Why were people in the Victorian age fascinated with the archaeological mysteries of the Holy Land? In this engaging study, Allan Chapman shows how the Holy Land took on new meaning for Europeans dur
“As informative as it is entertaining, this book is filled with colorful accounts of brilliant scholars, rogue treasure hunters, and pious pilgrims. Chapman masterfully weaves a spellbinding tale of the discovery of ancient Near Eastern civilizations by modern western explorers. Fun and fascinating, this book is worth reading more than once.”
—Jodi Magness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“Allan Chapman’s engaging style conveys detailed and comprehensive historical information in the form of an exciting narrative.”
—Santha Bhattacharji, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford
“Allan Chapman is a great Oxford character whose lectures and books enthrall a large fan base, and this work on the explorations of the Holy Land has all his well-known beguiling characteristics of clarity, buoyancy, and the transmission of fascinating nuggets of information. Everyone can enjoy this exposition of an intriguing subject.”
—Nigel Frith, Oxford Centre of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
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Allan Chapman teaches the history of science at Oxford University. His scholarly interests include the history of astronomy and medicine, as well as the relationship between science and Christianity. He is the author of numerous academic and popular books, including Slaying the Dragons: Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith and Physicians, Plagues, and Progress: The History of Western Medicine from Antiquity to Antibiotics.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. From Pharaoh’s Granaries to Measured Wonders: Changing Views on the Pyramids from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century
2. The Ottoman Empire, Adventurers, and a Circus Strongman: Opening Up Egypt and the Holy Land after 1700
3. Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign and the Fortunes of War: More Artifacts and Treasures Discovered
4. A New Preclassical Literature: Thomas Young, Jean-François Champollion, and the Reading of Ancient Egyptian Texts
5. The French Diplomat, the London Law Clerk, and the Mounds of Mesopotamia: Botta, Layard, Nineveh, and Noah’s Flood
6. Nimrud Rises from the Sand: The Victorian Discovery of Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer
7. Daring Clergymen and a Royal Prince: Exploring the Holy Land and Surveying Palestine
8. Professor Charles Piazzi Smyth, Pyramidology, and King Solomon’s Mines: Archaeological Delusions
9. Thomas Cook: The Carpenter, Baptist Minister, and Entrepreneur Who Began Package Tours to the Holy Land
10. Mummies and Museums: The Artifacts Tell Their Stories
11. Biblical Art, Literature, and Music: The Holy Land in the Popular Imagination
12. Is the Bible No More Than Folktales, or Is It Real History? The Impact of Archaeology and Walking in the Footsteps of Saint Paul
13. Back in Egypt: Karl Lepsius, François Mariette, Sir Flinders Petrie, and the Founding of Scientific Archaeology
14. After the Victorians: The Middle East in Modern Times, from King Tut to William Albright to Cecil B. DeMille
Bibliography
Index
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