With the Olympic Games 2012 coming to London, the British Museum in London has created a new trail through the museum titled “Winning at the ancient Games”. The trail takes visitors to twelve objects in the museum that reveal more about the Olympic Games in ancient times. If you are in London, have a look — it’s free!
The Zea Harbour Project (ZHP) is a combined land and underwater archaeological investigation of the ancient harbours of Zea and Mounichia in the Piraeus (Athens’ harbour city) in Greece. Launched in 2002 under the auspices of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, the 26th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (until 2009) and the Danish Institute at Athens, ZHP’s mission is to survey, excavate, and publish the archaeological remains of the ancient naval bases of the Piraeus. The Carlsberg Foundation has funded the project since 2004. In this interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks with Dr. Bjørn Lovén, Associate Fellow in Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southern Denmark, and director of the ZHP.
Doggerland, the sunken land bridge between Britain and the European continent, has been recreated in 3D by a team of scientists. They used the computer game engine of Far Cry to create a stone age village, showing how the rising sea level might have forced the village’s inhabitants to move. SPIEGEL Online has published a slideshow.
As a young girl growing up in New York City, Madeline Miller felt a strong attachment to the literature and culture of Greco-Roman civilization. Mesmerized by the heroic exploits of Hercules, Achilles, and Aeneas, Miller pursued her passion at Brown University, where she received a BA and MA in Latin and Ancient Greek. Miller also studied in the Dramaturgy department at Yale University’s School of Drama, where she learned the art of adapting classical texts to modern tastes. In Miller’s debut novel, The Song of Achilles, the timeless tale of Homer’s Iliad is given new form and direction via the perspective of Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroclus. The heart of the novel is tale of friendship and love between two men, with interlocking fates. Seamlessly blending Homeric convention with modern diction, Miller’s novel is an absorbing and enchanting read. In this interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia took the time to speak with Miller about her new novel and what inspired her to write about the ancient world.
We have just added Google Translate to AHE. While it’s not perfect, it will help many of our international readers. You can find it at the bottom of every page. Did you know that you can help improve the translation? Simply hold your mouse over a badly-translated sentence for a few seconds and you can correct the translated text.
The British Museum in London is hosting the new free exhibition The Horse from Arabia to Royal Ascot (24 May to 30 September 2012) on the history of the horse. Discover the epic story of the horse in this special free exhibition – a journey of 5,000 years that has revolutionised human history. The story focuses on two breeds – Arabians, which were prized in the desert for their spirit and stamina, and the Thoroughbred which was selectively bred from Arabians for speed and is now raced at world-famous courses such as Royal Ascot. Objects range from ancient to modern and include depictions of horses in stone reliefs, gold and clay models, horse tack, paintings by George Stubbs, and trophies and rosettes.
Summer Exhibition Update 2012 We wanted to share with our regular readers, visitors, and contributors an update as to forthcoming summer exhibitions that might be of interest. Egypt and India are well represented!
The Discovery Programme is an Irish public institution for advanced research in Irish archaeology. Its sole activity is to engage in full-time archaeological and related research, in order to enhance our understanding of Ireland’s complex past. Recently, the Discovery Programme has initiated a project of geophysical investigations as part of the Late Iron Age and Roman Ireland (LIARI) Project. In this interview, James Blake Wiener of the Ancient History Encyclopedia speaks with Dr. Jacqueline Cahill-Wilson, Principal Investigator for the LIARI Project. This project seeks, amongst other things, to shed light on settlement and society in Ireland during the first five centuries CE, and will involve a critical reappraisal of the nature and impact of interaction with the Roman world.
Stanford University has just published ORBIS – The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World, an online map of the Roman world, which lets users find travel routes between different locations around the Mediterranean. The tool finds the fastest route on land and sea, as well as its travel time. There are various options, including month of the year, travel type (private on horseback, army, by land only, etc…), and cost. It’s definitely worth a look!
The Global Heritage Fund has just listed ten sites across Asia, which are in serious danger and need of immediate protection. At the Ancient History Encyclopedia, we take cultural preservation and protection very seriously. Please click here to learn more about the sites from Pakistan’s Express Tribune. Awareness is essential in preserving our diverse cultural treasures.
