For students of the humanities…
Licoricia of Winchester was a moneylender in 13th Century England. In an age that stigmatized both Jews and women in business, Licoricia weathered much adversity, created a successful career, and catered to many affluent clients (including the king). Now, her home town of Winchester is erecting a statue to immortalize this amazing woman and to… Continue reading Article: Meet the ‘Most Important’ Jewish Woman in Medieval England
It always gives me great pleasure to remind people that the first author (whose name we know) was a woman. While her poetry is not quite as old as The Epic of Gilgamesh, Enheduanna's work is special because we know who wrote it (the author of The Epic of Gilgamesh remains anonymous). Even better, we… Continue reading Article: The Temple Hymns of Enheduanna
Magic was important in the ancient world, but it's unfortunately an aspect of culture that modern scholars often ignore of view as somewhat silly. I think that the fact that it was important to the ancients means that it's an important part of understanding them. This article from the Expedition Magazine at the Penn Museum… Continue reading Article: Secrets of Ancient Magic: The Power of Spells, Curses, & Omens
When studying Medieval Europe, it's important to remember that, while we can make some generalizations, each region or country in Europe faced some unique challenges during this period. England in particular experienced the many things in the Middle Ages completely differently than the rest of Europe. In some ways this post is about a section… Continue reading Article: English Heritage-Early Medieval
I think that this article may have the longest title of anything I have written about so far, but Ancient Origins has put together a very interesting look at an often neglected people. When we look at the history of language and writing, we often throw the word "cuneiform" out there without any context. This… Continue reading Article: Sumerian Tablets: A Deeper Understanding of the Oldest Known Written Language
If you've ever wondered why the Ancient Egyptians went to all of the trouble to develop the skill of pyramid building, only to stop building them, then you may enjoy this article. It gives a good overview of the progression of pyramid building, and then it follows that up with several well supported theories on… Continue reading Article: Why Did the Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs Stop Building Pyramids?
Are you interested in the Minoans? If so, you have a lot of company. Everyone loves a mystery, after all, and the Minoans are certainly mysterious. These citizens of Crete created an empire, but we're not really sure what caused that empire to fall. Their art is amazing, but we can't read their writing (Linear… Continue reading Article: Minoan Crete
Are you interested in Stonehenge? If so, then I highly recommend this detailed article from the British Museum's blog. They provide a great deal of interesting information and a number of amazing visuals. I appreciate that this article goes over the history, in addition to talking about how it's put together. link to Introduction to… Continue reading Article: Introduction to Stonehenge
This article is a perineal favorite of mine. The attention to detail impresses me every time I see it. I honestly knew nothing of silverpoint drawing before this, and I've found it to be a fascinating topic. If you're not familiar with silverpoint, the short version is that you use silver wire to draw on… Continue reading Article: Getting Started with Silverpoint Drawing
Humanities Scholars 