Year: 2015

Attila, the Scourge of God

Published by Jan van der Crabben

The Creative Assembly has produced a short documentary on Attila the Hun to celebrate the launch of their latest historical computer game, Total War: ATTILA (also read our interview with the game’s lead designer). This seven minute film summarizes the life of Attila, his achievements, his cruel reputation, and his legacy. The documentary mixes narrative by Dr. Paul Harrison with 3D footage and historical reenactors. [embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_QA30DDt3o[/embedyt]   Continue reading for more videos and background information on the game Total War: ATTILA.

Treasures Of The Lost Dhow

Published by James Wiener

One of the most important discoveries in marine archaeological history occurred in 1998, just off Indonesia’s Belitung Island in the western Java Sea: A 1,200-year-old Arabian dhow with an astounding cargo of gold, silver, ceramic artifacts, coins, and tangible personal effects. The ship’s hold contained some 57,000 pieces in total and yet no human remains. The Lost Dhow: A Discovery from the Maritime Silk Route, now on show at the newly opened Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, explores the movement of cross-cultural exchange, trade, and technology between the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE) and Tang dynasty China (618-907 CE) through the prism of an ancient shipwreck.In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) speaks to Mr. John Vollmer, Guest Curator for the Aga Khan Museum’s presentation of this exhibition, about the importance of the objects in this exhibition and what the exhibition means to the recently opened museum.

Meet Apotheon

Published by Jan van der Crabben

  Ancient history is becoming more and more popular in gaming, but you rarely find a game that truly tries to bring ancient history to the modern world. Enter Apotheon, an indie game developed by the small team at Alientrap games, which looks like an animated scene from ancient Greek Black Figure Pottery. The game not only looks ancient, but it also uses the correct ancient names for items (the hero’s sword is a xiphos), and there are quotes from ancient writers included in the game. As you might expect from a computer game set in ancient Greece, you save all of humanity by wrestling with gods on Mount Olympus… Epic, in short. It’s a nod to the side-scrolling games of the early 90s, along the lines of Commander Keen or Great Giana Sisters, and it would be fair to compare it to recent hits like Trine. Metacritic currently gives it a score of 82%, which is pretty decent for an indie game, but it’s not a huge hit either. We haven’t played it here at Ancient History et cetera yet, but we’re definitely interested! And we’ll try …

Fifth EAGLE International Event 2015 in Cyprus

Published by James Wiener

Use and Re-Use of Digital Cultural Heritage Assets – Interoperability, Repositories and Shared infrastructures 11-12 March 2015 Athalassa Campus 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street 2121, Aglantzia Nicosia, Cyprus Use and Re-Use of Digital Cultural Heritage Assets – Interoperability, Repositories and Shared infrastructures is the fifth in a series of international events planned by EAGLE BPN. The event will feature presentations and hands-on workshops regarding themes of the EAGLE project, led by the project’s Working Groups. The event will be held in Nicosia, Cyprus on 11-12 March 2015. It is organised by EAGLE partner Cyprus Institute, in collaboration with Heidelberg University (Germany) and Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy). Programme overview This event is aimed at anyone interested in epigraphy (digital or non-digital) as well as to the establishment and diffusion of general best current practices for digital cultural heritage. It seeks to cover many aspects of digital technology applied to inscriptions, from content to management and networking. __________________________________________________________________________ Agenda The programme of the event is available here. Further information The language of this workshop will be English. …

Acting and Greek Theatre: Honoring Dionysus

Published by Melisha Childs

Over the last few centuries, acting has developed into visual art that entertains people around the world in the form of stage plays or, in recent times, through the mediums of television and film. However, acting as we know it originated thousands of years ago with quite a different audience in mind. It developed as a weeklong competition ushering in the spring season and honoring the Greek god Dionysus, god of wine, music, and drama, and in some other interpretations, god of fertility. The festival often began with a procession through the city. This was believed to be a blessing of the crops of Athens so farmers would have a fruitful harvest. As the procession progressed toward the temple of Dionysia, some Athenian citizens rejoiced, dancing and playing tambourines, while others were much more solemn, displaying their dignity and wearing very lavish robes. The festival began with dithyrambs, or songs sung by a large chorus of usually 50 men. The remainder of the festival was dedicated to dramatic competitions in which five new plays were performed and …

