Ancient History

A DELIGHTFUL air of romance and mystery surrounds the whole subject of Labyrinths and Mazes.

It is not long since the Middle Ages, of the literature of which this book gives us such curious examples, were supposed to be an unaccountable phenomenon accidentally thrust in betwixt the two periods of civilisation, the classical and the modern, and forming a period without growth or meaning-a period which began about the time of the decay of the Roman Empire, and ended suddenly, and more or less unaccountably, at the time of the Reformation.

Few words have acquired such a wide signification as the word symbol. Originally applied, amongst the Greeks, to the two halves of the tablet they divided between themselves as a pledge of hospitality-in the manner of our contract forms, detached along a line of perforations from the counterfoil record-it was gradually extended to the engraved shells by which those initiated in the mysteries made themselves known to each other; and even to the more or less esoteric formulas and sacramental rites that may be said to have constituted the visible bond of their fellowship.

It is always an interesting footnote to history that most major religions of today and of antiquity have a link back to Egypt, the Plains of Gizeh, and/or the Great Pyramid. Whether it be that link of Jesus to Egypt, the Jews and Egypt, or August Caesar, there has indeed been a connection and correlation between these and Egypt.

Written in 1654, the Hieroglyphic Monad by John Dee - an esoteric, alchemical text from the Middle Ages.

Many archeological discoveries of the early Christian church began to surface in the late 1800s. The author studies the ancient monuments, art, and artifacts of the church. With 182 illustrations the influence of Christianity in the ancient world is proven.

During his reign, the Pharaoh Akhenaten was able to abolish the complex pantheon of the ancient Egyptian religion and replace it with a single god, the Aten, who had no image or form. Seizing on the striking similarities between the religious vision of this "heretic" pharaoh and the teachings of Moses