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Definition
Richard III of England
Richard III of England ruled as king from 1483 to 1485 CE. Richard succeeded Edward V of England (r. Apr-Jun 1483 CE), the son of Edward IV of England (r. 1461-1470 CE & 1471-1483 CE) in mysterious circumstances. The young Edward V and his brother Richard were imprisoned in the Tower of London by their uncle Richard, Duke...
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Definition
Ptolemy XII
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (r. 80-51 BCE) was king of Ptolemaic Egypt and father of Cleopatra VII (r. 51-30 BCE). His illegitimate birth and drunkenness inspired ridicule, and he was nicknamed...
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Nok Sculpture
A terracotta figurine produced by the Nok Culture of southern West Africa (500 BCE - 200 CE). (Louvre Museum, Paris)
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Map of the Seven Years' War in Europe, 1756-1763 - Alliances, Battles, and the Global Balance of Power
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was a major European and global conflict driven by the rivalry between Austria and Prussia...
Latest Content
Definition
Gilgamesh - The Historical and Mythical King
Gilgamesh is the semi-mythic King of Uruk, best known as the hero of The Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2100 to circa 1200 BCE), the great Babylonian poem that predates Homer's...
Article
The Ideal of Christendom in Antiquity
The ideal of Christendom is a historical and political vision where society and government are unified under the Christian faith. According to this vision, power on Earth...
Article
Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird - A Sumerian Hero's Journey
Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird is a Sumerian myth dated to the Ur III period (circa 2112 to circa 2004 BCE) featuring the hero-king of Uruk, Lugalbanda, father...
Image Gallery
75 Images of the Pacific War
In this gallery of 75 images, we examine the key features of WWII's Pacific War. After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the US naval base in Hawaii, Japan continued to expand its...
Article
Matter of Aratta - The Great Sumerian Epic
The Matter of Aratta is the modern-day title for a collection of four poems – Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana, Lugalbanda in the Mountain...
Article
First Days in the Union Army - Recruitment and Training in the Civil War
Recruitment and training practices during the American Civil War varied according to the year, the commanding officer, and between the opposing...
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Map of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu, c. 1438–1533) - Expansion Across South America, Cities and Roads
The Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu, c. 1438–1533) grew from a highland kingdom centered on Cusco into the largest empire in...
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Map of the Middle Kingdom Egypt (c. 2050–1800 BCE) - Reunification, Nubian Frontiers & Trade Networks
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2050–1650 BCE) was a period of political reunification, renewed royal authority, and cultural...
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Map of the Seven Years' War in Europe, 1756-1763 - Alliances, Battles, and the Global Balance of Power
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) was a major European and global conflict driven by the rivalry between Austria and Prussia...
For You
Article
The Mongol Invasions of Japan, 1274 and 1281
The Mongol invasions of Japan took place in 1274 and 1281 CE when Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294 CE) sent two huge fleets from Korea and China. In both cases, the Japanese...
Definition
Gojoseon
Gojoseon (Gochoson or Old Choson) was an ancient kingdom which ruled northern Korea in the second half of the first millennium BCE. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean peninsula...
Article
A. H. Foote's Account of the Battle of Fort Henry - Letter to His Wife on the Day of Victory
Union Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote (1806-1863) came to national attention during the American Civil War following his naval victory...
Definition
Amaterasu - Shinto's Greatest Goddess
Amaterasu Omikami ('the Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven') is the sun goddess and most important deity of the Shinto religion. Amaterasu is the ruler of Takama no Hara...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
Alexander the Great: A New Life of Alexander
Alexander the Great's profound impact on Roman culture is undeniable, particularly when considering the fusion of Greco-Oriental influences during the Hellenistic...
Book Review
The Archaeology of Iran from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire
The latest title in the Routledge World Archaeology book series, The Archaeology of Iran from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire, provides...
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| 1,762 | articles |
| 19,837 | illustrations |
| 2,642 | videos |
| 415 | 3D images |
| 16,258 | translations |
| 48 | languages |
| 1,338 | contributors |
| 15,563 | keywords |
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Ancient Period
Article
Plato's Euthyphro: An Overlooked Comedy
Plato's Euthyphro is a Socratic dialogue on the concept of piety whose meaning and purpose continue to be debated. In reading the work only as a serious inquiry into the...
Article
Torcello – Tracing the First Settlers of the Venetian Lagoon
Venice was one of the most powerful empires in maritime history. It is now a leading tourist attraction and a must-visit for anyone interested in history...
Definition
New Kingdom of Egypt - The Age of Empire
The New Kingdom (circa 1570 to circa 1069 BCE) is the era in Egyptian history following the disunity of the Second Intermediate Period (circa 1782-1570 BCE) and preceding...
Definition
Odyssey - Homer's Epic Poem of Redemption
Homer's Odyssey is an epic poem written in the 8th century BCE which describes the long voyage home of the Greek hero Odysseus. The mythical king sails back to Ithaca...
Definition
Judean Pillar Figurines
Judean pillar figurines are an interesting and specific form of female representation from the Iron Age kingdom of Judah. They fall into a broader category of pillar figurines, which...
Article
Twelve Ancient Persian Mythological Creatures
The mythology of any civilization reflects its core values, greatest fears, and highest hopes and so it is with the mythology of ancient Persia. The great heroes...
Definition
Elagabalus
Elgabalus was Roman emperor from 218 to 222 CE. Having failed to keep many of his promises to the army, Roman Emperor Macrinus (217 – 218 CE) was becoming increasingly unpopular, and it would...
Definition
Nok Culture
The Nok culture, named after the settlement of the same name, flourished in southern West Africa (modern Nigeria) during the Iron Age from the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. Famous for...
