By: Colin Wilson Publisher: Weiser Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Weiser Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 294 Publication Date: 2004-07
Product Description: In this compelling book, Colin Wilson argues that thousands of years before ancient Egypt and Greece held sway, there was a great civilization whose ships traveled the world from China to Antarctica. Their advanced knowledge of science, mathematics, and astronomy was passed on to the descendants who escaped to Egypt and South America.
From Atlantis to the Sphinx bases this assertion on a true fact – that archaeologists and geologists are at odds over the age of the Sphinx. Archaeologists claim that the Sphinx dates to classical dynastic Egypt, around 2,400 B.C. But some geologists claim that it could have been built as early as 7,000 to 10,500 B.C. The geologists’ claim is based on the curious fact that the erosion of the Sphinx is more characteristic of water erosion than that of wind and sand.
Starting from the assumption that there was an advanced civilization in existence much easier than previously thought, Wilson goes on to claim that it could very well be Atlantis – not a literal island that sank, but more of a great civilization that either declined naturally or experienced a great catastrophe, passing on only a fraction of its knowledge to other peoples. From Atlantis to the Sphinx delves into what might have been a completely different knowledge system from that of modern man – one as alien to us as that of the Martians. The book sets out to reconstruct that ancient knowledge in a fascinating exploration of the remote depths of history – a ground-breaking attempt to understand how these long-forgotten peoples thought, felt, and communicated with the universe.
Rich in detail and thought-provoking, a masterful synthesis
I read this book twice, once when it first came out and again awhile back. The first time I read it I was familiar with some of the source material Wilson draws on. These parts of the book, at that time, were obviously not as engaging for me, nor, I suspect, will they be for others very familiar with the material. However, upon rereading it a couple years later I was again reminded of Wilson's masterful ability to draw together disparate sources of information to form a cohesive pattern. Of course, this involves speculation, but this type of inquiry always requires speculation, and Wilson manages to build a more cautious and convincing argument than many of his contemporaries. (That said, the reader must still be willing to be open-minded and entertain ideas that might not sit well, at least at first. If you have firmly made up your mind that, for example, there are no real mysteries surrounding the pyramids of Egypt or the sphinx and are unwilling to consider other opinions on the subject, then you probably won't be moved by much of this book.)
When drawing information from a variety of sources, it is likely that some of that information will later prove either incorrect or outdated. It is a testament to the cohesiveness of Wilson's argument that it does not rest on a single piece of evidence but is rather buttressed by a range of facts that each contribute to its strength. From reading some of the reviews below, I gather that often some of these "facts" don't sit well with all readers. This is reasonable (don't believe everything you read!); however, Wilson's style of thinking and researching make one less likely to discount his entire argument based on disagreement with parts of it. Furthermore, he is very adept at drawing his argument out over an entire book, reminding the reader along the way what the central themes are, before plunging back into the detailed information that forms the supports of his argument. What this results in is a stimulating, idea-filled journey that criss-crosses through numerous disciplines and over vast spans of time.
"From Atlantis to the Sphinx" in many ways forms a natural extension of Wilson's philosophy as expounded in his previous books. In this particular case, Wilson's ultimate aim - to demonstrate that ancient man had a different mode of thinking/perception/relationship to the natural world and the universe - is ultimately convincing for me because traces of this different mode still exist within us. If, by the time you're done with the book, you yourself aren't entirely convinced of this, I think you will still have found the journey worth the effort.
About Atlantis...??? Despite the title this book does not have much to say about Atlantis. Its main points are that:
(1) civilization is much older than authorities have to date thought, (2) 'modern' man existed in a much earlier geologic period than is commonly believed, and, (3) 'primitive' man's mind worked in a way very different to our own, and in fact was superior in some ways, for example, a vast memory capacity.
Atlantis only features as the unknown location from which the founders of both the Egyptian and South American Indian cultures came.
On the one hand this book is pure hokum. First Wilson relies on 18th and 19th century archeologist, who favored catastrophism, and who's methods have certainly been surpassed by modern science. Second he relies greatly on modern books written by armature authors, who would certainly not be accepted by qualified experts, and who usually believe they have discovered some outlandish 'out there' truth that everybody else has missed. To give Wilson some credit the evidence that the Sphinx has been weathered by water and thus may be very much older than is generally believed is a fascinating and credible part of the book.
On the other hand Wilson devotes large sections of the book to explaining the history of ideas and what orthodox researchers currently believe. He, for example, details the currently accepted evolutionary tree of man and explains the history of how scientists arrived at it. This is all delivered in a very readable style and is thus educational to the general reader.
I must admit I read the book from cover to cover without any difficulty and was entertained virtually all the way. But if you are looking for some serious reading this is not the book for you.
