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Islamic Caliphates
Definition by Syed Muhammad Khan

Islamic Caliphates

Caliphate (“Khilafat” in Arabic) was a semi-religious political system of governance in Islam, in which the territories of the Islamic empire in the Middle East and North Africa and the people within were ruled by a supreme leader called...
Castor and Pollux
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Castor and Pollux

Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) are figures from Greek and Roman mythology considered the twin sons of Zeus or Jupiter. Semi-divine figures, the twins were credited with the role of saving those in trouble at sea or in grave danger in war...
Scylla and Charybdis
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Scylla and Charybdis - The Monsters Who Guarded Sicily

Scylla and Charybdis were monsters from Greek mythology thought to inhabit the Straits of Messina, the narrow sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland. Preying on passing mariners, Scylla was a terrible creature with six heads and twelve...
Sammu-Ramat and Semiramis: The Inspiration and the Myth
Article by Joshua J. Mark

Sammu-Ramat and Semiramis: The Inspiration and the Myth

Sammu-Ramat (r. 811-806 BCE) was the queen regent of the Assyrian Empire who held the throne for her young son Adad Nirari III (r. 811-783 BCE) until he reached maturity. She is also known as Shammuramat, Sammuramat, and, most notably, as...
Greek Mythology
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Greek Mythology

Greek mythology was used as a means to explain the environment in which humankind lived, the natural phenomena they witnessed and the passing of time through the days, months, and seasons. Greek myths were also intricately connected to religion...
Government and Taxes under Diocletian and Constantine
Article by Anthony Kaldellis

Government and Taxes under Diocletian and Constantine

The state created by Diocletian and Constantine used to be described as despotic and oppressive, extracting higher taxes and threatening its subjects with punishments for non-compliance. Recent research, however, paints a different picture...
The Norse in America: Fact and Fiction
Article by Gordon Campbell / Oxford University Press

The Norse in America: Fact and Fiction

The idea that it was the Norse who discovered America first emerged in the late 18th century, long before there was any public awareness of the sagas on which such claims were based. In the course of the 19th century, evidence for a Norse...
Ibn Sina, Biruni, and the Lost Enlightenment
Article by Oxford University Press

Ibn Sina, Biruni, and the Lost Enlightenment

Ibn Sina and Biruni were two of the most outstanding thinkers to have lived between ancient Greece and the European Renaissance. These two giants of a lost era of enlightenment were born in Central Asia about the year 980. For six hundred...
Making and decorating Athenian black- and red-figure vases
Article by Trustees of the British Museum

Making and decorating Athenian black- and red-figure vases

The first stage in making a pot is to dig the clay out of the ground. Pieces of grit or plant matter must be removed before the clay can be used. This was done in ancient times, as it is today, by mixing the clay with water and letting the...
A Visual Who's Who of Greek Mythology
Article by Mark Cartwright

A Visual Who's Who of Greek Mythology

Achilles The hero of the Trojan War, leader of the Myrmidons, slayer of Hector and Greece's greatest warrior, who sadly came unstuck when Paris sent a flying arrow guided by Apollo, which caught him in his only weak spot, his heel. Adonis...
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