-
The Writing of the Gods
- The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Adventurers, Explorers & Survival
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.89
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Riddle of the Labyrinth
- The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code
- By: Margalit Fox
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code tells one of the most intriguing stories in the history of language, masterfully blending history, linguistics, and cryptology with an elegantly wrought narrative. When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece's Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europe's earliest written records.
-
-
Deciphering needs a process
- By Gary on 12-13-14
By: Margalit Fox
-
The Clockwork Universe
- Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.
-
-
A Concise Explainer
- By Jean on 09-19-16
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
-
The Rescue Artist
- A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the predawn hours of a gloomy February day in 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery in Oslo and made off with one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's Scream. It was a brazen crime committed while the whole world was watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police turned to the one man they believed could help: a half English, half American undercover cop named Charley Hill, the world's greatest art detective.
-
-
Fascinating, educational, and a great police story
- By MAGJAG on 06-29-19
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Under Jerusalem
- The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City
- By: Andrew Lawler
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1863, a French senator arrived in Jerusalem hoping to unearth relics dating to biblical times. Digging deep underground, he discovered an ancient grave that, he claimed, belonged to an Old Testament queen. News of his find ricocheted around the world, evoking awe and envy alike, and inspiring others to explore Jerusalem’s storied past.
-
-
Not what a thought it would be
- By Minnetaki on 01-14-22
By: Andrew Lawler
-
Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs
- 100 Discoveries That Changed the World
- By: Ann R. Williams - editor, Douglas Preston - introduction
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.
-
-
Just what I wanted
- By Amazon Customer on 01-16-22
By: Ann R. Williams - editor, and others
-
The Riddle of the Labyrinth
- The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code
- By: Margalit Fox
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code tells one of the most intriguing stories in the history of language, masterfully blending history, linguistics, and cryptology with an elegantly wrought narrative. When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece's Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europe's earliest written records.
-
-
Deciphering needs a process
- By Gary on 12-13-14
By: Margalit Fox
-
The Clockwork Universe
- Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.
-
-
A Concise Explainer
- By Jean on 09-19-16
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Freezing Order
- A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
-
-
Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
-
The Rescue Artist
- A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the predawn hours of a gloomy February day in 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery in Oslo and made off with one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's Scream. It was a brazen crime committed while the whole world was watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police turned to the one man they believed could help: a half English, half American undercover cop named Charley Hill, the world's greatest art detective.
-
-
Fascinating, educational, and a great police story
- By MAGJAG on 06-29-19
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Under Jerusalem
- The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City
- By: Andrew Lawler
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1863, a French senator arrived in Jerusalem hoping to unearth relics dating to biblical times. Digging deep underground, he discovered an ancient grave that, he claimed, belonged to an Old Testament queen. News of his find ricocheted around the world, evoking awe and envy alike, and inspiring others to explore Jerusalem’s storied past.
-
-
Not what a thought it would be
- By Minnetaki on 01-14-22
By: Andrew Lawler
-
Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs
- 100 Discoveries That Changed the World
- By: Ann R. Williams - editor, Douglas Preston - introduction
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.
-
-
Just what I wanted
- By Amazon Customer on 01-16-22
By: Ann R. Williams - editor, and others
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution - from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality - and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
Index, a History of The
- A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age
- By: Dennis Duncan
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us give little thought to the back of the book - it's just where you go to look things up. But as Dennis Duncan reveals in this delightful and witty history, hiding in plain sight is an unlikely realm of ambition and obsession, sparring and politicking, pleasure and play. In the pages of the index, we might find "Butchers, to be avoided", or "Cows that shite Fire", or even catch "Calvin in his chamber with a Nonne". Here, for the first time, is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known past.
By: Dennis Duncan
-
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
- By: Toby Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire - 3,000 years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters. Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations.
-
-
"2 mins in, & author begins moralizing"
- By Dillird on 12-10-19
By: Toby Wilkinson
-
The Genesis Machine
- Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology
- By: Amy Webb, Andrew Hessel
- Narrated by: Amy Webb, Andrew Hessel, Tim Campbell, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The breakthrough science of synthetic biology and its potential for helping solve humanity's existential challenges, from climate change to the health and feeding of millions, and fighting the next viral outbreak before it becomes a global pandemic. Synthetic biology is the promising and controversial technology platform that combines biology and artificial intelligence, opening up the potential to program biological systems much as we program computers.
-
-
Great book on the possibilities of the future of Human biology
- By J on 02-21-22
By: Amy Webb, and others
-
The Professor and the Madman
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part history, part true-crime, and entirely entertaining, listen to the story of how the behemoth Oxford English Dictionary was made. You'll hang on every word as you discover that the dictionary's greatest contributor was also an insane murderer working from the confines of an asylum.
-
-
Perfect example of a quality audible book.
- By Jerry on 07-07-03
By: Simon Winchester
-
Journeys to Heaven and Hell
- Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: John Tefler
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From classics such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged.
By: Bart D. Ehrman
-
Eight Days in May
- The Final Collapse of the Third Reich
- By: Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase - translator
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 30, 1945, in a bunker deep beneath the Old Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler and his newly wedded wife, Eva Braun, killed themselves. But Nazi Germany lived on, however briefly. The subsequent eight days were among the most turbulent in history, witnessing not only the final battles of World War II and the collapse of the Wehrmacht, but the near-total disintegration of the once-mighty Third Reich.