Exploring the Depth and Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Literature

Published by James Wiener

When we hear the words “Anglo-Saxon literature,” Beowulf is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Then we might think of the beauty of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Durrow or the Lindisfarne Gospels. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener talks with Professor Larry Swain of Bemidji State University about these works, as well as Norse and Irish influences on Anglo-Saxon literature and the significance of the Byzantines, Theodore and Hadrian, who came to Northumbria in the seventh century CE. Professor Swain recommends learning Old English in order to be able to read works in Old English, of course, but equally intriguing, to allow us to better express ourselves in modern English.

The Fratricide and Architecture: The Cendere Bridge

Published by Mina Bulić

In the southeast of Turkey, not far from the city of Adiyaman,  there lies a Roman bridge. It is one of the best preserved Roman structures in Turkey. The restoration was done in 1997, but even before that, the bridge was still in use by vehicles. Today there is a modern bridge that serves the traffic; there are more stray dogs than people visiting the old bridge. Built between 198 and 200 CE by the XVI legion (XVI Flavia Firma) based at Samosata, the bridge crosses the Cendere River at its narrowest point. The Cendere Bridge was probably built as part of construction efforts to facilitate the military campaign of Septimus Severus in the Parthian Empire and Mesopotamia.  The 118 m long bridge used to have four Doric columns with statues, two on each side of the bridge, inscribed with dedication texts. The first pair was dedicated to Emperor Septimius Severus and his wife Julia Domna.

The Byzantine “Bird Mosaic” from Caesarea, Israel

Published by Carole Raddato

A stunning mosaic floor referred to as the “Bird Mosaic” was uncovered by accident in 1955 on the outskirts of Caeserea in Israel, outside the walls of the ancient settlement. With no budget available for its preservation, it was covered over again until the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Director of the Caesarea Antiquities Preservation project decided in 2005 to preserve the unique find and to reveal it to the public. Lying in situ, the Bird Mosaic offers a rare glimpse into the lives of a wealthy Byzantine-era Caesarean who commissioned this ancient work of art. During the excavations of 2005 archaeologists determined that the ‘Bird Mosaic’ was part of a Byzantine palace complex dating from the 6th century AD. During the Byzantine period, the harbour city of Caesarea flourished and expanded as much as 800 m inland. This palace complex, covering an area of nearly 1 acre (4,000 sq. meters), was probably owned by a reputable and wealthy family. The “Bird Mosaic” adorned the floor of a large open courtyard, the atrium, with a portico along the western …

The gems of Palazzo Altemps

Published by Mina Bulić

The National Roman Museum is of course situated in Rome, but the collection is divided among different buildings around the city. One of the branches of NRM is situated in the Palazzo Altemps. Designed in XV century, this building passed from hand to hand of many well-off families,  until 1997 when it became a part of the museum. Today it is home to one of the most impressive collections of Greek and Roman sculptures. It is usually not crowded with people and during your visit to Rome this is that rare place where you can feel the luxury of contemplating the sculptures, probably alone just like all those popes, cardinals and other collectors of this kind of beauty.  Or, if you are like me and you usually do street photography, you can just take your time and click: the sculptures look very much alive but I am sure they will not move. Here are the stars of the collection. Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

Roman frescoes on show in Toulouse (France)

Published by Carole Raddato

Last weekend I travelled to Toulouse to visit the fabulous exhibition on Roman frescoes being held at the Musée Saint-Raymond. The exhibition entitled ‘L’Empire de la couleur – De Pompéi au sud des Gaules’ (which translates as ‘Empire of colour – From Pompeii to Southern Gaul’) opened last November and runs through March 2015. The majority of Roman frescoes were found in Campania, in the region around the Bay of Naples. It is there that Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, burying much of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and nearby villas. The ash, lapilli, and mud that seeped into the houses acted as a preservative for wall paintings, but also for many households and decorative objects, as well as organic materials. Most of the paintings were detached from the houses of Pompeii and the surrounding area between the mid-eighteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. They represent an exceptional insight into the development of Roman painting from the Late Republic to the Empire.