Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - Archaeology

This fascinating 1887 publication by the Victorian archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-94) describes his adventurous first expedition through the Middle East in 1840-2. Volume 1 focuses on ancient sites and major cities, and the generous hospitality given to Layard by a notorious Persian mountain tribe, the Bakhtiyari.

This two-volume work and its accompanying map (available to download at http://www.cambridge.org/9781108042109) were first published by the antiquary Sir William Gell in 1834. The book contains alphabetical entries on all the sites in Rome and its environs, with notes on their significance in ancient history and literature.

Pioneer of Cretan archaeology, Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) won fame for discovering Minoan civilisation. His highly illustrated multi-volume report of major excavations at Knossos, published between 1921 and 1935, develops his theories about the Bronze Age palace he uncovered and the society to which it belonged.

George Dennis (1814-1898) was a British antiquarian and diplomat who was the first modern explorer of ancient Etruria and Etruscan archaeological remains. These volumes, first published in 1848, contain the first scholarly account of Etruscan archaeological sites. Volume 1 includes the sites of Veii and Tarquinia.

William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar. These volumes, first published in 1830, contain Leake's authoritative topographical survey of the Peloponnese, describing two of his journeys and providing detailed descriptions of the archaeological sites. Volume 1 recounts his 1805 journey in the Peloponnese.

William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar. First published in 1835, these volumes contain Leake's account of four journeys in Greece, mingling an account of Greek and Turkish culture with descriptions of archaeological sites. Volume 1 contains two journeys undertaken in 1804 and 1805.

Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) argued that humans lived in the Pleistocene period. He claimed to have discovered flint tools and human bones during excavations in the Somme Valley. Contemporaries doubted his findings but his work contributed to scientific discussions on human evolution. Volume 1 was published in Paris, 1847.

John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) was an American politician who is renowned for his pioneering research into the ancient Maya civilisation. First published in 1841, this book describes the ancient Mayan sites he visited in 1839 and 1840. Volume 1 focuses on Copan and the indigenous cultures of Central America.

Charles Thomas Newton (1816-1894) was a British archaeologist specialising in Greek and Roman artefacts. This study, first published in 1862, describes Newton's excavations of sites including the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, a wonder of the ancient world, and provides valuable insights into Victorian archaeological methods. Part 1 focuses on the Mausoleum.

American philologist Edward Robinson (1794-1863), aided by his Arabic-speaking countryman Eli Smith (1801-57), first published this pioneering work of biblical geography in 1841. Following further research, an enlarged edition appeared in 1856. This 1867 three-volume third edition was slightly abridged but contained new maps and plans.

Charles Roach Smith (1806-90) had a prosperous career as a druggist. This three-volume work, published 1883-91, reviews his activities as an excavator, collector, and co-founder of the British Archaeological Association. Volume 1 includes essays on the Saxon Shore forts, of which Roach Smith was a pioneering investigator.

Following the Euphrates Expedition of 1835, the surgeon William Ainsworth (1807-96) was made leader of a second expedition through Asia Minor, northern Syria, Kurdistan, Persia and Armenia, of which this two-volume account was published in 1842. Volume 1 covers events up to the battle of Nezib in 1839.

The British archaeologist Layard (1817-1894) discovered important evidence about ancient Mesopotamia and the Assyrian civilisation. This 1853 book describes his second expedition, which led to the identification of Kouyunjik as the Assyrian capital Nineveh. Volume 1 covers early stages of the excavations and Layard's journey to the Khabur region.

The journals of the foot soldier Bernal Diaz (1492-1584) are the fullest surviving eyewitness account of the Mexican conquest led by Hernan Cortes. In this first volume, Diaz recounts his first expeditions to the Yucatan coast and the beginning of his service in Cortes' army.

John Abercromby, a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. It is a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, classifying these by type and geographical area, and examining the goods associated with them in burials.

In this two-volume 1901 work, Rogers provides a history of the Mesopotamian civilisations. Volume 1 contains discussions of the material and literary sources, the environmental resources, and the peoples and the chronology of the area, before beginning a narrative of Babylonian history, which closes with the end of the dynasty of Isin.

The traveller and archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows (1799-1860) made several trips through Asia Minor. Published in 1841, this is the journal of his second journey, during which he returned to the ancient ruins of Lycia. Fellows' well-illustrated publications generated Western interest in the history and antiquities of this region.

The traveller and archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows (1799-1860) made several trips through Asia Minor, bringing the region to Western attention. Published in 1843, this is a brief account explaining and justifying how he acquired for the British Museum a number of antiquities from an important city in ancient Lycia.

Reginald Campbell Thompson (1876-1941) studied oriental languages at Cambridge, and in 1899 began his career in the British Museum's department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities. Published in 1903-4, this two-volume work made a substantial contribution to modern knowledge of ancient Babylonian demonology and magical practices.

After the success of his 1851 book on Hadrian's Wall, John Collingwood Bruce published this shorter work in 1863, intended as 'a guide to pilgrims journeying along the Barrier of the Lower Isthmus', designed 'to inform the traveller what he is to look for, and to assist him in examining it'.

After the death of his wife, antiquarian Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758-1838) embarked on a series of journeys through continental Europe in pursuit of 'novelty, pleasure and information'. This account from 1819 details his travels through the then less-documented areas of Italy and down to Sicily.

Before George Smith's early death in 1876, he was writing a history of Babylonia, and it was prepared for press by A. H. Sace and published posthumously in 1877. Smith traces the story of the Babylonian empire from mythical times to its conquest by Persia in the sixth century BCE.

In 1876, shortly before his early death, Assyriologist George Smith (1840-76) published this work, which drew extraordinary parallels between much earlier Babylonian documents and the biblical book of Genesis. The second edition, reissued here, was published in 1880, with corrections and additional material provided by Archibald Sayce.

The antiquary and artist George Petrie (1790-1866) was one of the founding fathers of Irish archaeology. His wide interests included architecture and ecclesiastical history, and he was at the forefront of efforts to preserve endangered historic buildings. This 1868 biography was published by his friend William Stokes, the distinguished physician.

This short handbook on the Palace of Minos at Knossos in Crete was published in 1933 by archaeologist John Pendlebury (1904-41), who had worked for several seasons at Knossos. It provides an architectural history of the Palace of Minos, and a guide to the site, with photographs and maps.

Published in 1884, this brief illustrated account of the ruins of the once great city of Tiwanaku in Bolivia pre-dates many of the earliest archaeological studies. Richard Inwards (1840-1937) describes the structures in detail and gives the current thinking as to their possible purpose and original characteristics.

This short publication of 1850 summarises the progress up to that date in the decipherment of Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions by Sir Henry Rawlinson (1810-95). It offers a linguistic and archaeological background to his work, along with his interpretation of king lists and other inscriptions.

Published between 1894 and 1905, this six-volume set served as a key reference work for students and scholars of Egyptology. Volume 6 (1901), written by Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931), covers Arabic Egypt from 639 and the Saracen conquest, to 1517 and the Ottoman annexation.

Published between 1894 and 1905, this six-volume set served as a key reference work for students and scholars of Egyptology. Volume 5 (1898), written by Joseph Grafton Milne (1867-1951), covers the period of Roman rule from 30 BCE to 642 CE.

Published between 1894 and 1905, this six-volume set served as a key reference work for students and scholars of Egyptology. Volume 4 (1899), written by John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919), covers the Ptolemaic dynasty, from Alexander's conquest in 332 BCE through to 30 BCE.