-
-
Gripping. Just Don't Listen To It
- By Lou on 02-03-22
By: Volker Ullrich, and others
-
The First Ghosts
- Most Ancient of Legacies
- By: Irving Finkel
- Narrated by: Irving Finkel
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few things more in common across cultures than the belief in ghosts. Ghosts inhabit something of the very essence of what it is to be human. Whether we personally 'believe' or not, we are all aware of ghosts and the rich mythologies and rituals surrounding them. They have inspired, fascinated and frightened us for centuries - yet most of us are only familiar with the vengeful apparitions of Shakespeare, or the ghastly spectres haunting the pages of 19th-century Gothic literature. But their origins are much, much older.
-
-
Ghosts Were Causing My Tinnitus!
- By James D on 01-08-22
By: Irving Finkel
-
Seven Games
- A Human History
- By: Oliver Roeder
- Narrated by: William Sarris
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable.
-
-
Mostly about AI
- By A. Hoffmann on 04-08-22
By: Oliver Roeder
-
The Man from the Future
- The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
- By: Ananyo Bhattacharya
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nuclear weapons and self-replicating spacecrafts. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable, yet largely overlooked, man: John von Neumann.
-
-
Amazing story of an amazing man!
- By Bryan Miller on 03-29-22
-
The Last Leonardo
- The Secret Lives of the World's Most Expensive Painting
- By: Ben Lewis
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2017, Leonardo da Vinci’s small oil painting the Salvator Mundi was sold at auction. In the words of its discoverer, the image of Christ as savior of the world is “the rarest thing on the planet.” Its $450 million sale price also makes it the world’s most expensive painting. For two centuries, art dealers had searched in vain for the Holy Grail of art history: a portrait of Christ as the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. Many similar paintings of greatly varying quality had been executed by Leonardo’s assistants in the early 16th century.
-
-
Definitely makes you think.
- By John Galt on 04-20-21
By: Ben Lewis
-
Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World
- By: Philip Matyszak
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This thorough guide explores those civilizations that have faded from the pages of our textbooks but played a significant role in the development of modern society. Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World covers the Hyksos to the Hephthalites and everyone in between, providing a unique overview of humanity's history from approximately 3000 BCE-550 CE. Each entry exposes a diverse culture, highlighting their important contributions.
-
-
Gripping and seamless
- By Mike Heim on 05-13-21
By: Philip Matyszak
Publisher's Summary
The fast-paced and “engrossing account” (The New York Times Book Review) of “one of the greatest breakthroughs in archaeological history” (The Christian Science Monitor): two rival geniuses in a race to decode the writing on one of the world’s most famous documents - the Rosetta Stone.
The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum every year, and yet most people don’t really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.
Carved in ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone carried the same message in different languages - in Greek using Greek letters, and in Egyptian using picture-writing called hieroglyphs. Until its discovery, no one in the world knew how to read the hieroglyphs that covered every temple and text and statue in Egypt.
Dominating the world for 30 centuries, ancient Egypt was the mightiest empire the world had ever known, yet everything about it - the pyramids, mummies, the Sphinx - was shrouded in mystery. Whoever was able to decipher the Rosetta Stone would solve that mystery and fling open a door that had been locked for two thousand years.
Two brilliant rivals set out to win that prize. One was English, the other French, at a time when England and France were enemies and the world’s two great superpowers. Written “like a thriller” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), The Writing of the Gods chronicles this high-stakes intellectual race in which the winner would win glory for both himself and his nation. A riveting portrait of empires both ancient and modern, this is an unparalleled look at the culture and history of ancient Egypt, “and also a lesson…in what the human mind does when faced with a puzzle” (The New Yorker).
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Writing of the Gods
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David
- 11-02-21
Dolnick sparkles
What a brilliant book! Dolnick is a great story teller, conveying a complicated idea-how to decode a mystery-clearly even for a “ lay” reader. His familiar & often funny analogies make his tale wonderfully readable & relevant to today. Great last line.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Spike
- 01-15-22
Hieroglyphs For The People
This is the book written by everyone’s favorite professor…the one who makes history come alive with true stories told with wit, humor, and skill. You will want to read everything this author has ever written if you love the language, love history, and look around for more.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L. Ford Ballard, Jr.
- 12-22-21
A great story and fascinating listen
I have read about this for many decades, but the details and explanations filled in the blanks.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matthew Poirier
- 12-21-21
Great Story
Really enjoyed the story. The author takes pains to bring the historical characters to life, particularly Jean-François Champollion.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AmazonCustomer
- 11-20-21
Good book awful reading
The book is very good, lots of interesting information. Where do the accents come from ? The reader is imagining what people sounded like ? He even mispronounces Rosetta Stone.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian J. Brennan
- 11-11-21
Compelling story of discovery
Dolnick tells a good story and does a fine job describing the challenges faced by Young and Champollion. The story is engaging and exciting.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary Lou
- 11-09-21
Wonderfully written, very engaging.
Mr. Dolnick has quickly become a favorite author, for his encompassing narratives, and well rounded scenes of 'what else was going on' in the world, and why we are at 'this point', ties into 'that' point. Narration is flawless and kept the story very interesting.
1 person found this helpful