Subject:
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Adventurer Maps
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Mon, 13 Dec 1999 16:32:04 GMT
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Viewed:
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1326 times
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Dear Lego:
Regarding the Adventurer Series Egypt tile maps, a small nit that I, as a
geographer, feel compelled to make: The Pyramids of Cheops are on the west side
of the Nile, not the east. This may seem trivial, however, the Pyramids were
built on the west side of the Nile because that side of the river was known as
the Land of the Dead. Ra, the Egyptian Sun god, "rose" in the east and "set" in
the west; hence, the burial grounds were in the west. Less water is also to be
found in the western dessert; the eastern side, however, does flow with wadis,
or intermittent streams, from the mountains that flank the Red Sea Coast. So,
the western side was (and is) a harsher environment, and the sterile place of
setting suns made good sense to the Egyptians to inter their dead in graves,
tombs, and even pyramids. I think that we can all agree that better geographic
awareness is lacking in our American school kids. Geography is not merely the
recitation of place-names, but it seeks to answer the question "Why is What
Where." The pyramids don't just happen to be on the west side of the Nile; they
were placed there intentionally. I realize that your small tile map is not
meant to teach a geography lesson; but would it have been that hard to place the
Pyramids in roughly the right place? I've found that I tend to assume a great
deal of geographic knowledge that is proven wrong when I consult an atlas...or
even another geographer.
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Message has 1 Reply: | | Re: Adventurer Maps
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| (...) The Pyramids at Giza are some of the most fascinating relics in human history, IMHO. James, have you ever read any of Graham Hancock's books? (URL) If you are a Pyramid fan, you will be *completely* absorbed in his works and ideas. For (...) (25 years ago, 13-Dec-99, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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