Category: Ancient History

What happened after the Crusades?

What happened after the Crusades?

Christopher Tyerman— We all know about the Crusades, don’t we? They were wars fought by western European Christians against Muslim control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land of Palestine. They… READ MORE

On Easter and Resurrection

On Easter and Resurrection

Candida Moss— At Easter, as almost everyone knows, Christians celebrate and think about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is a foundational moment in Christian history… READ MORE

How Old is the Hebrew Bible?

How Old is the Hebrew Bible?

Ronald Hendel and Jan Joosten— The age of the Hebrew Bible is a complicated and controversial topic. For traditionalists, the age of a book is the age of its author… READ MORE

The Shadow of the Present

The Shadow of the Present

Tony Spawforth— As I write about the remote past, I never feel that history has repeated itself. Even so, there are times when the Greek and Roman worlds seem to… READ MORE

Reconstructing Seapower

Reconstructing Seapower

Andrew Lambert— In the late 1880s, American strategist and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan coined the term “sea power” by purposefully splitting the word “seapower,” a direct translation of the Greek… READ MORE

The Many Gods of Ancient Monotheism

The Many Gods of Ancient Monotheism

Paula Fredriksen— How is the ancient Jew—and, later, the ancient Christian—distinguished from his contemporary neighbor, the pagan? Biblical communities were monotheist, many people will answer; pagan communities were polytheist. For… READ MORE

Against the “Ascent of Man”

Against the “Ascent of Man”

James C. Scott— Historical humankind has been mesmerized by the narrative of progress and civilization as codified by the first great agrarian kingdoms. As new and powerful societies, they were… READ MORE

Young Men at War

Young Men at War

Stephen Houston— A grievous feature of our age is the use of young men in combat. A recent film was made about this ongoing tragedy: Beasts of No Nation, based on the… READ MORE

Exploring the Great Pyramid with Cosmic Rays

Exploring the Great Pyramid with Cosmic Rays

James Owen Weatherall— The Great Pyramid of Giza is more than forty-five centuries old.  It has been broken into, explored, and looted by countless civilizations, ancient and modern.  But it… READ MORE

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