Featured
Article
Harrison's Marine Chronometer
John Harrison (1693-1776) invented an accurate marine chronometer after several decades of research and development. While the pendulum clock had already been invented in the 17th century, a clock that could withstand the vagaries of the sea, humidity, and air temperature remained...
Featured
Definition
Japanese Tea Ceremony
The Japanese Tea Ceremony (chanoyu or chado) is a cultural tradition involving very particular places, procedures, and equipment for drinking green tea. Originating as a habit of Chinese...
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12 Blue Riband Ocean Liners, 1838–1938 - A Century of the Transatlantic Speed Race
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic was the unofficial distinction awarded to the passenger liner achieving the highest average speed on a...
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Twelve Spices That Changed the World - Trade, Empire, and the Global Age of Spices, 1450–1650
Between c. 1450 and 1650, demand for spices and other high-value plant commodities became an important catalyst for European...
Latest Content
Article
A Supervisor's Advice to a Young Scribe - Words of Wisdom or Satire?
A Supervisor's Advice to a Young Scribe is a Sumerian composition relating a dialogue between an elder scribe and a young graduate from his school...
Definition
Pacific War - The Defeat of Japan in WWII
The Pacific War concerned the theatre of the Second World War (1939-45) fought in the Pacific Ocean and eastern parts of Asia between Japan and the United States and...
Definition
Emancipation Proclamation - Lincoln's Call for Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by US President Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1863, at the height of the American Civil War (1861-1865...
Collection
AP World History Unit 2 - Networks of Exchange (c. 1200-1450)
This collection gathers articles, definitions, and maps covering the trade routes, travelers, and networks of exchange related to Unit 2: Networks of...
Collection
AP World History Unit 1 - The Global Tapestry (c. 1200-1450)
This collection gathers articles, definitions, and maps covering the states, cultures, and events related to Unit 1: The Global Tapestry of the AP® World...
Definition
Battle of Mill Springs - The First Union Victory in the Western Theater
The Battle of Mill Springs (19 January 1862) was the first Union victory in the Western theater of the American Civil War and propelled Union...
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The 5 Classical Orders of Architecture - Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan & Composite
The five classical orders of architecture: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite, are systems of proportion, structure, and...
Image
Map of the World Known to Europeans c. 1000 CE - Trade, Travel & the Limits of Geographic Knowledge
Around 1000 CE, European knowledge of the wider world was uneven and depended heavily on geography, trade, religion, and...
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12 Blue Riband Ocean Liners, 1838–1938 - A Century of the Transatlantic Speed Race
The Blue Riband of the Atlantic was the unofficial distinction awarded to the passenger liner achieving the highest average speed on a...
For You
Article
Battle of Telamon
Ever since the 4th century BCE, the Gallic tribes of northern Italy clashed with the expanding Roman Republic. In 225 BCE, the Boii forged alliances with fellow Gallic tribes of northern...
Definition
Brunhilda of Austrasia
Brunhilda of Austrasia (c. 543-613) was a Visigothic princess who married into the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks, becoming the queen consort of the eastern kingdom of Austrasia...
Definition
Midgard
Midgard is the realm of human beings in Norse mythology. The Old Norse word garðr literally means an enclosure (yard), and miðr (middle) refers to its position as a circle with both an interior...
Collection
Aztec Religion & Culture
Aztec religion and culture flourished between c. 1345 and 1521 and, at its height, influenced the majority of the people of northern Mesoamerica. Great monarchs such as Montezuma...
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
Relics of War: The History of a Photograph
Centered on the period of the American Civil War, Relics of War: The History of a Photograph is unique in that, rather than focusing merely on the political facets of...
Book Review
Caravaggio: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works
Launched in 2018, Rowman & Littlefield's book series Significant Figures in World History contains academic encyclopedias of famous people in history, ranging...
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Ancient Period
Article
The Report of Wenamun: Text & Commentary
The literature of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE) is justly famous as some of the best the culture ever produced. Great works like The Tale of the Shipwrecked...
Article
Lucius Cornelius Sulla: Guardian or Enemy of the Roman Republic?
For centuries, Lucius Cornelius Sulla has been reviled as a maniacal tyrant who defiled the Roman constitution and instituted bloody purges, but some...
Definition
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are a collection of scrolls found in the desert east of Jerusalem on the shore of the Dead Sea. They represent the largest manuscript collections of texts from...
Definition
Cahokia
Cahokia is a modern-day historical park in Collinsville, Illinois, enclosing the site of the largest pre-Columbian city on the continent of North America. The original name of this city has been...
Article
Wall Reliefs: Apkallus of the North-West Palace at Nimrud
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. (Karl...
Definition
Cimon
Cimon (c. 510 – 450 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and, as strategos, frequent commander of the Athenian fleet when the city was at the height of its power. He won military glory by defeating Spartan...
Interview
Interview: Swallow's Dance by Wendy Orr
In this interview, Ancient History Encyclopedia is speaking with Wendy Orr, the rather prolific author of numerous books who has recently published the book Swallow's...
Definition
Ancient Ireland
Ireland is an island country located in the North Atlantic, bounded by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St. George's Channel. It is known as Eire in the Gaelic language, which comes...
