Year: 2014

Find us in Public Libraries

Published by Jan van der Crabben

Our Ancient Greece content is now available in three prestigious public libraries in the United States: the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Brimmer and May School Library. Through our publishing partnership with BiblioBoard, our eBook Greece, The Archaic and Classical Periods: An Ancient History Encyclopedia Collection is part of the Archives of the World module of BiblioBoard, a collection of various historical archives, articles, and publications, which is available to libraries across the world. More libraries are set to include our eBook in their catalogue soon. Everybody can get our eBook on the BiblioBoard app (available on iTunes, Google Play, and Kindle Fire), however. Simply download the BiblioBoard app, and search for “Ancient History Encyclopdia”. The eBook costs $7.99.

Greece’s Top Ten Stops

Published by Rick Steves

I was in Athens, on a rooftop restaurant under a floodlit Acropolis, marveling at how a Greek salad never gets boring. It was the last day of a long trip. I was reviewing, as I always do after completing an itinerary, how effectively our time was spent. We had kept our focus more on seeing historic sights on the mainland rather than luxuriating on Aegean Islands. Given that focus, here are the top ten stops — in itinerary order — that make what I consider the best two weeks Greece has to offer: Athens, a big ugly city, has obligatory ancient sights (the hilltop temple of the Acropolis, and the ruined forum of the Agora); an extremely touristy old quarter (the Plaka); and fine museums — the best in the country. Its four million people sprawl where no tourist ventures, including new immigrant zones with poor yet thriving communities. The joy of Greece is outside of Athens. See it and scram.

10 Must-See Ancient Sites in Provence, France

Published by Carole Raddato

Provence has inherited a rich legacy from antiquity, boasting some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Europe. In the second century BCE, the Romans began their conquest of the region and called it “Provincia Romana,” giving us the region’s present name, “Provence.” Thanks to the Pax Romana, which was to last for several centuries, the province, later renamed “Gallia Narbonensis” (after its capital “Narbo Martius” which is present-day Narbonne, France), experienced a period of unprecedented growth. Roads, bridges, and aqueducts were built to eliminate the isolation of the conquered territories, and there are hundreds of ancient sites in Provence. Additionally, replicas of the major monuments of Rome were raised in many urban centers. Scattered throughout Provence, there are countless antique monuments that have survived the centuries, allowing us to enjoy what was once a vibrant part of the Roman Empire. On a recent trip to Provence, I followed Roman roads, crossed Roman bridges, and marveled at Roman theaters, arenas, and temples. Here is a list of 10 must-see ancient sites in Provence, France.

The Kingdoms of Ancient Arabia

Published by James Wiener

In antiquity, the Greeks and Romans referred to the pre-Islamic kingdoms of ancient Arabia as “Arabia Felix” or “Arabia the Blessed,” due to their immense wealth and political power. Flourishing along caravan and maritime trade routes for over a thousand years, these kingdoms achieved impressive feats in technology, engineering, and the conservation of natural resources. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) speaks to Dr. William Glanzman, one of the world’s leading experts on ancient Arabia, about the importance of these polities as well as recent archaeological discoveries in southern Arabia.

New: Videos, Links, and Book Reviews on AHE

Published by James Wiener

We are excited to announce that we’ve redesigned our contribute page! Now users and volunteers can submit videos in addition to articles, definitions, book reviews, and web links. If you know of great content you would like to share with us, go ahead and submit it! Anyone with knowledge of ancient history can submit content to Ancient History Encyclopedia. All submissions are reviewed by our editorial team before publication, to ensure we only have the highest quality of content on our site. This project depends on users like you to help give all things ancient for free to the teachers, students, and enthusiasts of the world. Thank you so much for your continued support!

We’re on Tumblr, too!

Published by James Wiener

We are excited to announce that we now have our own ancient history blog on Tumblr. Founded in 2007, Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking hybrid platform that houses more than 132 million blogs. It is also among the top 15 websites in the United States of America. We’re excited to share new and reviewed education articles directly to our audience on Tumblr. This further compliments Ancient History Encyclopedia’s other social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. With nearly 300,000 social media followers and 1.3 million monthly page views, Ancient History Encyclopedia is proud to function as the web’s nexus of “all things ancient.”

AHE on Flipboard, magazine-style

Published by Jan van der Crabben

We’ve just put over 600 of our articles and definitions onto Flipboard, an app that allows you to read great web content in a magazine-style format. It’s perfect for browsing our ancient history content on your mobile phone or tablet, but you can also read Flipboard directly in your browser on the web. To make it easier to find your favourite content, we’ve divided our content into several “magazines”, all of which are centered around a specific subject area: Roman History Greek History Mesopotamian History Assyrian History Egyptian History Americas History Asian History North European History African History General History Topics Interviews Maps History Videos History Cartoons About AHE We hope you enjoy browsing AHE in this format! From now on, we’re going to continue adding to these magazines, so you can follow us on Flipboard, too.

AHE’s Memorandum of Understanding with EAGLE Portal

Published by James Wiener

Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the EAGLE Portal, which will entail active collaboration and content exchange between the two organizations. EAGLE, the Europeana network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy, is a best-practice network (BPN), co-funded through the ICT-Policy Support Programme of the European Commission, which aims to create a new online archive for ancient epigraphy in Europe. As a part of the multilingual, prestigious Europeana Network, EAGLE will link and connect — using Linked Open Data (LOD) — thousands of inscriptions, photos of inscriptions, and related contextual items from European museums, libraries, archives, and multimedia collections into a single, readily-searchable platform from millions of digitized items. The project will make the vast majority of surviving inscriptions from the Greco-Roman world available for study or enjoyment. Additionally, EAGLE intends to build tools which can make the user experience dynamic and engaging.

Eternally Beautiful: Byzantine Art from Greece

Published by James Wiener

For over a millennium, Byzantine artists in Greece produced sumptuous works of extraordinary quality and caliber. Whether inspired by the ethos of the new Christian religion or the tangible legacy of classical antiquity, these Greek artisans and craftsmen created a uniquely “Byzantine aesthetic,” which in time came to influence the artistic traditions of Italy, Russia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Near East. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks to Dr. Mary Louise Hart, Associate Curator of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, about Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections, on view now at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, CA. This magnificent exhibition explores the breadth, balance, and beauty of Byzantine art from medieval Greece.

AHE Partners with Theneeds.com for Content Curation

Published by James Wiener

Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) is partnering with Theneeds.com in order to connect with a virtual audience keen on accessing curated media pertaining to the ancient world via the web and mobile devices. Launched in 2013, Theneeds is the fastest growing content discovery platform. Theneeds offers users a place to discover, vote on and share the best news, articles, videos, social posts, and more, tailored to their specific interests. Based in San Francisco, CA, Theneeds brings users a personalized web and iPhone app experience, and its underlying technology constantly learns from user’s activity to get smarter and more relevant over time.