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William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor who flourished during the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. Known as the 'Bard of Avon,' he wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and three longer narrative poems...

Jerusalem is a major holy city for the three Western traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It sits on spurs of bedrock between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea area. To the north and west, it tapers off to the Jezreel Valley...

Greek literature has influenced not only its Roman neighbors to the west but also countless generations across the European continent. Greek writers are responsible for the introduction of such genres as poetry, tragedy, comedy, and western...

Apophis (also known as Apep) is the Great Serpent, enemy of the sun god Ra, in ancient Egyptian religion. The sun was Ra's great barge which sailed through the sky from dawn to dusk and then descended into the underworld. As it sailed through...

Marduk was the patron god of Babylon who presided over justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic, and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god and agricultural deity. His temple, the famous ziggurat described...

The vizier in ancient Egypt was the most powerful position after that of king. Known as the djat, tjat, or tjati in ancient Egyptian, a vizier was the equivalent of the modern-day prime minister of the nation who actually saw to the day-to-day...

Nanna (also known as Nannar, Nanna-Suen, Sin, Asimbabbar, Namrasit, Inbu) is the Mesopotamian god of the moon and wisdom. He is one of the oldest gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon and is first mentioned at the very dawn of writing in Sumer...

Ancient Greek science is a modern term for the application of systematic inquiry into the individual, the world, and the universe, which began in Ionia in the 6th century BCE with Thales of Miletus (l. c. 585 BCE) and continued through the...

Ancient Mesopotamian literature developed c. 2600 BCE after scribes, who had formerly been record keepers, began composing original works in the region of Sumer. The Sumerians invented writing c. 3500 BCE, refined the script c. 3200 BCE...

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...