ebooks On Intellectual Activism by Patricia Hill Collins in History

Description

This unique book reveals the existence of an advanced civilization where none was known before; presenting an entirely new perspective on the culture and history of Tibet. In his groundbreaking study of an epic period in Tibet few people even knew existed; John Vincent Bellezza details the discovery of an ancient people on the most desolate reaches of the Tibetan plateau; revolutionizing our ideas about who Tibetans really are. While many associate Tibet with Buddhism; it was also once a land of warriors and chariots; whose burials included megalithic arrays and golden masks. This first Tibetan civilization; known as Zhang Zhung; was a cosmopolitan one with links extending across Eurasia; bringing it in line with many of the major cultural innovations of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Based on decades of research; The Dawn of Tibet draws on a rich trove of archaeological; textual; and ethnographic materials collected and analyzed by the author. Bellezza describes the vast network of castles; temples; megaliths; necropolises; and rock art established on the highest and now depopulated part of the Tibetan plateau. He relates literary tales of priests and priestesses; horned deities; and the celestial afterlife to the actual archaeological evidence; providing a fascinating perspective on the origins and development of civilization. The story builds to the present by following the colorful culture of the herders of Upper Tibet; an ancient people whose way of life is endangered by modern development. Tracing Bellezza’s epic journeys across lands where few Westerners have ventured; this book provides a compelling window into the most inaccessible reaches of Tibet and a civilization that flourished long before Buddhism took root.