Medieval Period
Definition
Freyr
Freyr (Old Norse for 'Lord', sometimes anglicised as Frey) is the main fertility god in Norse mythology, his connection with harvests, sun and rain, virility, weddings, and his rule over wealth...
Definition
Matilda of Tuscany
Matilda of Canossa (c. 1046-1115), the Countess of Tuscany (r. 1055-1115) and Vice-Queen of Italy (r. 1111-1115), was the final head of the noble House of Canossa following the deaths...
Definition
Tlaltecuhtli
Tlaltecuhtli, 'Earth Lord/Lady,' was a Mesoamerican earth goddess associated with fertility. Envisioned as a terrible toad monster, her dismembered body gave rise to the world in the Aztec...
Definition
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1922 as an empire; 1922-1924 as caliphate only), also referred to as the Ottoman Empire, written in Turkish as Osmanlı Devleti, was a Turkic imperial state that...
Definition
Knights Hospitaller
The Knights Hospitaller was a medieval Catholic military order founded in 1113 CE with the full name of 'Knights of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem'. After their...
Definition
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China in 130 BCE, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BCE-1453...
Article
Norse Ghosts & the Afterlife
The best-known vision of the Norse afterlife is that of Valhalla, the hall of the heroes where warriors chosen by the Valkyries feast with the god Odin, tell stories from their...
Article
The Ryukyu Castles of Okinawa
The medieval Ryukyu castles on the island of Okinawa, Japan are impressive testimony to the kingdom's power and wealth from the 12th to 16th century. Notable castles include Shuri...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was an English mathematician and physicist widely regarded as the single most important figure in the Scientific Revolution for his three laws of motion and universal...
Article
The Three Estates of Pre-Revolutionary France
Society in the Kingdom of France in the period of the Ancien Regime was broken up into three separate estates, or social classes: the clergy, the nobility, and the...
Definition
Elizabethan Theatre
Elizabethan theatre, sometimes called English Renaissance theatre, refers to that style of performance plays which blossomed during the reign of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603...
Definition
Storming of the Tuileries Palace
The Storming of the Tuileries Palace, also commonly known as the Insurrection of 10 August, was a defining moment in the French Revolution (1789-99) that saw the armed revolutionaries...
Definition
Estado da India
The Estado da India (1505-1961) was the name the Portuguese gave to that part of their empire which stretched from India to East Asia. However, in its widest sense, the name includes all...
Definition
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a policy introduced in 1536 CE by Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) to close down and confiscate the lands and wealth of all monasteries...
Article
Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire on 14 June 1645 was one of the most important battles of the English Civil Wars (1642-1651). The Royalists, led in person by King Charles, were soundly...
Article
Trial and Execution of Louis XVI
The trial and execution of King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) was one of the most impactful events of the French Revolution (1789-99). In December 1792, the former king...
Modern Period
Article
Lenin's New Economic Policy - Communism's Flirtation with Capitalism
The New Economic Policy (NEP) of Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), leader of Soviet Russia, was the introduction in 1921 of a limited form of capitalism...
Definition
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (aka the North Africa landings) landed Allied troops in French Morocco and Algeria on 8 November 1942 with the aim of removing German and Italian forces from North Africa...
Definition
Atlanta Campaign - The Bloody Struggle for Georgia During the US Civil War
The Atlanta Campaign (7 May to 2 September 1864) was a major military campaign in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865...
Article
Battle of Jutland - The Greatest Naval Battle of World War I
The Battle of Jutland (31 May to 1 June 1916) was by far the largest naval battle of the First World War (1914-18). The only time the bulk of the British...
Article
Heraclitus: Life Is Flux
Heraclitus of Ephesus (l. c. 500 BCE) famously claimed that “life is flux” and, although he seems to have thought this observation would be clear to all, people have continued to...
Definition
Buddhism
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in the region of modern-day India in the 6th and 5th centuries...
Image Gallery
A Gallery of Zeppelin Airships
The Zeppelin was a category of rigid airship first designed and built in Germany by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The first Zeppelin airship flew in 1900, and they became popular...
Article
A Seminole Creation Story & Other Tales
The Seminole are a Native American nation of people descended from the Muscogee Creek nation, and others, who migrated to the modern-day State of Florida in the 1700s...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Ness of Brodgar
The Ness of Brodgar is a Neolithic Age site discovered in 2002 CE through a geophysical survey of the area of land in Stenness in Orkney, Scotland, which separates the salt water Stenness...
Definition
Ice Age
An ice age is a period in which the earth's climate is colder than normal, with ice sheets capping the poles and glaciers dominating higher altitudes. Within an ice age, there are varying pulses...
Definition
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a Neolithic Age site, consisting of ten stone structures, near the Bay of Skaill, Orkney, Scotland. Today the village is situated by the shore but when it was inhabited (c.3100-2500...
Definition
Poulnabrone
Poulnabrone is a portal tomb in the region known as the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and the oldest dated megalithic monument in the land. The name means "Hole of the Quern Stones", but the...
Definition
Maeshowe - The Ancient Meadow Mound of Orkney
Maeshowe (pronounced `maze-ow' or `maze-oo') is a large Neolithic chambered cairn, dating from between 3000-2800 BCE, in the Stenness parish of Orkney, Scotland. According...
Definition
Venus Figurine
The term Venus figurine is used to describe the more than 200 small statuettes of voluptuous female figures that have been found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Europe and some parts of...
Definition
Neolithic Period
The term Neolithic Period refers to the last stage of the Stone Age - a term coined in the late 19th century CE by scholars which covers three different periods: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic...
Definition
Chauvet Cave
The Chauvet Cave (also known as the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave) is a Palaeolithic cave situated near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of southern France that houses impeccably preserved...
