Search
Search Results
Article
Daily Life in Medieval Japan
Daily life in medieval Japan (1185-1606 CE) was, for most people, the age-old struggle to put food on the table, build a family, stay healthy, and try to enjoy the finer things in life whenever possible. The upper classes had better and more...
Article
Food & Agriculture in Ancient Japan
The diet of ancient Japan was heavily influenced by its geography as an archipelago, foodstuffs and eating habits imported from mainland Asia, religious beliefs, and an appreciation for the aesthetic appearance of dishes, not just the taste...
Article
Pliny the Younger on Christianity
Pliny the Younger's (61-112 CE) letter (Epistulae X.96) to Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) is one of our earliest sources on Christianity from an outsider's point of view. It highlights the Christian movement's impact on the old Roman...
Article
Josephus on Christianity
Titus Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE), the Jewish historian, is the main source for understanding Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. In the last decades of the 1st century CE, he wrote The Jewish War, the Antiquities of the Jews, Against...
Article
Insei: Cloistered Government in Ancient Japan
Insei or 'cloistered government' describes the strategy of emperors during the late Heian Period (794-1185 CE) in ancient Japan where they abdicated in favour of a chosen heir yet still ruled in some capacity, typically after retiring to...
Article
LGBTQ in Early Christianity
In modern debates concerning homosexuality, same-sex marriages, and gender identification, it is popular to turn to the Bible for passages to validate a position. Modern culture attributes many elements in understanding homosexuality, but...
Worksheet/Activity
Daily Life and Society in Feudal Japan
This activity has been designed to fit a 30-minute slot for your class and is suitable for both online and classroom teaching, as well as homeschooling. Students have to read one article (also available in an audio format) describing the...
Article
Tea in Ancient China & Japan
Tea, still probably the world's most popular prepared beverage, was first drunk by Chinese monks to aid meditation and those who valued its medicinal qualities, but it quickly grew in popularity, spreading to other East Asian cultures, especially...
Article
Ghosts in Ancient Japan
Ghosts (obake or yurei) appear in ancient Japanese folklore and literature, usually in moral tales designed to both warn and entertain but they were also an important element of ancestor worship. If the deceased members of a family were not...
Image Gallery
Early Christianity in 10 Maps
Explore the world of early Christianity through this 10-map collection, tracing the transformative journey of the Roman Empire as it embraced a new faith. Begin with the Roman Empire under Augustus (r. 27 BCE to 14 CE), setting the stage...