Aikido--the elusive concept of kototama (word souls), expressed as one spirit, four souls, three origins, and eight powers--and how they relate to the forms. • Teaches the student how to use Aikido to accomplish spiritual goals. • Reveals little-known teachings of Shinto and Aikido, relating them to Buddhism, Christianity, and other spiritual teachings.