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The Lost Roman Harbor of Caesarea Maritima | Rome's Ancient Maritime Wonder. An Overview
Caesarea Maritima was a city built over 2,000 years ago (c. 22-10 BCE) on the coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. With Roman engineering and largesse...
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Ten Longest Reigns in History - Power Across Generations - Monarchs Who Ruled for Decades
Across recorded history, the duration of a ruler’s reign has depended as much on circumstance as on personal authority. In hereditary monarchies, early...
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Definition
Ereshkigal - Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead
Ereshkigal (also known as Irkalla and Allatu) is the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead, who rules the underworld. Her name translates as "Queen of the...
Definition
First Anglo-Boer War - Transvaal's Fight for Independence
The First Anglo-Boer War (aka Transvaal War, 1880-1) was a conflict between Britain and the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa. The Boers...
Article
The Descent of Inanna - A Sumerian Tale of Injustice
The Sumerian poem The Descent of Inanna (circa 1900-1600 BCE) chronicles the journey of Inanna, the great goddess and Queen of Heaven, from her realm...
Article
Cylinder Seals in Ancient Mesopotamia - Their History and Significance
Among the most interesting and revealing artifacts discovered from ancient Mesopotamia are cylinder seals. These fairly small items may be seen today...
Definition
Synod of Whitby
The Synod of Whitby was an assembly held in 664 by King Oswiu of Northumbria, with the aim of deciding whether Oswiu's kingdom should follow Roman Christian...
Definition
Inanna - The Most Popular Goddess of Ancient Mesopotamia
Inanna is the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and also of war. She later became identified by the Akkadians and...
Definition
Cylinder Seal - Ancient Personal Identification
Cylinder Seals were impression stamps used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. Known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian, the seals were...
Definition
Jameson Raid - The Failed British Coup in Transvaal
The Jameson Raid was an unofficial and failed attempt by the British to take over the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa in December 1895...
Article
The Marduk Prophecy - Travels of the Statue of a Babylonian God
The Marduk Prophecy is an Assyrian document dating to between 713 and 612 BCE found in a building known as The House of the Exorcist, adjacent to a...
Definition
Edmund I - The Second King of England
Edmund I ruled the Kingdom of the English from 939 to 946. In his youth, alongside his brother, King Aethelstan (reign 924-939), he defeated a Celtic-Viking...
Definition
Eurydice I - The First Macedonian Queen with Political Influence
Eurydice I (circa 410 to before 343 BCE) is the earliest queen in the history of ancient Macedonia, whose impact on the political affairs of her time...
Article
Witwatersrand Gold & the Creation of South Africa
The discovery of gold at Witwatersrand in Transvaal in 1886, coupled with that of diamonds at Kimberley in 1867, transformed the entire region of Southern...
Definition
Code of Hammurabi - The Most Influential Law Code of the Ancient World
The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 laws inscribed in stone by the Babylonian king Hammurabi (reign 1792-1750 BCE), who conquered and then ruled...
Article
How Diamonds Transformed Southern Africa - Kimberley's Blood, Sweat & Segregation
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 in Griqualand ultimately transformed the entire region of Southern Africa. Huge European financial investment and...
Image Gallery
Digital Reconstruction of Caesarea Maritima - A Gallery of 11 Images
Caesarea Maritima was a bustling trading hub of the Eastern Mediterranean. Built on earlier ruins, the new metropolis was commissioned by Herod the...
Definition
Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady of British Politics
Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 November 1979 to 28 November 1990. Although the United Kingdom emerged militarily...
