Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory

• The sequel and companion volume to The Destruction of Atlantis

• Studies the connections between the world-conquering war the Atlanteans launched and the quartet of natural catastrophes that ravaged the earth more than 5,000 years ago

• Demonstrates that the Atlanteans ran an imperial copper trade empire that stretched from North America to Asia Minor

Archaeologists have long puzzled over the evidence suggesting highly sophisticated copper mining activities in the area of the Great Lakes some 5,000 years ago. Menomonie Indian tradition speaks of fair skinned mariners who had come in the past to “dig out the shiny bones” of the Earth Mother. Plato, meanwhile, recorded that Atlanteans provided an exceptionally high grade of copper that was no longer available in his time. In this sequel to The Destruction of Atlantis, Frank Joseph argues that the Menomonie Indians’ mariners were Atlanteans and that the destruction of Atlantis by war and natural catastrophe brought about the end of Bronze Age civilization. Furthermore, Atlantis’s survivors dispersed to all sides of their former island empire into Western Europe, the Near East, and North and South America.

In Survivors of Atlantis Frank Joseph provides an in-depth study of the Atlantean war and the intimate connections it had with the last of four great cosmic catastrophes generated by the cyclical return of a comet and its debris. This quartet of natural disasters was followed by mass migrations recorded in the histories of such diverse peoples as the Incas of Peru, the Celtic Irish, the Classical Greeks, and the Aztecs of Mexico. Where the archaeology, mythology, astronomy, and geology of these cultures coincide, a common thread is exposed: Atlantis. Joseph shows that the fate of the Atlantean empire is the story of early civilization and reveals Atlantis to be a credible part of the world’s history.

• Draws together compelling evidence from geology, astronomy, myths, and ancient texts to prove the existence of Atlantean civilization and its catastrophic end

• Includes a vivid narrative that re-creates the last days of Atlantis

All human cultures, from classical and biblical to native North and South American, share the myth of an ancient deluge that often coincides with a rain of fire from the heavens. Now, in The Destruction of Atlantis, author Frank Joseph links this worldwide cultural phenomenon to the story of the lost civilization of Atlantis, which in a single day and night disappeared into the sea in a violent cataclysm.

In the most comprehensive account of this legendary island, Frank Joseph provides compelling evidence based on 20 years of research around the globe that Atlantis was at the root of all subsequent human civilizations. Refuting modern skepticism, he provides evidence from archaeology, geology, astronomy, and ancient lore to prove the existence of Atlantean civilization in the context of Near Eastern Bronze Age society at the end of the 13th century B.C.E. He combines hard scientific evidence with a stunning and imaginative re-creation of what it must have been like to walk the streets of Atlantis in its last days. The resulting portrait of a mighty empire corrupted by an overreaching lust for wealth and power offers an important lesson to our own materialistic civilization.

In The Bible Unearthed two leading scholars, an archaeologist and a historian, combine an exhilarating tour of the field of biblical archaeology with a fascinating explanation of how and why the Bible's historical saga differs so dramatically from the archaeological finds. They explain what the Bible says about ancient Israel and show how it diverges sharply from archaeological reality. They then offer a dramatic new version of the history of ancient Israel, bringing archaeological evidence to bear on the question of when, where, and why the Bible was first written.

What do we know about the time of the ancient patriarchs? When did monotheism first arise? When and where did the first Israelites appear? How did the people of Israel first come to occupy the Promised Land? How extensive was David and Solomon's kingdom? When and why did Jerusalem become the capital of ancient Israel? All of these questions have new answers.

As to why the answers are so new, Finkelstein and Silberman draw on evidence from decades of archaeological work and dozens of digs in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, to explain that the key early books of the Bible were first codified in the seventh century BCE, hundreds of years after the core events of the lives of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, and the conquest of Canaan were said to have taken place.

Yet the ultimate message of The Bible Unearthed is not just a correction of the record. Instead, it is a unique and fascinating explanation of the origins of the Bible. The Bible's newly identified authors, threatened with political crisis and the intimidation of nearby empires, crafted a brilliant document, a set of stories and teachings that would eventually appeal to the faithful beyond the boundaries of any particular kingdom.