By Jennifer Ott / 11.05.2014 Introduction From canoes to container ships, a variety of vessels have carried people and goods between Elliott Bay and the wider world for thousands of years. The introduction of new technologies, such as canoes, sailing ships, steam engines, and shipping containers, has influenced how people have worked on the waterfront,[…]
The Abbott Papyrus from ancient Thebes / British Museum The Egyptians used a variety of terms to refer to their settlements. By Dr. Steven Snape Reader in Egyptian Archaeology University of Liverpool The Egyptians used a variety of terms to refer to their settlements. Like our own terms (‘city’, ‘town’, ‘village’) they are useful in suggesting[…]
Being armed with facts isn’t always enough – bureaucracy and red tape often stand in the way. By Will Soper / 10.23.2018 Independent Scholar When my article about the US Navy’s 1854 razing of the Central American port of Greytown was published in a peer-reviewed journal last year, the editor added the title “Independent Scholar” under my[…]
Chimera from Arezzo, c. 400 B.C.E., bronze, 129 cm in length, (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence) By Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker / 12.09.2015 Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies Binghamton University The Chimera of Arezzo is one of the best known pieces of Etruscan sculpture to survive from antiquity. Discovered near the Porta San Lorentino of Arezzo, Italy (ancient[…]
Donatello, St. Mark, 1411-13, marble, 93″ (236 cm) (Orsanmichele, Florence). Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris By Dr. David Boffa / 04.17.2017 Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History Beloit College A humorous anecdote Donatello, Saint Mark, 1411-13, marble, 93″ (236 cm) Orsanmichele, Florence (photo) The sixteenth-century artist and art historian Giorgio Vasari gives us a[…]
Double page opening: Provinces Bringing Tribute (f.23v.) and Ruler Portrait of Otto III (f.24) Gospels of Otto III, c. 1000, each page 33.4 x 24.2 cm, ink, gold, paint, parchment (Munich, Bayerische Stattsbibliothek, Clm.4453) By Dr. Andreas Petzold / 08.08.2015 Professor of History of Art MPW London The double page opening of the ruler portrait of Otto III (f.24,[…]
Although a saint, a bishop, and an important figure in a turbulent age, Sidonius is remembered particularly because of his somewhat dubious literary talents. By Dr. Lynn Harry Nelson Emeritus Professor of Medieval History The University of Kansas Introduction Europe in 451 CE Although a saint, a bishop, and an important figure in a turbulent[…]
Saint Trophime, Arles, 12th – 15th century (photo: Elliot Brown, CC BY 2.0) By Christine M. Bolli / 08.08.2015 PhD Candidate in Art History University of California, Santa Barbara The Provençal city of Arles in the south of France, is home to the medieval church, Saint Trophime. First impressions When I first saw the church, somewhat inconspicuously wedged[…]
Church of Sainte‐Foy, Conques, France, c. 1050–1130 (photo: jean françois bonachera, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) By Dr. Elisa Foster / 08.08.2015 Lecturer John V. Roach Honors College Texas Christian University On the road Imagine you pack up your belongings in a sack, tie on your cloak, and start off on a months-long journey through treacherous mountains, unpredictable[…]
Pillars of the Great Hypostyle Hall from the Precinct of Amun-Re / Photo by Kurohito, Wikimedia Commons The New Kingdom is known as the golden age of ancient Egyptian history. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 11.29.2018 Public Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Architecture Overview The golden age of the New Kingdom created huge prosperity for Egypt and allowed for[…]
The Temple of Isis at Philae, with pylonsand an enclosed court on the left and the inner building at right / Photo by Marc Ryckaert, Wikimedia Commons The Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1650 BCE) was marked by the reunification of Egypt following a period of weak pharaonic power and civil war called the First Intermediate. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh /[…]
