For students of the humanities…
Fairy tales can be disturbing, they can teach valuable lessons, but can they be true? The authors of this article explore some disturbing possibilities about the truth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Whatever your opinion on this particular story, this article shows that folk and fairy tales can tell us a surprising amount about… Continue reading Article: The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Catholic Education Research Center is interested in answering questions about faith and in providing information and education on a wide variety of cultural topics. Their Culture section offers links to information on Art, Beauty, History, Literature, Music, and and number of other subjects related to the Humanities. If you are interested in Catholic issues,… Continue reading Website: Catholic Education Resource Center-Culture
When we study the region of the ancient world known as Mesopotamia, we often focus only on a few major cultures: Sumer, Babylon, Akkad, Assyria, etc. However, there is evidence that there is more to the history of Mesopotamia. This article focusses on the evidence for the possible "Forgotten Kingdom" of Ebla. link to First… Continue reading Article: First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Elba
Ancient people produced many of the same things that we use in our modern world. Glass is one of those things, and the Romans were well known for the quality of their glass production. This article provides a wealth of information on the study of the practices of the Roman glass industry. link to Seeing… Continue reading Article: Seeing Through the History of Ancient Roman Glass
Did you know that there were three Catholic martyrs named St. Valentine that are all honored with a feast day on February 14th? This article explains what we know (and what we don't) about each of these men who died for their faith and gave their name to a holiday dedicated to love. link to… Continue reading Article: History of St. Valentine
For students of culture, the online home of the Smithsonian Magazine is an incredible resource. They have searchable sections on Smart News, History, Science, Innovation, Arts & Culture, Travel, At the Smithsonian, Photos, Videos, and Games. Wherever your interests lie within the Humanities, the Smithsonian Magazine would be a good place to start your research.… Continue reading Website: Smithsonian Magazine
English Heritage is a English charity that takes care of a number of historic properties. They also have put together extensive learning resources, which can be accessed on the "Learn" section of their page. If you are interested in anything related to England or the British Isles, then I strongly suggest you check out their… Continue reading Website: English Heritage-Learn
I recently shared translations of the poetry of the Akkadian author Enheduanna, and in that post, I mentioned that we have an image of the lady in question. This article showcases the relief that represents Enheduanna, and it provides a good amount of information both on that and on her life as well. link to… Continue reading Article: Ur Digitization Project: Item of the Month, June 2012
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
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers excellent, up to date information on just about every topic within the field of Philosophy. My favorite part about this site is the fact that it is imminently searchable, and when you get your results, it will provide you with what you were looking for and also with related… Continue reading Website: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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
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
