All posts filed under: Uncategorized

The Horses of St. Mark’s

Published by Jaunting Jen

Welcome to the second post on our new blog AHEtc! This time we welcome Ms. Jennifer Brown (Jaunting Jen) of the blog Jaunting Jen. Jen is an Army veteran, archaeologist, photographer, and historian working on her MA in ancient and classical history. We hope you enjoy her post as much as we do! Beauty Reigns Eternally Beauty. The four horses at St. Mark’s Basilica, Venice, can only be described with one word: beauty. They are called the bronze horses, but they are actually almost pure copper. If you stare at them long enough, they almost seem real. The two horses pictured above are looking at each other like they are sharing a secret, and we are left in the dark. It’s a miracle of history, time, and circumstance that these horses exist today. We are able to stand and admire their craftsmanship because of a long history of looting, theft, and historic preservation. The history of the four horses stretches the imagination. They may have been created by a very famous sculptor, Lyssippos, in the …

Scota: Mother of the Scottish People

Published by James Wiener

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Ms. Susan Abernethy, manager of The Freelance History Writer, to Ancient History Encyclopedia as our first guest blogger. AHE’s “AHEtc. blog” will function as a place where ideas and experiences can be shared casually by those interested in all things “ancient.” We hope you enjoy it! Scota: Mother of the Scottish People An ardent, lifelong passion for history compelled me recently to start researching and writing on various historical topics. Curiosity, along with the presence of certain books in my library, led me to look into the history of Scotland. Scottish history is chock full of fascinating stories and quaint legends. Surprisingly, I discovered that the founding, mythical ancestor of the Scottish people was a woman named Scota, daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and wife of a Greek prince, whose story may be based on actual events as borne out by DNA evidence.

1 Million Mark Surpassed!

Published by James Wiener

We are pleased to announce that the Ancient History Encyclopedia regularly receives over one million page views per month! This is truly a momentous occasion and we are eager to see what awaits us as we come closer to 2014. At this time, AHE’s staff would like to extend a warm message of thanks to our financial donors, volunteer contributors, virtual visitors, social media followers, and past interviewees for helping us enter into the record books! Your kind words and messages of enthusiasm are a source of pride and inspiration. We would not be where we are today without your continued support and interest. We thought that we should use this occasion not only to celebrate an important milestone, but also take the time to assemble some statistics about Ancient History Encyclopedia: 1 million page views per month. 500,000 unique visitors per month (compared to 100,000 this time last year). Over 2.2 million visitors in 2013 so far. 66% visitors from the US; 4% in the UK, Canada, and Australia (each). We have spent £830 …

AHE Recommended by Tijdschrift Origine

Published by James Wiener

It gives us great pleasure to announce that the Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) was recently profiled and recommended by the prominent Dutch fine arts magazine, Tijdschrift Origine (Nummer 3 2012, Jaargang 21). Based in Haarlem, Tijdschrift Origine provides independent, expert analyses on the international art sector, covering antiques, design, art history, and the protection of cultural patrimony. We applaud and thank them for helping bring increased public attention to the fine and applied arts, worldwide. Here is part of the review in Dutch: “On the internet is a new virtual encyclopedia for old (art) history: the Ancient History Encyclopedia. The English language site is fully independent and relies primarily on volunteers and voluntary contributions. Within the site are many articles as well as encyclopedic entries about classical antiquity. AHE also provides historical maps on their site. [The Ancient History Encyclopedia’s] search engine provides several specific searches by topic, time period, architecture, wars and battles. In preparing this [précis], ORIGINE counted 381 articles and more than 2,000 images. Of course, that number is rapidly growing. Furthermore, there …

Support AHE through Reading!

Published by James Wiener

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 commission of around 5%, helping us provide you with the best, free ancient history content on the web. Take a look at our book search and compare prices to get the best deal. We provide the listing and link to Amazon or Book Depository, where you finalize your purchase(s). Thank you for your support and happy reading!

