Ancient History

Barter Services - History of Barter System
Barter system facilitated the exchange of goods and services before the advent of the monetary system. Let us take a closer look at the history of this age-old system...

History of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was the first civilization in ancient history. This civilization has achieved far beyond one's expectations, as the inventions in those days were very much ahead of time.

History Of Baroque
The word Baroque is a relatively broad based term which finds its roots in the early 17th century. The origins of Baroque can be traced in Rome, Italy. The term incorporates various forms of art such as painting, literature, music and sculpture.

Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed as a mutual agreement between Spain and Portugal to propagate their quest for explorations in the "New World" and also to enhance their trade activities. Read on to learn more about this Treaty.

Persian Empire
Persian Empire is one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world. You could rightly say, Persian Empire was created through a combination of leadership skills, military tactics and efficient governance. Read on to learn more.

History of Castles
Castles form an important part of ancient architecture. They were an integral part of the ancient cultures and continue to attract tourists. Know about the history of castles.

The Life and Times of Flavius Josephus
He was a diplomat, general, and self-proclaimed prophet. Some would say that he was also a traitor. He is most famous as a historian.

Newgrange – An Ancient Passage Tomb of Ireland
Are you interested in history, architecture, art, or astronomy? If the answer to any or all of these is yes, then you have to visit Newgrange, a passage tomb that’s older than the pyramids.

Nietzsche's Thoughts on Virtue
It is probable that people still have virtues, although they are probably not as simple as the virtues held by our grandfathers.

How did Bart Roberts come to Power
Taste a little of a pirate’s life, Bart Roberts. He is not exactly an example of hard work and honesty and we can’t say he did not pay for his boldness in the end, but the article shows glimpses what being a pirate meant back in the 17th century.

Captain Bligh’s Voyage of Survival
You may have heard the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. But what happened to Captain Bligh and the men that refused to join the mutineers. This is their story.

An Ocean of Air
Nearly four hundred years ago, in a patchwork of individual fiefdoms that we now call Italy, a revolution of ideas was struggling to take place. The traditional way to understand the workings of the world -- through a combination of divine revelation and abstract reasoning -- had begun to come under attack from a new breed.

History Doesn’t Have to be Boring
Can you learn about history from popular entertainment? Many people have done so without even realizing it.

The Ancient and Modern Use of Chainmail
Chainmail has a long history. The art of creating this ancient form of body armor is very accessible to historical reenactors today. In addition, it is being used to create unique pieces of jewelry.

The Rise and Fall of the City of Babylon
When was the ancient city of Babylon founded? How did meet it meet its end? What future does it have?

Herodotus - Father of History
Travel in the ancient times was not for the faint-hearted and this makes the extent of Herodotus's travels even more remarkable.

Marco Polo - Venetian Traveler
The Venetians nicknamed him Messer Marco Millioni and marveled at his million-watt imagination.

Martin Waldseemuller - The Man who put America on the Map
The Ptolemaic description of the world had seemed sufficient and satisfactory until the Western Powers began sending out Navigators to discover new sea-routes to India and China, spurred of course by tales by people like Marco Polo of great wealth in those parts.

The Namgyals of Sikkim
Phunstok Namgyal from Gangtok, the first of the Namgyal Dynasty, became the first King of Denzong in 1642. His capital was established at Yuksum and he was given the title of 'Chogyal' or the King who rules with righteousness.

The City of Zippori
Founded on a fertile hillside in Lower Galilee, Zippori has been mentioned by many Jewish historians, most notably by Josephus Flavius in the First Century B.C.

The Voyages of Captain Cook
The purpose of the 'Endeavour' was to record a rare event in which the planet Venus was to pass before the Sun - the Transit of Venus of 1769.

The Mauryan Empire
Extending from Afghanistan to Bengal to Mysore, the Mauryan Empire became the subcontinent's first centralized power and also its most extraordinarily well-administered one, guided as it was by the authoritarian State-craft philosophy of Chanakya's 'Arthashastra'.

The Stone of Scone
Variously known as the Stone of Destiny, the Speaking Stone or Liath Fall, the Stone of Scone has played a paramount part in the crowning of the Dalriadic, Scottish and English Monarchy.

Richard Plantagenet
It is a strange fact – or successful Tudor propaganda and distorted historical perception - that historians appalled by the cool and calculating Richard should take a more lenient view of the murderous propensities of Henry VIII.

Pine Leaf
About the Absaroke Woman Warrior, Pine Leaf. The Absaroke (Sparrowhawk) Indians, better known by the name 'Crow' given to them by the white man, were in the 1800s a nomadic tribe of fearsome warriors residing in and around the Rocky Mountains.

The Marquis de Sade - a "sadist"?
The Marquis de Sade is known the world over for the alleged cruelties that he committed - this article travels down the line through the life of the Marquis and attempts to segregate fact from fiction.

The Robin Hood of the Rio Grande
An unyielding fighter against the injustices and blatant racism of the Anglo-Americans, Juan Nepomuceno Cortina is one of the great heroes of Mexican and Tejano culture.

The Great Jewish Revolt
In 66 B.C. the Jewish people revolted against the tyranny of Rome and put up a remarkable resistance before they were finally crushed. This is a short account of that.

Machiavelli
The author of the controversial political treatise 'The Prince', Machiavelli has had a rather dubious reputation over the years. Quite undeservedly so, considering that he only put into words what most world leaders actually practice.

Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (Andries Van Wesel), a Belgian/Flemish anatomist and physician, is widely considered the Father of Anatomy. His anatomical research and writings were responsible for modernizing the study of this particular field.

The In- betweens
The third sex has been the subject of many debates and studies, wonder and apprehension, curiosity …. or just plain disgust. In most western societies, the concept of eunuchs, people who are neither male nor female, may not be the same as it is in the Eastern countries, especially India.

Art : Mystery of Artist's life
Who is artist? What is an art? Is artist's world different than us? Is he different than common man? Is artist hidden somewhere in ourself also?

Art History Resources: Enhancing Your Knowledge of Art History
Regardless of your level of interest in the subject, the Web is a great place to start to enhance your knowledge of Art History.

World History: World History Timeline and Archives
The study of world history is one that offers an array of rewards, with perhaps the greatest being an understanding of the world today.

British History: British Historical Periods
Access the Web to find comprehensive information and resources that focus upon the history of the British.

Unprecedented Forgery of Ancient Mesopotamian History Expected to Trigger Chaos
Excerpts from the Kurdish newspaper Berxwedan that relate to discussions (lit. proceedings of a meeting held on 22.4.1993) between the "chairman" APO of the terrorist organization PKK and the board of Assyrian Democratic Organization.

The Most Incredible Being Ever To Grace The Surface Of The Planet
On May 30, 1431, nineteen-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. The charge? Witchcraft.

Prominent Murder Trials in the Early 1800s
Reverend Avery and Octavius Barron - two high-profile murder cases in the early 1800's. Take a look into the 19th century and consider the system that serves the courts we have today. Also entertain the thought that there is a party, other than the defense and prosecution, who can ultimately be affected by either ruling.

A Myth Or A Reality
Rig veda mentions about a legendary river system that ran from the Himalayas to the gulf of Khambat in the Indian subcontinent. Modern technologies and tools have been able to prone that this was by no means a Myth but a reality. If so then the very chronology of the vedic civilization shifts much much earlier than what it is thought to be…

The History and Resurgence of Alibata
The recent years has seen a revival of sorts in the popularity of the alibata, the Philippines’ pre-Spanish writing system. From being an ancient script mentioned only in passing in classes in Philippine History, alibata has gained enough popularity to inspire the creation of hundreds of web sites dedicated to it.

Kujang - the Talismanic Sickle
Unique talismanic weapon of Java, Indonesia. Often consecrated for luck, protection, prosperity, etc.

Tranquebar - Danish Settlement at the Coromandel Coast (1620-1845)
The fortress of Dansborg is of great interest and unique on the Coromandel Coast, where all the Portuguese and Dutch fortresses from the 16th and 17th centuries have disappeared.

'Ebola' Bug Wiped Out the Aztecs
When a few hundred Spaniards landed in what would become Mexico in 1519, they marvelled at its bustling cities. But within four generations that thriving native population was reduced by two-thirds - a phenomenon usually blamed on European diseases to which the natives had no resistance.

Persians, Yet Again, At The Periphery
In 404 BC Athens surrendered and the Athenian sea power, the Athenian empire, was at an end....As time went on dissention and discord increased among all factions. -Ron Price, Ancient History Notes: Greece 478 to 404 BC., Thornlie Tafe, 1992.

History of the Royal Barges - a timeless tradition
The history of the Royal Barges dates back to the 13th century Sukhothai era. It’s a traditional royal ceremony that has retained all the pomp and grandeur over the centuries in Thailand.

History of Thai currency – from beads to baht
The history of Thai currency dates back more than 1,000 years when ancient beads and stones were used as a medium of exchange to the minted coins and bank notes in current use.

Humans: a Short History
Until just 12,000 years ago, there was a species of little people walking around. Finally they were wiped out, possibly following encounters with the much larger Homo sapiens who, it's feared, may have patronised them to death.

Genghis Khan 'was a Contemplative Chap'
Genghis Khan, long perceived as the world's most notorious barbarian, was, in fact, a highly literate scholar of Taoist philosophy, according to a Chinese historian. He claims to have uncovered evidence that the leader of the Mongolian hordes could read and write. Attempting to debunk...

How the Belgians lost their marbles
It looked like the archaeological scoop of the year. The Elgin Marbles were not Greek after all, but the work of a wandering stonemason from Devon called Phil Davies who changed his name to Pheidias to ingratiate himself with his ancient Athenian patrons.

The Betrayal Of History
"Dreamworld and Catastrophe" is a cry of anguish disguised as the interdisciplinary analyses of a (neo-)Marxist scholar. It is a fragmentary and tortured reaction to the betrayal of history, in the best of Walter Benjamin's tradition, consciously emulated in this tome by this leading authority on the Frankfurt School.

Take the ego out of art
Simon Rattle is right - Britain has a lot to learn from the high seriousness of Germany's cultural life. William Hogarth's 18th-century cartoon The Enraged Musician has a lot to say about the different cultural traditions of Britain and Germany, as least as we like to see them.

Crime as old as the written word
As long as there have been book lovers, there have been book thieves. Egypt's Ptolemy II is said to have withheld wheat from Athens' starving citizens until they allowed him to borrow and make copies of rare Greek manuscripts.

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's … Gilgamesh?
Do you know where the archetype of the superhero originally appeared? If you said Superman, you're probably an aficionado of modern-day comics, rather than an ancient history buff. Oh, and you'd be wrong.