National Geographic History

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FROM THE EDITOR

National Geographic History

Five-Year Restoration Reveals Celestial Delights • Centuries of grime were cleaned from Egypt’s Temple of Esna, allowing vibrant reliefs of the night sky and its wonders to shine.

COLORFUL TRANSFORMATIONS

RISING AND RECEDING

Percy Fawcett: Tragic Search for Lost City of Z • Convinced by old documents that a lost civilization lay in the Amazon rainforest, Percy Fawcett set out to find it in 1925. His disappearance sparked a century of speculation as to his fate.

The Poisonous Price of Beauty • Blonde hair, a pale complexion, and outrageously red cheeks made the fashionable look that Spanish women sought in the 1600s, despite the dangers hidden in their cosmetics.

THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS TOMBS OF THE PHARAOHS • The rulers of the New Kingdom, the period of greatest splendor in ancient Egypt, were buried in tombs cut into the rock of an arid wadi to the west of its capital, Thebes.

VALLEY OF THE SUN

WORSHIPPING THE DEAD

ADORNING A ROYAL TOMB

DWELLINGS FOR ETERNITY

SACRED ORIENTATION

KEEPING THE BALANCE

FUNERAL FOR A PHARAOH

PHOENICIAN TIES TO AN ANCIENT SPANISH CULTURE TARTESSOS • When Phoenician colonists arrived on the southern shores of the Iberian Peninsula in the ninth century B.C., their contact with the peoples of Cádiz, Seville, and Huelva sparked a rich and sophisticated society called Tartessos.

THE TREASURE OF ALISEDA

BECOMING THE BUDDHA THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT • Around the sixth century B.C., a pampered prince exchanged his luxurious lifestyle for a spiritual quest. He sought the cause of all human suffering—and a way to end it.

THE BUDDHA’S LAST DAYS • The Mahaparinirvana Sutra, one of the most memorable texts of ancient India, offers an account of the last months of the Buddha’s life that blends history and legend.

KING KAMEHAMEHA I • The life story of Hawai‘i’s first king weaves legend and prophecy among the political drama and bloody battles of Hawaiian unification.

D-DAY AT 80 • On June 6, 1944, Allied forces began the formidable task of liberating Europe from the Nazis. The largest amphibious invasion in history, Operation Overlord was preceded by months of preparation in Britain, where hundreds of thousands of American troops were stationed in readiness.

Must Farm’s Bronze Age Time Capsule • In 2015 excavations at this fire-ravaged site, nicknamed Britain’s Pompeii, revealed hundreds of objects preserved in the ground.