Editorial Review:
What if Troy was not destroyed in the epic battle immortalized by Homer? What if many legendary cities of the ancient world did not meet their ends through war and conquest as archaeologists and historians believe, but in fact were laid waste by a force of nature so catastrophic that religions and legends describe it as the wrath of god? Apocalypse brings the latest scientific evidence to bear on biblical accounts, mythology, and the archaeological record to explore how ancient and modern earthquakes have shaped history--and, for some civilizations, seemingly heralded the end of the world. Archaeologists are trained to seek human causes behind the ruins they study. Because of this, the subtle clues that indicate earthquake damage are often overlooked or even ignored. Amos Nur bridges the gap that for too long has separated archaeology and seismology. He examines tantalizing evidence of earthquakes at some of the world's most famous archaeological sites in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, including Troy, Jericho, Knossos, Mycenae, Armageddon, Teotihuacán, and Petra. He reveals what the Bible, the Iliad, and other writings can tell us about the seismic calamities that may have rocked the ancient world. He even explores how earthquakes may have helped preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls. As Nur shows, recognizing earthquake damage in the shifted foundations and toppled arches of historic ruins is vital today because the scientific record of world earthquake risks is still incomplete. Apocalypse explains where and why ancient earthquakes struck--and could strike again.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
A fascinating look at the end of the Bronze Age  2008-11-26
One of the subjects that fascinated me in school, and indeed, for most of my life, has been the topic of archaeology. Forget Indiana Jones, the real excitement is untangling the clues left by the past, and what with the new technology that keeps appearing all of the time, the reinterpitation of what we thought were the facts.
Author Amos Nur with Dawn Burgess looks at how geology has affected history -- and it's the immense changes that an earthquake can unleash on civilization. Nur, a professor at Stanford University in California, takes a closer look at the end of the Bronze Age, about 300-500 BCE, and comes up with some surprising new theories for why so many civilizations failed in such a short span of time.
The traditional theory is that the eastern Mediterranean was overrun by what was known as the Sea Peoples, who looted and burned cities in their wake, leaving not much else behind but scorched ruins. What skeletal remains have been found have been explained away by war injuries, and left at that. If the idea of earthquakes causing destruction came up, many archaeologists dismissed the notion out of hand, saying that it was very unlikely and not very possible.
Amos Nur takes a very different track, however. By using geology, archaeology, and even biblical legend, he gives a provocative new theory that much of the Bronze Age civilizations came to an end by a series of earthquakes, and triggered tsunamis. To back up his theories, he looks at the geological and archaeological record, using not just ancient narratives, but also more modern seismic events, such as the tragic 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, the 1923 Kanto earthquake in Japan that ravaged Tokyo, and the earthquakes in 1750 Lisbon that destroyed most of the city and created both religious fervour and also may have helped to spur on the Enlightenment. Along the way, we get to learn about how such widespread disasters have created political upheaval in their wake, and how our ancestors may have tried to understand such seemingly random events by viewing them as signs of divine displeasure.
As well as the narrative, Nur uses charts, maps and photographs of various earthquake sites. It were the photographs that undid me -- one was of a young family huddled together, found beneath massive ceiling stones that broke my heart, and a mute testimony of what happened in a matter of minutes. Sidebars are scattered throughout giving some basic information about how earthquake faults work, what kind there are; and other topics such as radiocarbon dating, and how it works; and finally, what is societal collapse?
While the narrative is very dry, the subject matter is fascinating. I found myself understanding more of how earthquakes not only affect the immediate area of destruction, but also how they can have a ripple effect across a far wider area. While this isn't for the casual reader -- an interest in or some knowledge of geology or archaeology is really needed to grasp most of what Nur is talking about -- it's still a fascinating read.
Four and a half stars, rounded up to five. Heartily recommended.
Not Too Surprising  2008-11-10
...but then, I'm a geologist. What we call Civilization is just a thin veneer when all $%^& breaks loose. Recall the aftermath of Katrina? Even more so back in ancient times when they didn't have "organized" relief agencies. What was surprising to me was the resistance the archaeology and religeous community apparently has to considering acts of nature (earthquakes, tsunamis) as causative or contributing agents in the downfall of some communities and cultures. This is almost a given, IMHO. One can believe that Thera caused the parting of the waters of Exodus and still believe God had a hand in it. What's a little tsunami to Her, anyway?
