Urban planning: Did you mean...?

Harappa is a large village presently in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. The modern town is a part of and lies next to the ancient city. The site of Harappa is important in that it has provided proof of not just the Indus Valley Civilization...

The ancient Near East was home to a multitude of civilizations, across Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Levant, each with unique views on medicine, conception, and women’s role in society. Attitudes towards contraception and abortion varied according...

Family planning was a topic of vital importance in the ancient Mediterranean. Some of the earliest medical literature from ancient Greece and Rome deals with fertility and reproductive health. Among the numerous treatments and procedures...

A 15th century CE illustration by Jean Colombe of the Council of Clermont of November 1095 CE where Pope Urban II (r. 1088-1099 CE) famously called for the First Crusade (1095-1102 CE). (National Library, Paris)

A statue of Pope Urban II (r. 1088-1099 CE) who called for the First Crusade (1095-1202 CE). Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The Council of Clermont in central France was held in November 1095 and witnessed Pope Urban II's (r. 1088-1099) historic call for the First Crusade (1095-1102) to capture Jerusalem for Christendom from its Muslim occupiers. The Pope's speech...

The cohortes urbanae (urban cohorts) were a body of troops garrisoned at Rome, which was created by Augustus to provide additional security for the emperor and city in general. Expanding in the reigns of subsequent emperors the force was...

As the rough boards were prepared, it became clear which pieces would serve for the Viking ship's keel, the strakes, and the internal frame. The timber yard was not only a storage area but also the first place where the ship’s wooden parts...

The fragments of this urban courtyard mosaic come from Augusta Raurica, which is located in modern Switzerland. It dates from c. 200 CE and was made by the ancient Romans.

In the study of the ancient world a City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation. This is only one definition, however, and the...