ISLAND OF THE BLESSED: THE SECRETS OF EGYPT'S EVERLASTING OASIS. by Thurston, Harry - 2003

Doubleday Canada, 2003. 388 pp, 9 1/4" H. "(I)n the Western Desert, where decades might pass between rains, and showers often evaporate before they hit the ground, lies the 'other Egypt', where a story as old as the sands has lain for millennia. In this tiny island of green - with its shifting borders of deadly sand, verdant farms, and buried water - rests the whole of human history and its future. (The author) follows a Canadian-led international team of archaeologists as they sift the Sahara to unlock the secrets of the 'everlastting oasis', Dahkleh. This fertile and isolated place has been home to humans for nearly half a million years, and modern archaeologists are using high-tech methods to decipher how desert-dwelling Africans gave birth to the great Nile civilization. A perfect Old Kingdom town has been unearthed, replete with palaces and temples from the Golden Age of ancient Egypt. Awed archaeologists continue their excavation of an entire Roman city - a 'desert Pompeii' - buried by the inexorable march of the Sahara, where they have already uncovered a stunning cache of mummies, a Roman-era archive of 10,000 papyri, and the world's two oldest books. Combining elements of adventure travelogue and scientific detective story, (this book) explores the fragile balance between an over-reaching humanity and its environment, and unveils an utterly fascinating chapter of human history." Slight lean to spine, wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, 1 1/2" sq. white label on rear pastedown under flap. Dust jacket has some light wrinkling at top edge and a soft crease along top edge of rear panel.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.