Home › Taxonomy term

Ancient history

The Ancient Olympic Games

Sun, 02/10/2013 - 10:37 | Virginia Johnson
in
Ancient Olympic race

If you were visiting the ancient Olympics, you wouldn't see:

Women: The women were forbidden to participate in or even observe the games. Any woman discovered there could be thrown off a cliff! The women (young, unmarried ones) competed in a separate series of foot races called the Heraea, named in honor of Hera, the queen of the gods.

Water Sports: Despite miles and miles of beautiful coastline, water sports such as swimming were never a part of the ancient Olympic Games.

Exploring Ancient China

Mon, 11/05/2012 - 14:19 | Virginia Johnson
in
Image of the Great Wall of China
The First Emperor

China's first emperor was named Qin Shi Huangdi. He brought together all the warring states and made them his subjects in 221 B. C. Qin is pronounced "Chin" and ever after the country was named China. He took the name Shi Huangdi which means "first emperor." Qin was an unusual man. He standardized writing, bureaucracy, scholarship, law, currency (money), and weights and measures. He built a capital and many roads. He connected the old walls along China's northern frontier to form the Great Wall, to protect his country from invaders. But he was also cruel. He killed and banished many people who disagreed with him and destroyed books from the past.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

Tue, 01/17/2012 - 01:00 | Alisha Abrams
in
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond reviews parts of history in order to theorize how different cultures became civilization's haves and how others became its have-nots. Diamond is a biologist, and here he seeks to explain why Eurasians--rather than Native Americans, Africans, and Native Australians--became successful conquerors. Diamond argues that rather than race and culture, factors such as food production and animal domestication allowed Eurasians to economically dominate the world.

Bodies in the Bog by James M. Deem

Thu, 11/03/2011 - 00:00 | Shelley Lantz
in
Bodies From The Bog

Do you like learning about mummies? Well, Bodies From the Bog, by James M. Deem, tells us about a type of mummy that you have probably never heard of before. One morning in April 1952, Danish workmen digging in a peat bog made an astonishing discovery. Their shovels struck the head of a dead man – his face flattened by the weight of the peat and his skin as brown as the earth in which he lay.  Who was he and how had he come to be there?

Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz

Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:37 | Virginia Johnson
in
Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz

Her wit is as dry as a whisper in a mummy’s tomb when she describes the life of a citizen of old Egypt from the squalling dawn of his existence to his final preparation for the afterlife.  But for all her panache, in penning Red Land, Black Land Barbara Mertz has created no gripping historical romantic suspense novel—although she’s written many of those, too.

You may know this author better as Elizabeth Peters, she of the Amelia Peabody mystery series, or by her other nom de plume--Barbara Michaels. Yet Barbara Mertz is her real name, and it’s under that identity that she earned a doctorate in Egyptology from Chicago’s famed Oriental Institute some decades ago.

Great Tales from English History: The Truth about King Arthur, Lady Godiva, Richard the Lionheart and more

in

By Robert Lacey

Go to catalog

"From ancient times to the present day, the story of England has been laced with drama, intrigue, courage, and passion-a rich and vibrant narrative of heroes and villains, kings and rebels, artists and highwaymen, bishops and scientists. Now, in Great Tales from English History, Robert Lacey captures some of the most pivotal moments: the stories and extraordinary characters that helped shape a nation. This first volume begins in 7150 BC with the intriguing life and death of Cheddar Man and ends in 1381 with Wat Tyler and the Peasants' Revolt. We meet the Greek navigator Pytheas, whose description of the woad-painted Celts yielded pretannik ('the land of the painted people'), which became the Latin word Britannia. We learn what the storytellers really meant when they described Lady Godiva's 'nakedness.'And we discover the truth behind the tales of King Arthur and the infamous Hobbehod, later to be known as 'Robin Hood.'"

Part of a series.

Reserve this title

Celtic Art: Symbols & Imagery

in

By Miranda Green

Go to catalog

An archaeologist and Celtic art expert decodes the rich world of Celtic symbols and artistry.

Reserve this title

I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers

in

By Thomas Hine

Go to catalog

"Choosing and using objects is a primal human activity, and I Want That! is nothing less than a portrait of humanity as the species that shops. We shop to nourish our bodies and to feed our fantasies. We shop to belong to groups. We shop to define ourselves as individuals. We shop to be powerful. We shop to be responsible. We shop to celebrate. We shop because we don't want to miss out on the excitement of life. I Want That! shows how these fundamental desires play out in today's malls, Web sites, boutiques, and superstores.

"The book also offers a lively, fast-paced history of finding, choosing, and spending. It makes stops in the crossroads markets in which prehistoric merchants traded gold, amber, and obsidian; in the agora in Athens, where sharp setters wet their wool to make it weigh more, and everyone came to buy, talk, eat, and get their hair done."

Reserve this title

Mystery of the Ancient Seafarers

in

By Robert D. Ballard with Toni Eugene

Go to catalog

"In a beautiful volume featuring more than 170 maps and photographs, Mystery of the Ancient Seafarers follows the latest pursuits of National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert D. Ballard as he searches for clues to the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean. An immediate tie-in with the 2004 PBS special, Ballard's excavation focuses primarily on the story of the Phoenicians--traders who ruled Mediterranean commerce for 1,000 years, then disappeared. A showcase of National Geographic's greatest strengths--exploration, discovery, and intricate maps--Mystery of the Ancient Seafarers is a fascinating journey through the depths of the Mediterranean and centuries of time."

Reserve this title

Pearls: A Natural History

in

By Neil Landman

Go to catalog
Published to accompany an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Field Museum in Chicago, Pearls begins with the earliest pearl artifacts found in Mesopotamia and discusses how pearls are formed, in nature and by humans, the ways different cultures have used pearls in literature, paintings, religious objects, and sculptures, and, of course, pearls as personal adornment.
Reserve this title