Voodoo is often seen as a practice involving magic. In Haiti, Voodoo is a religion born out of the struggle of slaves. And today, it is used as a form of healing and protection. For many in the West, Voodoo invokes images of animal sacrifices, magical dolls and chanted spells. But Voodoo – as practiced[…]
Before establishing mainland colonies, Spain first settled the larger Caribbean islands. Among the areas Columbus discovered during his second voyage (1493-96), the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are the oldest American possessions in the historical patrimony of the United States. Salt River Bay near Christiansted National Historic Site is associated with Columbus’ discovery of Isla[…]
The Golden Horde extended from the Caucasus to Hungary to Constantinople, inspiring fear across the known the world. Introduction The Golden Horde was the European appanage of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE). Begun in earnest by Batu Khan in 1227 CE, the territory that would eventually become the Golden Horde came to encompass parts of[…]
Batu would serve as the kingmaker of the Mongol Empire. Introduction Batu Khan (l. 1205-1255 CE) was a grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Golden Horde. Batu was a skilled Mongol military commander and won battles from China to Persia, although his most famous exploits involve the grand Mongol campaign into Europe[…]
These peoples were among the oldest Indo-European ethnolinguistic groups, one of the most archaic Introduction Anatolians were Indo-European peoples of the Near East identified by their use of the Anatolian languages.[1] These peoples were among the oldest Indo-European ethnolinguistic groups, one of the most archaic, because Anatolians were the first or among the first branches[…]
The Archaic Age saw the gradual culmination of developments in social and political organization in ancient Greece. Introduction During the Archaic Age the Greeks fully developed the most widespread and influential of their new political forms, the city-state (polis). The term archaic, meaning “old-fashioned” and designating Greek history from approximately 750 to 500 B.C., stems[…]