GRAHAM HANCOCK & SANTHA FAIIA, - Heaven’S Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization.

, 1999. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" Tall, Softcover, Soft Cover, New. ¶ 1999. 352p. In this International Bestseller, Hancock lays down his theories of an ancient (Atlantean, perhaps?) civilization that disseminated a sophisticated religion of ground-sky dualism and a "science" of immortality. His chief thesis is that numerous ancient sites and monuments--the pyramids of Mexico and Egypt, the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the monuments of Yonaguni in the Pacific, and the megaliths of Peru and Bolivia--are situated in such a way, geodetically, that they point towards some separate and uniform influence, some lost civilization or "invisible college" of astronomer-priests. And that civilization, as evidenced in the mathematics and architecture of the sites, points towards some gnosis, or body of knowledge, that would allow humanity to transcend the trap of mortality, a worldview in which the knowledge-giving serpent of Eden is not a villain but a hero. It rolls back the horizon of human knowledge to unknown epochs, to a prior high-civilization with technological skills we may not even possess today. Hancock's claim is no less than that. He proves that the monumental layouts of ancient Tiwanaku, Gizeh and Ankor are actually based on star-patterns from 10,500 B.C. and that they contain the coded numbers of the earth's 26,000 year precessional zodiac cycle. Heaven's Mirror is a gorgeous book, thanks to the photography of Santha Faiia. Lush, evocative full-color photos of the monoliths on Easter Island and temples deep in the Cambodian jungle are enough to set the mind to introspective wandering.