'It's enthralling stuff, mixing the scholarly with the accessible and placing storytelling right at the heart of the human experience.' - History Revealed 'A fascinating journey' - Yorkshire Post 'Marvellous...Finkel is an expert in Mesopotamian cultures at the British Museum, and is one of the most clever, and nicest, of people it has ever been my pleasure to encounter...A fascinating journey' - The Scotsman 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... The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies takes us back to the very beginning. A world-renowned authority on cuneiform, the form of writing on clay tablets which dates back to 3400BC, Irving Finkel has embarked upon an ancient ghost hunt, scouring these tablets to unlock the secrets of the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians to breathe new life into the first ghost stories ever written. In The First Ghosts, he uncovers an extraordinarily rich seam of ancient spirit wisdom which has remained hidden for nearly 4000 years, covering practical details of how to live with ghosts, how to get rid of them and bring them back, and how to avoid becoming one, as well as exploring more philosophical questions: what are ghosts, why does the idea of them remain so powerful despite the lack of concrete evidence, and what do they tell us about being human?

Introduction I guess I got my start the day I found an unusual set of crosses carved into a cliff face many years ago. Then from that point on, I was on the hunt for more. I spent endless amounts of hours reading and researching. During these years I also photographed everything I found. I traveled to many states gathering and comparing these finds. Which in turn created quite a collection created from findings in the field. From this massive amount of information gathered from many places far and wide, I have been able to connect the common factors found within these sites. This is what makes my books very unique. I know that I can speed up the success rate of each person in the field. Originally, I had written only one book on symbols and signs. It was more of my journal and notes. But as I began to put it altogether it occurred to me just how much information and thousands of photographs were involved, along with the massive amount of work it would consist of. So it was agreed that this book should be divided. In doing it this way, I am able to teach the reader in a progressive manner from book to book. We all know someone somewhere who found something or was close to finding something. We also know that the majority of what these people had learned went to graves with them. My intentions are to share and spread this knowledge that I have gathered to help others become successful. Keeping in mind these are progressive books. So in the event that you are scratching your head-that is a good thing! Because as you progress along, you will suddenly turn on the light and truly understand the secrets needed to make it all so simple. Cowboy Bart

Introduction I guess I got my start the day I found an unusual set of crosses carved into a cliff face many years ago. Then from that point on, I was on the hunt for more. I spent endless amounts of hours reading and researching. During these years I also photographed everything I found. I traveled to many states gathering and comparing these finds. Which in turn created quite a collection created from findings in the field. From this massive amount of information gathered from many places far and wide, I have been able to connect the common factors found within these sites. This is what makes my books very unique. I know that I can speed up the success rate of each person in the field. Originally, I had written only one book on symbols and signs. It was more of my journal and notes. But as I began to put it altogether it occurred to me just how much information and thousands of photographs were involved, along with the massive amount of work it would consist of. So it was agreed that this book should be divided. In doing it this way, I am able to teach the reader in a progressive manner from book to book. We all know someone somewhere who found something or was close to finding something. We also know that the majority of what these people had learned went to graves with them. My intentions are to share and spread this knowledge that I have gathered to help others become successful. Keeping in mind these are progressive books. So in the event that you are scratching your head-that is a good thing! Because as you progress along, you will suddenly turn on the light and truly understand the secrets needed to make it all so simple. Cowboy Bart

Testimonials from those that have had the benefit of working with Cowboy Bart Jeppesen "In 2006 I enjoyed an exciting weekend with Bart. He showed me rocks made into symbols and symbols chipped into rocks. Siglas the Spaniards called them. They convey a universal language and speak of mysterious mines and hidden treasures. For those in the know, like Bart, they talk of the riches of the north slopes of the Uintah Mountains. While on his road of discovery Bart has uncovered and interpreted a vast number of symbols. I look forward, with anticipation, to his insights and understanding of these symbols. " From a fellow author: Dale Bascom "Following the Legends" Website: Slimsgold.com Amazon.com http://amzn.to/RmXkJr "I first met Bart on a Treasure Hunters Forum. I observed his excellent comments on other questions and decided to contact him with some of my questions. I was a neophyte treasure hunter in search of several treasures in the Caballo mountains of New Mexico. I had found quite a few treasure symbols, but I had no idea what they meant. I sent photos of these monuments and photos of the surrounding area to Bart. He sent them back to me all marked up. He could see things the Spanish had done in the landscape around the monuments.. It was then that I realized that Bart had a very unique talent. He had researched thousands of symbols.. This became helpful in deciphering maps of area. The problem was that most of the symbols had been lost to time. The trails were all broken. But Cowboy Bart could still follow them." ~Mark Palmer - South Western USA "Cowboy Bart and I first connected back in 2009 when he contacted Sacred Science Institute regarding a diagram on our website from our recent translation of St. Yves de D'Alveydre's Archeometer (diagram can be found at this link: www.Sacredscience.com/archive/ArcheometerDiagrams.htm ). He mentioned that he used esoteric symbols as schematics to hunt for hidden treasure concealed within a framework of symbolic codes. I had never heard of anyone doing this before and thought it a fascinating subject and application of esoteric knowledge. I was unaware that many old hid- den treasures, buried by Templar's or hidden by past societies, were marked with such codes which could be traced by those initiated into the secret tradition. I encouraged Cowboy Bart to write a book about this fascinating subject, and still look forward to him doing so " ~W. Bradstreet Stewart, Director Sacred Science Institute www.sacredscience.com

