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Ancient Timekeeping
The passage of time has always been a preoccupation of human beings, whether it be a question of satisfying basic needs such as when to eat and sleep, the importance of seasons for migratory and agricultural purposes or a more sophisticated...
Definition
Ghosts in the Ancient World
A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one reason or another, either returned from the realm...
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The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya
The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. These gods informed...
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The Steam Engine in the British Industrial Revolution
Steam power was one of the most significant developments of the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840) in Britain. First invented as a pump in the 1690s, a host of inventors tweaked designs and tinkered with machinery until an efficient and powerful...
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The Camel Caravans of the Ancient Sahara
The camel caravans which crossed the great dunes of the Sahara desert began in antiquity but reached their golden period from the 9th century CE onwards. In their heyday caravans consisted of thousands of camels travelling from North Africa...
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How the World Was Made: A Cherokee Creation Story
How the World Was Made is a creation story of the Cherokee nation, which, like many such tales of the Native peoples of North America, begins with a world covered by water from which dry land is formed and natural order created by beings...
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Food & Drink in the Mongol Empire
The diet of the Mongols was greatly influenced by their nomadic way of life with dairy products and meat from their herds of sheep, goats, oxen, camels, and yaks dominating. Fruit, vegetables, herbs, and wild game were added thanks to foraging...
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Daily Life in the WWII Desert Campaigns
The desert campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45) provided soldiers on all sides with a set of particular challenges. Scorching day temperatures, freezing night temperatures, sand and flies getting everywhere, the...
Article
Ûñtsaiyĭ', the Gambler
Ûñtsaiyĭ', the Gambler is a legend of the Cherokee nation, known as a Wonder Story, which features supernatural characters, sometimes interacting with mortals, sometimes with each other. In Ûñtsaiyĭ', the Gambler, all the characters are supernatural...
Definition
Mesopotamian Warfare
Ancient Mesopotamian warfare progressed from companies of a city's militia in Sumer to the professional standing armies of Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia and from conflicts over land or water rights to wars of conquest and political...