Thought-provoking This book was an unexpectedly compelling treatment of many varied aspects of what it is to be a human being and what each of us may be capable of. Being an artist in a left-brained civilization, I was especially interested in the final third of the book, which deals with the differences in left- and right-brained living and what we may have all sacrificed in the name of modern civilization. This book is a lively read and merges many disciplines in a fascinating narrative.
not just about history Wilson has presented an interesting and plausible alternative account of the history of mankind on Earth, namely that humans have existed for much longer than orthodox academics are willing to believe, and that advanced civilizations had developed millennia before the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Most of this alternative view is based on ideas put forth previously by other researchers, and therefore if you have already read many other books on this topic you may not find a whole lot of new information here. Nevertheless, it is a decent summary of those previously proposed ideas, and thus this book serves as a good introduction to the subject. However, I feel that this summary may be too comprehensive - he tries to squeeze in so much information that it wasn't easy for me to remember everything he had said (especially all those people's names), and so the more I read the more I forgot, making it harder and harder to follow his writing.
But this book is not just about history. In fact, Wilson emphasizes that he doesn't care that much about exactly when or where those ancient civilizations started, per se. Instead, his ultimate objective is to see whether we can learn something from those ancient civilizations. He argues that prior to around 1,500 B.C., our ancestors were "right-brained" in that they had greater harmony with one another and with nature, were aware of various hidden powers of the mind, and possessed group consciousness. In contrast, modern man has become "left-brained", meaning that he tackles problems logically and analytically, which enabled the impressive technological advancements we achieved in the last 3,500 years. Wilson believes that right-brain abilities are still with us, but most of us do not take advantage of them. The author argues that inducing our right-brain consciousness can lead to good feelings and a sense of freedom, which can compensate for the anxiety and feeling of emptiness that left-brain consciousness often gives rise to.
THOUGHTFUL AND EXCITING SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVE IDEAS Colin Wilson is both a prolific and talented writer, whose books always reflect a lot of serious research and thought. When I found a copy of From Atlantis to the Sphinx at a book sale, I grabbed it. But I soon found I was reading a summary of the views of the major alternative history writers, and I found myself skimming through material with which I was already familiar. He covers all my favorites -- Graham Hancock, Robery Bauval, John Anthony West, Zechariah Sitchen, Rand Flem-Ath, Cremo and Thompson, and such older luminaries as Velikoksky, Hapgood, Gurdjieff and many other authors who have put forth theories about the nature and history of mankind. Despite the rehash, Wilson's comments on these writers and their ideas make for interesting reading.
For instance, he does not buy into Sitchen's idea that our solar system contains the planet Nibiru from which the Gods of Sumer came to create mankind. But he accepts much of Sitchen's remarkable scholarship on the Sumerians. He is impressed with Hapgood's data on the shifting location of earth's poles and the evidence he gathered from old maps that there was once a highly developed civilization on earth that has been forgotten. Cremo and Thompson's classic Forbidden Archeology is an insightful and amazing read, as they pile up evidence over 1000 pages showing mankind may be millions of years old, and Wilson uses their examples. Wilson provides colorful "back stories" about these authors, since he has met many of them personally.
There is purpose to Wilson's long discourse on the ideas of other authors; he delivers the goods in the end when he gives up his own fascinating theory of ancient Egyptian society. Wilson's narrative leads us to see that mankind may once have had a different way of seeing reality, the same kind of seeing as the shaman exercising "magic" rituals. He invites us to consider the Collective Mind, consciousness acting in consort to achieve some end, much as birds move in a flock. Conscousness can be concentrated to build up power and this can be expended as a physical force. How did the ancient Egyptians move those giant blocks of stone to form the pyramids? Could they have used their own collective mental power?
It is fascinating to me to read of feats that should require a huge expenditure of power (like moving giant blocks of stone), but are somehow accomplished without any application of normal means of power generation. Consider the testimony of Douchan Gersi (an interesting author NOT mentioned by Wilson) who wrote about the "flying men" of Haiti who could dematerialize in one location and rematerialize in another. There was no technology involved. Did mankind once know how to use another kind of power, one based on group consciousness? We sometimes enter this consciousness, which we identify as "peak" experience, when we seem outside linear time, and reality somehow is altered.
Wilson is telling us that because our conscousness has evolved in a different direction from our remote ancestors, we fail to grasp how they accomplished tasks like building the pyramids. He does not see teams of sweating slaves, or ridiculously long ramps, or ancient fork lifts, but simply the collective power of human consciousness working for common purpose. Wilson, as usual, entertains while building a well-documented case for his own unique alternative view of human history.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Trevor
