Year: 2012

Maya 3D Interview

We just had the pleasure of interviewing Mathias Kohlschmidt and Martin Gruhn, the founders of Maya3D. Together with their team of programmers, 3D artists, and historians they have recreated several ancient Maya cities in 3D and turned this into a series of interactive iOS TimeTours apps. These apps are meant to serve as both an educational instrument and an on-site travel guide at the same time. We believe that initiatives like this show us a glimpse of how the future of history education might look like.

“Medieval Histories”: A Wonderful Resource

Although we focus on “ancient history,” we love all history! One resource we enjoy a great deal is Medieval Histories. It is managed by a renown historian and ethnologist in Denmark. It is an invaluable resource with interesting articles, a stream of news reports, exhibition highlights, and a beautiful seasonal e-magazine. Be sure to check it out! We promise you will not regret it!

Campaigning Across the Ages: An Interview with Professor Philip Freeman

How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians is the latest publication by Professor Philip Freeman, the Orlando W. Qualley Chair of Classical Languages at Luther College, in Decorah, Iowa. In 64 BCE, Marcus Cicero (106-43 BCE) ran for consul and faced the challenge of a lifetime: winning the highest office in the Republic. Fortunately, his younger brother, Quintus Cicero (102 – 43 BCE), was able to impart advice on managing a successful political campaign: The Commentariolum Petitionis. Although the Cicero brothers lived an age in which politics was localized and intensely personal, Quintus’ short maxims to his brother delineate many political truths still valid in modern times. Accessible and entertaining, Freeman translates an “unashamedly pragmatic primer.”

Clava Cairns Article by Joshua Mark

Our own Joshua Mark has just published an article about the mysterious Clava Cairns structures in Scotland. Please read his article at The Celtic Guide Magazine. Here’s an brief excerpt: “Over 4,000 years ago our ancestors raised huge megaliths and positioned them in the earth with care. Sites such as The Ring of Brodgar in Stenness, Orkney, or the famous Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, mystify and enchant visitors from around the world today. There are many other more modest sites, however, which reward a visitor’s time and effort just as much as these more famous places and, perhaps, more so. Five miles east of the city of Inverness, Scotland, just down from Culloden Moor, rests one such site: the Balnuaran of Clava – popularly known as Clava Cairns….”

Winning at the ancient Games

With the Olympic Games 2012 coming to London, the British Museum in London has created a new trail through the museum titled “Winning at the ancient Games”. The trail takes visitors to twelve objects in the museum that reveal more about the Olympic Games in ancient times. If you are in London, have a look — it’s free!

Uncovering Athens’ Ancient Harbour: The Zea Harbour Project Interview

The Zea Harbour Project (ZHP) is a combined land and underwater archaeological investigation of the ancient harbours of Zea and Mounichia in the Piraeus (Athens’ harbour city) in Greece. Launched in 2002 under the auspices of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the 26th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (until 2009) and the Danish Institute at Athens, ZHP’s mission is to survey, excavate, and publish the archaeological remains of the ancient naval bases of the Piraeus. The Carlsberg Foundation has funded the project since 2004. In this interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks with Dr. Bjørn Lovén, Associate Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southern Denmark, and director of the ZHP.

Doggerland Recreated in 3D

Doggerland, the sunken land bridge between Britain and the European continent, has been recreated in 3D by a team of scientists. They used the computer game engine of Far Cry to create a stone age village, showing how the rising sea level might have forced the village’s inhabitants to move. SPIEGEL Online has published a slideshow.

An Old Song with a New Melody: An Interview with Madeline Miller

As a young girl growing up in New York City, Madeline Miller felt a strong attachment to the literature and culture of Greco-Roman civilization. Mesmerized by the heroic exploits of Hercules, Achilles, and Aeneas, Miller pursued her passion at Brown University, where she received a BA and MA in Latin and Ancient Greek. Miller also studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale University’s School of Drama, where she learned the art of adapting classical texts to modern tastes. In Miller’s debut novel, The Song of Achilles, the timeless tale of Homer’s Iliad is given new form and direction via the perspective of Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroclus. The heart of the novel is tale of friendship and love between two men, with interlocking fates. Seamlessly blending Homeric convention with modern diction, Miller’s novel is an absorbing and enchanting read. In this interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia took the time to speak with Miller about her new novel and what inspired her to write about the ancient world.

AHE In So Many More Languages!

We have just added Google Translate to AHE. While it’s not perfect, it will help many of our international readers. You can find it at the bottom of every page. Did you know that you can help improve the translation? Simply hold your mouse over a badly-translated sentence for a few seconds and you can correct the translated text.