AHE Joins PELAGIOS Project

Published by James Wiener

It gives us great pleasure to announce that the Ancient History Encyclopedia is joining the PELAGIOS Project. PELAGIOS stands for “Pelagios: Enable Linked Ancient Geodata In Open Systems,” and its aim is to help introduce Linked Open Data into online resources that refer to places in the ancient world. This approach permits new modes of discovery and visualization for scholars and the general public. Pelagios also means “of the sea,” referring to the superhighway of the ancient world. It’s a metaphor most appropriate for a digital resource that connects references to ancient places. The Pelagios are a collective of projects connected by a shared vision of a world–most eloquently described in Tom Elliott’s article, “Digital Geography and Classics“– in which the geography of the past is every bit as interconnected, interactive, and interesting as the present. Each project represents a different perspective on Antiquity through maps, texts, and archaeological records. Like AHE, PELAGIOS is committed to open access and a pragmatic lightweight approach that encourages and enables institutions to digitalize quality, virtual materials related to ancient history. History is …

Fascinating Lebanon (Book Review)

Published by James Wiener

Fascinating Lebanon: Sixty Centuries of Religious History, Art, and Archaeology (French: Fascination du Liban: Soixante siècles d’historie de religions, d’art et d’archéologie) is the exhibition catalogue of the eponymous show at the Musée Rath (associated with the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire de Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland. This publication is edited by a talented and international group of researchers from Europe and the Middle East: Claude Doumet-Serhal (British Museum, London); Helga Seeden and Hermann Genz (American University of Beirut); Jean-Paul Thalmann (Université de Paris I Sorbonne); Henri-Charles Loffet (Docteur en égyptologie-École Pratique des Hautes Études-Paris); Maria-Eugenia Aubet (University of Barcelona); Julien Aliquot (CNRS-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée); Jean-Baptiste Yon (Université de Lyon); Tomas Walizewski (University of Warsaw); Grace Homsy (Université Saint Esprit de Kaslik); and Hala Boustany (Université de Paris IV Sorbonne). Highlighting the religious and cultural diversity of Lebanon, this catalogue succeeds in delineating Lebanon’s importance at the nexus of trade, religion, and cross-cultural exchange for thousands of years. From Paleolithic artifacts to Ottoman textiles, Phoenician sarcophagi to rare Melkite icons, this lavishly …

Princesses of the Mediterranean in the Dawn of History (Book Review)

Published by James Wiener

Princesses of the Mediterannean in the Dawn of History is the companion exhibition catalogue of a major retrospective on show at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, Greece. Edited by Drs. Nicholas Chr. Stampolidis and Mimika Giannopoulou, and translated by Ms. Maria Xanthopoulou, the catalogue presents the personal belongings 24 “princesses” or elite women, who lived in Greece, Cyprus, and Italy from c. 1000-500 BCE. Whether royal princesses or members of the merchant elite, doctors or priestesses, intriguing, personal artifacts reveal the extent to which these women shaped ancient Mediterranean cultures, contributing to artistic, economic, and religious development. With over 500 artifacts presented in just 447 pages, the reader is dazzled by the splendor and rarity of items showcased within the exhibition: large bronze vases; intact glass and faience objects, terracotta items; in addition to bronze and ivory figurines. Art historians interested in jewelry and craftsmanship during the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1200-750 BCE) will be particularly delighted with this catalogue as some of the finest archaeological items ever discovered are also highlighted: beautiful …

Ancient History Maps Now Online

Published by Jan van der Crabben

After much preparation and a lot of work (which is far from being finished), we are pleased to include an interactive map section on Ancient History Encyclopedia. You can now geographically explore the ancient world and gain a much deeper understanding of not only geography and location, but also interconnections between civilizations and empires. The first map is a political map of ancient times that lets you set the date you want to view, and you will see the cities and state borders at that time (all searchable, of course). The terrain shows the original natural terrain in ancient times, not the modern landscape. It’s a custom-built map, and it’s not complete: At the moment you can only see borders until around 270 BCE, even though cities are already placed until a much later date. The second map is a Map of the Roman Empire (and the Classical World), created by the Pelagios Project. It doesn’t allow you to change the date or see state borders, but it offers a far more detailed view of …

A Million Visitors to AHE in 2012!

Published by James Wiener

We are pleased to announce that the Ancient History Encyclopedia’s homepage has now been visited by over a million internet visitors in 2012! This is truly a momentous occasion and we are eager to see what awaits us in 2013. At this time, the staff of the Ancient History Encyclopedia would like to extend a warm message of thanks to our volunteer contributors, virtual visitors, social media followers, and past interviewees for making this year one for the record books! Your kind words and messages of enthusiasm are a source of pride and inspiration. We would not be where we are today without your continued support and interest! Sincerely, ~Your AHE Staff (Photo: The famed Acropolis in Athens, Greece during New Year celebrations).