Heaven's Mirror:

Quest for the Lost Civilization

by Graham Hancock, and Santha Falla

Crown Publishers, N.Y., 1998, 336 pages, Price $45.00

Readers of this newsletter will know that I enjoy British author Graham Hancocks books on ancient mysteries.  His Fingerprints of the Gods is a classic.  Other books have been on the Spinx and the planet Mars.  Recently the Discovery Channel and a miniseries on his theories. Heaven's Mirror is a coffee table profusely illustrated book with color photos taken by his wife. It is based on the television series but one need not have seen it to enjoy the book. Each chapter is devoted to a particular lost civilization; the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Mexican civilizations of the Aztecs and Mayas, the Pacific Island civilizations such as Easter Island, Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the South American Incas. It is Hancock's thesis that over ten thousand years ago there was once one great civilization which practiced building megalithic structures and had advanced science. Then a cosmic disaster struck Earth and the survivors fled to all points of the globe and began civilization anew. Eventually this lost world became a dim memory in the myths and legends of various people, for example, the Greek philosopher Plato was told of a lost civilization called Atlantis by Egyptian priests. The Book of Genesis tells of a worldwide disaster that fell on mankind. Thus we have stories of a time when man was united, had one religion, one language and one view of the cosmos. The ancients had a fascination with the stars. Why9 Why do people as far away from each other as the ancient Egyptians and the Aztecs have similar myths and both built pyramids? Is there lost civilizations to be found beneath the oceans? Yes states Hancock and he presents photographic evidence for it. Off the coast of southern Japan some stone structures have recently been discovered. Natural phenomena or manmade? The controversy continues. Also near Easter Island other unusual stone formations have been found. It is interesting that the inhabitants of Easter Island small in number had their own written language and built those colossal statues. Is there a lost civilization under the seas in the Pacific of which Easter Island was once a part of? Heaven's Mirror may remind some of Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods type books. However, Hancocks style of writing is far better and one need not look to extraterrestrials for the answer to these ancient mysteries. But Hancock does not rule out the possibility of aliens visiting Earth in ancient times and being the inspiration for mythological gods.