Medieval Period
Definition
Gisela of France
Gisela of France was a legendary 10th-century CE Francian princess, who, according to tradition, was married off to Viking leader Rollo of Normandy. Her name, Gisela or Gisla, comes from...
Definition
King Arthur
King Arthur is among the most famous literary characters of all time. The Arthurian legend of the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, the Quest for the Holy Grail, the love affair of Lancelot...
Definition
Richard, Duke of York
Richard, 3rd Duke of York (l. 1411-1460 CE) was the richest man in England and one of the nobles who sparked off the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE), a dynastic dispute that rumbled...
Definition
Almourol Castle - Island Fortress of the Knights Templar
Almourol Castle in Portugal was built on a 310-meter-long and 75-meter-wide granite islet in the middle of the Tagus River. Earlier Roman and Moorish structures...
Definition
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II of Scotland reigned from 1214 to 1249 CE. Succeeding his father William I of Scotland (r. 1165-1214 CE), Alexander supported the northern barons in England against the...
Definition
Xibalba
Xibalba (Shee-bal-ba) was the name the K'iche Maya gave to the underworld. For the Yucatec Maya the underworld was known as Metnal. The name Xibalba translates as 'Place of Fright', which indicates...
Collection
The History of Christmas Celebrations
In this collection of resources we look at the origins of Christmas and the story of the Nativity, the pagan traditions that have influenced how the holiday has been celebrated...
Article
Early Explorers of the Maya Civilization: John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood
The names of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood are forever linked to the Maya and Mayan studies as the two great explorers...
Early Modern Period
Definition
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was a general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). One of George Washington's most trusted subordinates, Greene served...
Definition
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish conquistador who famously discovered the Pacific Ocean after crossing the isthmus of Panama in 1513. An utterly ruthless adventurer and...
Definition
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance (Spirit Dance) is an expression of rebirth and renewal using the traditional Native American circle dance, first practiced by the Paiute Nation in 1869 and again in 1889 when...
Definition
Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession is the affirmation of faith of the Lutheran Church written by Philip Melanchthon (l. 1497-1560) and presented at the Diet of Augsburg in June 1530. The document...
Article
Stave Churches: Norway’s National Treasures
Stave churches are the most famous medieval buildings in Norway and are admired for their unique architecture and beautiful decorations. They are named after the staves...
Article
Exsurge Domine
Exsurge Domine (“Arise, O Lord” in Latin) is a papal bull issued 15 June 1520 by Pope Leo X (served 1513-1521) condemning Martin Luther’s 95 Theses as heresy along with any other works by...
Collection
15 Military Leaders of the American Revolution
The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was intially a rebellion carried out by the Thirteen Colonies of British America against Great Britain, sparked by the...
Article
George Washington in the French and Indian War
The life and career of George Washington (1732-1799) were largely impacted by the French and Indian War (1754-1763). An officer of the Virginia Regiment, Washington's...
Modern Period
Definition
Alexandra David-Néel
Alexandra David-Néel (l. 1868-1969) was a world traveler, writer, and Buddhist spiritualist who wrote over 30 books on her journeys which took her 18,641.136 miles (30,000 km) around...
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...
Definition
Portuguese Macao
Macao (Macau) is located on a peninsula in the estuary of the Pearl River delta in southeast China and it was a Portuguese colonial settlement from c. 1557 until 1999. Macao was a major...
Article
N. Bart Pearce Account of the Battle of Wilson's Creek - The Confederate View of the Conflict
Nicholas Bartlett Pearce (better known as N. Bart Pearce, 1828 to 1894) was a brigadier general in the Arkansas Militia who allied...
Article
Ellen and William Craft's Escape Through Canada - The Challenges of Racial Prejudice
Among the most daring escapes from slavery in the United States in the 19th century was the flight of Ellen and William Craft from the...
Definition
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was a French existentialist philosopher who defined the existentialist movement in the 20th century. Considered the consummate intellectual, he was not only...
Definition
RMS Empress of Ireland
The RMS Empress of Ireland was a transatlantic passenger ship that sank early in the morning of 29 May 1914 on the St. Lawrence River killing 1,012 of the 1,477 people on board. It...
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...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Lindow Man
The Lindow Man (officially Lindow III) is the top half of a male body, found preserved in a peat bog in Cheshire, England. The peat bogs at Lindow Moss date back to the last ice age and were...
Definition
Ceide Fields
The Ceide Fields, near Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, on the western coast of Ireland, are recognised as one of the oldest and largest Stone Age farming sites in the world, dating back to c. 3700 BCE...
Definition
Migration Age
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE...
Definition
Stone Age
From the dawn of our species to the present day, stone-made artefacts are the dominant form of material remains that have survived to today concerning human technology. The term “Stone Age”...
Definition
Woolly Mammoth
The woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, is an extinct herbivore related to elephants who trudged across the steppe-tundras of Eurasia and North America from around 300,000 years ago until...
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
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...
Article
Legends of the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire
The Rollright Stones is the collective name for a group of enigmatic prehistoric monuments located next to an ancient ridgeway known as the Jurassic Way, on the border...
