Ancient Treasures: The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other Long-Forgotten Artifacts

I enjoyed this detailed and well-written book, which includes a bibliography and detailed index. The ancient treasures discussed vary widely in type. One reviewer complained that this is not a reference book, but I was quite pleased because the book provided many interesting facts about many different treasures — great variety. Finally, for readers who enjoy entertaining fiction stories (based in part on historical facts) about searching for treasures, take a look at my 2020 edition of “Seeking Hidden Treasures: A Collection of Curious Tales and Essays.”

The hoards are told with historic back story of why and how the hoard was created and found.

I was disappointed on the whole. It's a perfectly good book on treasures but quite limited in scope and not really a reference book . More of a generalised overview I suppose. My expectations were higher.

I was able to read thru this book in a day and a half. Not as interesting as I thought it would be, but o.k.

As described. Informative.

thanks

Most folks have some vague awareness of treasures from long-ago eras being discovered. A shipwreck here, a cave there, and yeah, some interesting stuff has turned up. But what if you could go deeper than that? What if you could learn the sordid details of how $200 million in treasure from the Roman Empire was stolen and sold on the black market?And then there's Afghanistan. Most of us know that, due to its position on the Silk Road, it's been historically important despite not being that great of a place to live and not having an abundance of resources. We also know it's important today because of its strategic position. What tends to escape popular notice is the fact that significant treasures have been lost (and found) there. The who, what, why, and so forth form some truly fascinating stories. Have you heard any of these?Enter Brian Haughton, and his book Ancient Treasures. Having enjoyed and reviewed a previous book of his, Hidden History, I was eager to see what he had to say on the topic of ancient treasures. As with his other book, he did not disappoint.Some of the hype I've seen about the book makes it sound like he wrote an action adventure novel. That's not what you get, though the writing style is engaging. Mr. Haughton provides sixteen different discussions (each in its own chapter) about specific treasures. Then he provides a final chapter on fake ancient treasures.That last chapter is important. One of the difficulties of writing a book like this is sorting through all the fraud that's so endemic in the world of treasure seekers, archaeologists, and others exploring artifacts from the past. I don't mean fraud by these people, but by others who try to ply their scams in this space. Sometimes it's for fame and glory, sometimes it's for money. Sometimes, the frauds go on for years before experts can expose them. That's one reason the bibliography is as large as it is (12 pages) relative to the text (203 pages).Of the sixteen treasures, I had previously heard of only four. That's a 75% ignorance rate on my part! So I'm guessing the typical reader will get plenty of new material from this book.In addition to the problem with fakes, there's a huge black market in stolen antiquities. As you read about some of the sixteen treasures, you get insight into just how bad this problem is. And it's not just individual criminals doing the stealing. In many cases, it's a national government behind the thefts. Some treasures are today the center of bitter claims and counterclaims of ownership.The treasure account I found most interesting was the one about Amber Room. This treasure's pretty legendary, and I knew it had something to do with the Nazis and Soviets. Far from being a linear story, it has twists and turns that, despite Haughton's skill at explaining, require the reader to stop and back up from time to time. It's so crazy, it brought to mind the famous refrain, "You cannot make this stuff up." While meant to be informative, it was truly entertaining as well.We may never recover the $49 trillion the Federal Reserve gave to the large banks between 2007 and 2012 (that heist isn't mentioned in this book, as the treasure isn't ancient), but it's fascinating to read the stories of ancient treasures that have been lost and then discovered. Or just lost.I'd say the book is easily worth its cover price.

Ancient Treasures: The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other, Long-Forgotten Artifacts by Brian Haughton is a wonderful book on historic excavations of sites like Tutankhamun, the gold of Troy, the treasure of Benghazi, lost treasures of Afghanistan and Viking hoards. Haughton includes very detailed pictures of Tutankhamun's tomb, gold earrings from Tilla Tepe, elaborate Viking silver artifacts, the reconstruction of Catherine the Great's Amber Room and many other marvels.Haughton documents the AD79 Mount Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. Over the centuries, archeologists have uncovered parts of the lost treasures buried then under 20 feet of volcanic ash. The book explains the discovery of the Villa Pisanella in 1868. Many valuable artifacts were uncovered; such as 1000 gold aurei (coins), gold jewelry, bronze objects and exquisite silver tableware. Other hoards of valuables were found including that of Quintus Sabinus -- believed to be a wealthy relative of the Emperor Nero.Haughton writes at length about the archeological site at Cyrene which hosts the Sanctuary of Apollo, temples to Artemis and Egyptian goddess Isis, the amphitheater and Trajan Baths. The book documents the Bactrian Gold in Northern Afghanistan which consists of gold jewelry, coins and ornaments like the Tilla Tepe which date back to the Iron Age.Ancient Treasures-The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other, Long-Forgotten Artifacts is a fantastic compendium. The presentation is easy to read and understand. There is a wide audience for this book among journalists, travelers, hobbyists and academicians everywhere. The cost is very reasonable considering the high value of the research contained in the book.Ancient Treasures: The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other, Long-Forgotten Artifacts by Brian Haughton is a wonderful book on historic excavations of sites like Tutankhamun, the gold of Troy, the treasure of Benghazi, lost treasures of Afghanistan and Viking hoards. Haughton includes very detailed pictures of Tutankhamun's tomb, gold earrings from Tilla Tepe, elaborate Viking silver artifacts, the reconstruction of Catherine the Great's Amber Room and many other marvels.Haughton documents the AD79 Mount Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. Over the centuries, archeologists have uncovered parts of the lost treasures buried then under 20 feet of volcanic ash. The book explains the discovery of the Villa Pisanella in 1868. Many valuable artifacts were uncovered; such as 1000 gold aurei (coins), gold jewelry, bronze objects and exquisite silver tableware. Other hoards of valuables were found including that of Quintus Sabinus -- believed to be a wealthy relative of the Emperor Nero.Haughton writes at length about the archeological site at Cyrene which hosts the Sanctuary of Apollo, temples to Artemis and Egyptian goddess Isis, the amphitheater and Trajan Baths. The book documents the Bactrian Gold in Northern Afghanistan which consists of gold jewelry, coins and ornaments like the Tilla Tepe which date back to the Iron Age.Ancient Treasures-The Discovery of Lost Hoards, Sunken Ships, Buried Vaults, and Other, Long-Forgotten Artifacts is a fantastic compendium. The presentation is easy to read and understand. There is a wide audience for this book among journalists, travelers, hobbyists and academicians everywhere. The cost is very reasonable considering the high value of the research contained in the book.First Published on Blogcritics

I enjoyed reading this book, I've been interested in the subject matter for some time and was delighted that it didn't just retread all the 'usual' lost treasures. Could have had better pictures and maybe been a bit longer for the price though.

Interesting information but heavily biased against collectors.