Author: James Wiener

Hilda of Whitby – A Ray of Light in the “Dark Ages”

Published by James Wiener

In this special guest post, Ms. Susan Abernethy of The Freelance History Writer introduces Ancient History et cetera readers to the compelling life and achievements of St. Hilda of Whitby. Renown for her piety and learning, Hilda is one of the most appealing and yet elusive figures from the Early Middle Ages (or Late Antiquity). Thanks to her vigorous activities, Hilda’s religious and political influence ensured that northern England remained Christian, while many, including The Venerable Bede, attested to her reputation for intellectual brilliance. In 2014, we celebrate the 1400th anniversary of her birth. Whenever I hear the term the “Dark Ages” I cringe a little bit. This term has fallen out of use, but you still hear it occasionally. The more I’ve studied medieval history, the more I see this era of history wasn’t “dark” at all. There are some “rays of light” that appear to us, even with the non-existent to scant documentation we have. One of them is St. Hilda of Whitby (c. 614-680 CE).

Real History in Total War: Attila

Published by James Wiener

In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks to Janos Gaspar, Lead Designer of Total War: Attila, about Creative Assembly’s newest historical video game. JW: What provided the impetus for Creative Assembly to make Total War: Attila? Why create a computer game about the Hunnic invasions of Europe (c. 370-469 CE) and the decline of the Roman Empire given the popularity of the Roman Total War series? JS: In Rome II, we told the story of Rome becoming the world’s first superpower — from its first steps outside of Italy to the major body of its conquests; from a small republic to a vast empire. This time, we jumped almost 400 years into the future — right to the brink of the so-called “Dark Ages” — in order to recreate the last moments of this glorious empire and the birth of the new Europe. One of the major catalysts for such profound change is Attila himself. Overall, we thought it would be a fascinating era to cover.

EAGLE 2014 International Conference in Paris

Published by James Wiener

EAGLE 2014 International Conference on Information Technologies for Epigraphy and Digital Cultural Heritage in the Ancient World September 29-30 and October 1, 2014  École Normale Supérieure and Collège de France Chaire Religion, institutions et société de la Rome antique Paris, France EAGLE 2014 International Conference on Information Technologies for Epigraphy and Digital Cultural Heritage in the Ancient World is the second in a series of international events planned by EAGLE – Europeana network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy. The conference will be held September 29-30 and October 1, 2014, in Paris. The event will consist of a number of lectures, panels and selected papers organized into several sessions. It is expected that the conference proceedings will be published with a major European scientific editor. The conference will also provide space for demonstrations and product display. Keynote lectures will be delivered by Susan Hazan (The Israel Museum) and Tom Elliott (New York University).

Seja Majeed – The Forgotten Tale of Larsa

Published by James Wiener

Born in Algeria to Iraqi refugees, Ms. Seja Majeed grew up in the United Kingdom, where her family claimed asylum. Impassioned by history, archaeology, and especially Iraqi culture, Seja yearned to be a writer. In her début novel for young adults, The Forgotten Tale of Larsa, Seja explores the themes of love, loss, change, and exile in an ancient Near Eastern setting. In this conversation with James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia, Seja relates the joys and struggles one faces in writing the “young adult novel,” in addition to her thoughts on the current perils facing Iraqi cultural patrimony.

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’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.