Hymn: Did you mean...?

Christmas carols are a much-loved part of the Christmas season and while many have a long history, others are surprisingly recent. From medieval dancing songs to the 19th-century revival, the words and music of carols have evolved over time...

The tomb of Prince Henry the Navigator (aka Infante Dom Henrique, 1394-1460) in Batalha monastery, central Portugal.

Medieval literature is defined broadly as any work written in Latin or the vernacular between c. 476-1500, including philosophy, religious treatises, legal texts, as well as works of the imagination. More narrowly, however, the term applies...

A'Aru (The Field of Reeds) was the Egyptian afterlife, an idealized vision of one's life on earth (also known as Sekhet-A'Aru and translated as The Field of Rushes). Death was not the end of life but a transition to another part of one's...

Anu (also known as An) is an early Mesopotamian sky god who was later viewed as the Father of the Gods and ruler of the heavens, a position which then passed to his son Enlil. He is the son of the couple Anshar and Kishar (heaven and earth...

The Amarna Period of ancient Egypt was the era of the reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE), known as 'the heretic king'. In the 5th year of his reign (c. 1348 BCE), he issued sweeping religious reforms which resulted in the suppression of the...

Enlil (also known as Ellil and Nunamnir) was the Sumerian god of the air in the Mesopotamian Pantheon but was more powerful than any other elemental deities and eventually was worshiped as King of the Gods. He is featured in a number of important...

Piracy, defined as the act of attacking and robbing a ship or port by sea, had a long history in the ancient Mediterranean stretching from the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) and throughout the Middle Ages (c. 476-1500...

Rhea (also spelt Rheia) is a Titan and a mother goddess in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Heaven) and the mother of the great deities of Mount Olympus. Rhea was closely associated with the Phrygian (Anatolian...

Thanatos is the personification of Death in Greek mythology. He is the son of Nyx (Night) and the twin brother of Hypnos (Sleep). Some sources also name Erebus (Darkness) as his father. As the personification of Death, Thanatos works under...