Book Review - Confessions of an Egyptologist

Book Review - Confessions of an Egyptologist 195 pages. AMZN.

by Erich von Däniken

Confessions of an Egyptologist book cover

Confessions of an Egyptologist by Erich von Däniken is a fascinating book that tells the story of Adel H., a 16-year-old boy who discovered a mysterious labyrinth of the old kings and was trapped for days under the Step Pyramid. The book is a mix of memoir and historical fiction, with von Däniken weaving together Adel's story with his own theories about ancient Egypt and the possibility of extraterrestrial influence.

The book is well-written and engaging, with von Däniken's signature style of blending fact and speculation. However, some readers may find his theories to be far-fetched and lacking in evidence. Additionally, the book has been criticized for its lack of academic rigor and reliance on anecdotal evidence.

Despite these criticisms, Confessions of an Egyptologist is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in ancient Egypt and the mysteries surrounding its history. Von Däniken's storytelling is compelling, and his passion for the subject matter is evident throughout the book. Whether or not you agree with his theories, the book is sure to spark your imagination and leave you with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of ancient Egypt.

What I learned in this book:

  • Was the Great Pyramid of Giza a huge library created for the people of the future ?

  • Are tomb raiders the real archeologists in Egypt ? It seems if a tomb raider uncovers a new place filled with valuable antiquities it is in their best interest to keep it to themselves and pillage it.

What this book does best: It weaves together a mix of memoir and historical fiction that includes aliens. I would say this opens your mind to new possibilities on what the pyramids were for and who built them.

I read this book as I have been seeing a lot of information recently saying that the lost Labyrinth has been found. Watch out for a future blog post on this as I continue my research.

Let's make a maze out of books. Lots of books !

Today I want to make you aware of a maze from the past. Not thousands of years ago like some labyrinths, or hundreds of years like many hedge and stone mazes. No this is a maze from the relatively close past of 2012. When you speak about mazes and labyrinths a decade really isn’t that long ago.

So this giant book maze, called aMAZEme was a temporary pop-up art installation in London at the Royal Festival Hall during the Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World. The walls of the maze were made from 250K stacked books placed by volunteers. My small hometown library which I visited each week as a kid has 98K books, so 250K books is a nice size library’s worth. For reference, the 100th largest library in the US (by volumes owned) is the Houston, Texas public library with just over 3M volumes for the local population of 2.3M people.

I learned about this project as I do most things, browsing around the web learning about mazes when I found this article. While the maze was not difficult - it was made in the shape of a fingerprint, it is a maze that would be difficult to get through for many of us. I would stop and look for something to read ! From the pictures I have found, and you can see some below, it is a bunch of people browsing the books !

I searched for a picture so you can see how cool this looks, and I couldn’t pick just one photo because each was so good. Check out this search result for “maze made of books”. A few repeats, but overall a wonderful maze !

Mazes made of books

See website on image for attribution

I like how the maze walls are very thick - 3 books thick. But the bibliophile in me would want to search the inner books - what if there’s a gem in there that can’t be seen ? It also makes me think…I have seen maze walls made of hay, hedges, glass, wood panels and water among other things (check out my post on 44 Different Types of Mazes and Labyrinths). What is the weirdest maze making material you have ever seen ?

Maze of the Week #80 - Guangdong Museum Maze

Maze of the Week #80 is my first maze of a building in China, the Guangdong Museum (广东省博物馆) located in Guangdong, China. What drew me to this building is the coloration of the great architecture, with red accent coloring where the window is inset against the dark grey building facing. You can learn about the museum here or plan your visit with this travel site or on the official museum site.


YouTube: A short video showing the outside and inside of the museum !

Photo: I like this nightime photo of the museum from user deson.wu from flickr.

The Maze: Full color so I could feature the red accents (and burgundy in the shadows). Maze start and goals are in the corners.

Guangdong Museum Maze

Guangdong Museum Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Maze download is available on the homepage. Don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel where you can watch this maze being made and solved!!

Coming next week:

A maze of another museum.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) Movie Review

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) IMDB AMZN

Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves movie poster

Before I review this movie I want to put it in a larger context, and that is with a maze movie that has been re-made. Cube (1997) is an original horror sci-fi classic that takes place in a large mazelike cube. Cube (2023) is the Japanese remake with essentially the same plot but a major difference in IMDB rating, 4.5 vs. 7.1. Because the original found success late and not in theaters the Japanese version did more than 4X the box office !?! Dungeons and Dragons was a 2000 movie with a horrible 3.6 rating and this is the new version of it (not really a remake). So how is it?

Well it feels like a good Marvel movie to me. A fantasy adventure quest with witty banter and over the top characters. You get action and laughs all around a fun story in an interesting fantasy world. I enjoyed it. Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez do a nice job taking on the bad guy played by Hugh Grant, and they do it surrounded by a cast of interesting characters. During the last section of the movie the team enters an arena where teams attempt to solve a giant maze that includes treasure, traps and monsters. And of course sometimes the walls move !

I give it a 7.3/10.