Armchair travelling

Lately I have been reading and studying about archaeological excavations in the Middle East. I just finished Treasures Under the Sand, about the life of Sir Leonard Woolley (and particularly his excavations at Ur of the Chaldeans). I've been working my way through Treasures from Bible Times and Unwrapping the Pharaohs. Dad and I have been so interested in the latter book, and the accompanying DVD, that we have recently subscribed to David Down's bi-monthly magazine, Archaeological Diggings.

If you are at all interested in archaeology and enjoy some clever humor, I recommend the book Motel of the Mysteries by David Macauley. It's a satirical look at an archaeological dig some 2,000 years in the future, in which the amateur-ish archaeologist, Howard Carson, uncovers a late 20th century motel room. Carson goes on to misidentify the function and meaning of everything he finds. My favorite illustration is probably of Howard's assistant, Harriet, decked out in "jewelry" à la Sophia Schliemann. Check at the library -- it's worth a laugh!