On a grassy plain in southern England the megaliths of Stonehenge stand cracked, tilted, and stained by centuries of wind and rain. Above the bush country of Zimbabwe an abandoned city of stone seems hauntingly out of place in a landscape 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 insights 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 frontier 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 examples of town planning with drainage systems that rival 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 oudast die floods of centuries, and why a temple could stand through devastating earthquakes. And you’ll learn how the Egyptians could construct die 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 understanding of the organization and sacrifices of laborers, 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 ancient genius. From mud and wood and stone came the cities and monuments that herald the technical skills and spiritual aspirations of mankind.