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Doctors, Diseases and Deities: Epidemic Crises and Medicine in Ancient Rome
In this lecture presented at The Explorers Club in New York, BAS Director of Educational Programs Sarah Yeomans examines a recently excavated, as-yet unpublished archaeological site that has substantially contributed to our understanding...

Article
The Dragon in Ancient China
Dragons appear in the mythology of many ancient cultures but nowhere else in the world was the creature quite so revered as in China. There, in marked contrast to other world mythologies, the dragon was almost always seen in a positive light...

Article
Drugs & Pharmaceuticals in Ancient Rome
Physicians in ancient Rome manufactured a wide variety of pharmaceuticals used to treat health concerns. Roman medicine was highly sophisticated, and Roman medical literature describes early antiseptics, narcotics, and anti-inflammatory medicines...

Article
Dogs in Ancient China
Dogs are the oldest domesticated animal in China and were bred as guardians, for transporting goods, for herding, hunting, and as a food source. Archaeological evidence dates the domestication of the dog in China at approximately 15,000 years...

Definition
Oracle Bones
Oracle Bones (also known as Dragon's Bones) were the shoulder blades of oxen or plastrons of turtles (the flat underside of the turtle's shell) which were used in the Shang Dynasty of China (c. 1600-1046 BCE) for divination. The symbols carved...

Definition
Sejong the Great
King Sejong the Great (15 May 1397 to 8 April 1450 CE) ruled Korea from 1418 to 1450 CE as the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty (also spelled Choson). One of only two Korean kings called 'the Great' today, Sejong had a major impact on Korea...

Video
What can we learn from Ancient Greek medicine?
This video briefly describes the ancient Greek pursuit of knowledge in regards to medicine, and the associated practices.

Video
Native Tobacco - Traditional Uses of Tobacco as a Sacred Medicine
Tobacco is considered the most sacred of the Indigenous sacred medicines, used in virtually every ceremony as a means of connecting directly to the Creator. Native tobacco is used in ceremonies such as pipe ceremonies, non-smoke offerings...

Definition
Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao (aka Ching Shih, Cheng I Sao, Ching Yih Saou or Mrs Cheng, d. 1844) was the chief of a massive pirate confederation which plundered the South China Sea in the early 19th century. She inherited the role from her late husband...

Article
The Early History of Clove, Nutmeg, & Mace
The spices clove, nutmeg, and mace originated on only a handful of tiny islands in the Indonesian archipelago but came to have a dramatic, far-reaching impact on world trade. In antiquity, they became popular in the medicines of India and...