An Intriguing Reappraisal Of History 2008-09-07
Amos Nur has reexamined some of the mysteries of the ancient world and determined that in all likelihood earthquakes were to blame. He and his co writer Dawn Burgess are geophysicists, well able to examine the evidence and conclude that archaeologists, historians, and others who have developed theories about the past without taking seismic events into account are mistaken.
Most of the book examines the events at the end of the Bronze Age, when something caused a widespread collapse in Mediterranean societies. Heretofore most historians had believed that invasions from hostile Sea Peoples and other interlopers had caused this decline, but Nur, after looking at the ruins, examining human remains, and checking sites for the tell tale signs of tremors, is persuasive that the region suffered a deadly rash of earthquakes.
Among the most interesting parts of this book are Nur's examinations of Biblical prophecies to see if they could provide clues about earthquakes and other sesmic events. I also found his discussion of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and its impact on Enlightenment Europe fascinating.
This is a well written work, scholarly but accessible to non-scientists. It should have a great influence on new interpretations and understandings of the history of the ancient world.
The Days the Earth Moved 2008-06-29
"Apocalypse" is a well-written and fascinating discussion of the role that earthquakes may have played in the Bronze Age history of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Nur is a geophysicist who argues that archaeologists are too ready to reject earthquakes as a cause of the widespread devastation that is sometimes found at ancient sites. According to Nur, the archaeologist's preferred interpretation is usually that invading armies caused the destruction.
Nur admits that this interpretation may be right in many cases, but persuasively argues that archaeologists too often ignore evidence that the real cause of the devastation might have been an earthquake. Nur brings a geophysicist's perspective to the archaeologist's world, observing that many ancient sites (such as Mycenae) are affected by significant fault lines that pass directly through ancient ruins, sometimes visibly offsetting walls and staircases. Others ruins contain the remains of people killed thousands of years ago by collapsing walls or ceilings--the skeletons bear the telltale signs of the crushing injuries typical of earthquake victims.
Nur suggests that some ancient abandonments and migrations might have been triggered by earthquakes. For example, some of the devastation usually attributed to the mysterious Sea Peoples may have been caused by earthquakes, either because the earthquakes caused the destruction outright, or because they severely damaged fortifications and killed large numbers of people, leaving cities vulnerable to opportunistic invaders.
Archaeologists have tended to dismiss the earthquake explanation for sometimes widespread devastation in the ancient world because much of it (such as the events around 1200BC that preciptated the Greek Dark Ages) appears to have happened suddenly over an implausibly wide area for an earthquake. But Nur argues that very widespread damage could have been caused by either a single very large earthquake, or by an "earthquake storm" (a cascade of earthquakes caused when one quake increases pressure on another fault, leading to a series of events). Both of these possibilities are fair game from the perspective of a geophysicist, and Nur urges that archaeologists should consider the possibility carefully when interpreting ancient sites.
Nur's book is an enjoyable mix of geology, geophysics, ancient history, geology, and forensics, but it also contains a warning. What happened in the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the ancient world can happen again, as it did during the Jericho Earthquake of 1927. If archaeologists and geophysicists can learn from each other, they are more likely to spot major earthquake hazards that might otherwise be overlooked.
***** Remember the Map is NOT the Territory ****** 2008-05-19
An outstanding, graphic, presentation of the known apocalypse scenario that is in the process of unfolding worldwide through natural disasters. In fact, it is a no-brainer, spoken to by mystic, prophet and shaman alike for eons. It is an event timed by the celestial clock that we call the 24,000-year full-circle precession of the equinox around the Zodiac. However, recall that the map of cosmic consciousness is not the territory nor the survival's guide; and what I mean by that specifically is that it's nice to know what is coming but it is equally critical to know why -- and from where, not only from beneath the ground but what direction in the night sky? Hint: it is coming at this point in the End-Time because it is the natural cycle of our binary star systems' orbital path, i.e., Sirius and Orion, with our solar system. And it is coming in era-2012 because that is the rebirth cycle of the Sun and Earth in Solar Cycle 24. It is, in other words, when humanity reunites with its light-body double -- our higher self -- and reopens our third eye into the Fifth Dimension.
Read this book now before what I unveil in my book and DVD take us to the PNR (Point-of-No-Return) in 2008!
Dr. John Jay Harper is author of Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D. and Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century.
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