Inspiring millions to understand
our shared human past
Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.
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Support AHE through Reading!
If you love reading AHE’s definitions, articles, and special features, you should know that you can order books on ancient history and support us directly! Books on multiple subjects can be bought through AHE’s book section via Amazon (US/UK) or Book Depository (which offers free international delivery). With every book order, AHE receives a small…
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Drink of the Gods: Wine in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean
A symbol of fertility, immortality, and divinity, wine was the favored drink of choice across the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Wine is mentioned frequently in biblical scriptures, and was used for everyday purposes in cooking and medicine. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks to Mr. Joel Butler,…
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Reconstructing Angkor Wat through Fiction
Shrouded in mystery and lure, the Khmer city of Angkor is one of the most mesmerizing places in the world. Founded around the year 800 CE by Jayavarman II (c. 770-850 CE), Angkor was the center of the powerful Khmer kingdom, which dominated much of what is present-day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, and Vietnam until…
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Tsohost is sponsoring us!
Today we are happy to announce that we are being sponsored by Tsohost, the company that has been hosting Ancient History Encyclopedia for several years now. This is great news as it not only saves us money, but above all it means that we can improve our service to you, with faster and better hosting.…
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Sublime Sicily: A Hellenic Gem in Antiquity
Sicily evokes the fiery majesty Mt. Etna, the wine-dark hues of the surrounding sea, and the delicious flavors of arancini and limoncello. Situated at a pivotal intersection between Greece, Italy, and North Africa, Sicily is not only the largest island in the Mediterranean, but the site of over 5,000 years of human history. Few are…
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The Ancient Shards of Central American Art and History
Like the Central Valley of Mexico and the Andes of South America, Central America has been home to dynamic and sophisticated civilizations for thousands of years. A series of distinct cultures left behind remarkable ceramic objects, which attest to considerable wealth, intricate belief systems, and singular artistic achievements. Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past…
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A Closer Look at Ancient Korea
From the first century BCE until the seventh century CE, the Korean peninsula experienced an unprecedented era of immense wealth, political power, and cultural efflorescence. Although the kingdoms of ancient Korea are not familiar to many researchers in Anglophone countries, the fields of early Korean history and archaeology are active and pertinent components of academic…
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The Merovingians: The Kings and Queens of the Franks
Mythologized and circumscribed for over 1500 years, the Merovingians were a powerful Frankish dynasty, which exercised control much of modern-day France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Low Countries. During the Early Middle Ages, the Merovingian kingdoms were arguably the most powerful and most important polities to emerge after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire,…
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The Enigmatic Poison King: Mithradates VI of Pontus (120-63 BCE)
While relatively unknown today, Mithradates VI of Pontus inspired fear, romance, courage, and intrigue across the Near East during the first century BCE. Claiming descent from Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia, Mithradates challenged the might of late Republican Rome, creating an empire that stretched from the northern reaches of the Black Sea to…