Testimonials from those that have had the benefit of working with Cowboy Bart Jeppesen “In 2006 I enjoyed an exciting weekend with Bart. He showed me rocks made into symbols and symbols chipped into rocks. Siglas the Spaniards called them. They convey a universal language and speak of mysterious mines and hidden treasures. For those in the know, like Bart, they talk of the riches of the north slopes of the Uintah Mountains. While on his road of discovery Bart has uncovered and interpreted a vast number of symbols. I look forward, with anticipation, to his insights and understanding of these symbols. “ From a fellow author: Dale Bascom “Following the Legends” Website: Slimsgold.com Amazon.com http://amzn.to/RmXkJr “I first met Bart on a Treasure Hunters Forum. I observed his excellent comments on other questions and decided to contact him with some of my questions. I was a neophyte treasure hunter in search of several treasures in the Caballo mountains of New Mexico. I had found quite a few treasure symbols, but I had no idea what they meant. I sent photos of these monuments and photos of the surrounding area to Bart. He sent them back to me all marked up. He could see things the Spanish had done in the landscape around the monuments.. It was then that I realized that Bart had a very unique talent. He had researched thousands of symbols.. This became helpful in deciphering maps of area. The problem was that most of the symbols had been lost to time. The trails were all broken. But Cowboy Bart could still follow them.” ~Mark Palmer - South Western USA “Cowboy Bart and I first connected back in 2009 when he contacted Sacred Science Institute regarding a diagram on our website from our recent translation of St. Yves de D’Alveydre’s Archeometer (diagram can be found at this link: www.Sacredscience.com/archive/ArcheometerDiagrams.htm ). He mentioned that he used esoteric symbols as schematics to hunt for hidden treasure concealed within a framework of symbolic codes. I had never heard of anyone doing this before and thought it a fascinating subject and application of esoteric knowledge. I was unaware that many old hid- den treasures, buried by Templar's or hidden by past societies, were marked with such codes which could be traced by those initiated into the secret tradition. I encouraged Cowboy Bart to write a book about this fascinating subject, and still look forward to him doing so...” ~W. Bradstreet Stewart, Director Sacred Science Institute www.sacredscience.com

Drawing from a rich corpus of art works, including sarcophagi, tomb paintings, and floor mosaics, Patrick R. Crowley investigates how something as insubstantial as a ghost could be made visible through the material grit of stone and paint. In this fresh and wide-ranging study, he uses the figure of the ghost to offer a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. Tracing the shifting practices and debates in antiquity about the nature of vision and representation, Crowley shows how images of ghosts make visible structures of beholding and strategies of depiction. Yet the figure of the ghost simultaneously contributes to a broader conceptual history that accounts for how modalities of belief emerged and developed in antiquity. Neither illustrations of ancient beliefs in ghosts nor depictions of afterlife, these images show us something about the visual event of seeing itself. The Phantom Image offers essential insight into ancient art, visual culture, and the history of the image.

Ghosts and apparitions abound across the peoples of the early civilisations, from the Ancient Egyptians, the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and the Vikings too. Phantoms of the dead, warning apparitions and necromancy – there are many stories of ghosts to be found in the retold literature of ancient peoples: ‘Khonsemhab and the Ghost’ and ‘The Adventure of Setne Khamwas with the Mummies’, both from Ancient Egypt; ‘Philinnion and Machates’ from Ancient Rome; spirits featured in Homer’s Odyssey, from Ancient Greece; tales of Babylonian demons and the netherworld; and stories of fire apparitions from Japan. The Vikings too had their fair share of ghosts, such as crop up in the 13th-century Icelandic Laxdaela Saga. These stories are all brought together in this new collection for an intriguing insight into the spirit world of early cultures. FLAME TREE 451: From myth to mystery, the supernatural to horror, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.