Saint Matthew, folio 15 recto of the Coronation Gospels (Gospel Book of Charlemagne), from Aachen, Germany, c. 800-810, ink and tempera on vellum (Schatzkammer, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) By Dr. Jennifer Awes-Freeman / 09.15.2016 Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History and Religious Studies University of St. Thomas According to legend, the Vienna Coronation Gospels (c. 795) were discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb within the Palatine[…]
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423, tempera on panel, 283 x 300 cm (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence) By Dr. Joanna Milk Mac Farland / 08.09.2015 Art Historian Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423, tempera on panel, 283 x 300 cm (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) When looking at Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi, imagine[…]
A small number of sites, especially from the Middle and New Kingdoms, provide us with extraordinary amounts of evidence for the settlement archaeology of ancient Egypt. By Dr. Steven Snape Reader in Egyptian Archaeology University of Liverpool Middle Kingdom Introduction A small number of sites, especially from the Middle and New Kingdoms, provide us with extraordinary[…]
The Harriet Lane engaging in a battery at Pig’s Point By Sara Hale My Grandfather’s account of the escape of the Harriet Lane through the Union blockade of Galveston. The letter is addressed to “Friend Phillips” the then editor of the North AdamsTranscript, North Adams, Massachusetts. On board U. S. Steam Sloop “Lackawanna” Off Galveston,[…]
By the British Museum / 02.28.2017 Bronze head from a statue of the Emperor Hadrian, 2nd century C.E., bronze, 43 cm high, Roman Britain © Trustees of the British Museum Fixing the Empire’s borders When Hadrian inherited the Roman Empire, his predecessor, Trajan’s military campaigns had over-stretched it. Rebellions against Roman rule raged in several provinces and[…]
Aule Metele (Arringatore), from Cortona, Italy, early 1st century B.C.E., bronze, 67 inches high (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence), (image (shadow eliminated): corneliagraco, CC BY 2.0) By Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker / 12.09.2015 Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies Binghamton University The image, status, and stature of the magistrate in the course of performing the duties of his[…]
A utilitarian machine with a suicidal ghost inside. J S Mill (1873) by George Frederick Watts / Wikimedia Commons Without goods that explode utilitarianism and open us to the mystery of suffering, even the happiest life is miserable. By Dr. Scott Samuelson / 06.06.2018 Associate Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities Kirkwood Community College In[…]
South-side portal (detail), Church of Ste. Pierre, 1115-1130, Moissac, France (photo: Simon, Creative Commons) By Dr. Shannon Pritchard / 08.08.2015 Assistant Professor of Art History Assistant Chair, Art and Design Department University of Southern Indiana The church of Ste. Pierre (St. Peter) in Moissac, France, dating from 1115-30, has one of the most impressive and elaborate[…]
Cloister, Fontenay Abbey, 12th century By Christine M. Bolli / 08.08.2015 PhD Candidate in Art History University of California, Santa Barbara The rules Illumination with St. Benedict delivering his Rule to St. Maurus, Monastery of St. Gilles, Nimes, 1129 The Romanesque abbey of Fontenay (Abbaye de Fontenay) is located in Burgundy, France and stands today as a[…]
From ‘Six studies of a cat’ by Thomas Gainsborough, 1763–70 The poet Christopher Smart — also known as “Kit Smart”, “Kitty Smart”, “Jack Smart” and, on occasion, “Mrs Mary Midnight” — was a well known figure in 18th-century London. Nowadays he is perhaps best known for considering his cat Jeoffry. Writer and broadcaster Frank Key[…]
tomb of Rekhmire the vizier, the highest ranking official under the pharaohs Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II (New Kingdom). Working out how many people lived in ancient Egypt is far from an easy task. By Dr. Steven Snape Reader in Egyptian Archaeology University of Liverpool Introduction Working out how many people lived in ancient Egypt is[…]
The location of towns and cities in ancient Egypt was dictated by two principal factors. By Dr. Steven Snape Reader in Egyptian Archaeology University of Liverpool Introduction The location of towns and cities in ancient Egypt was dictated by two principal factors; the behaviour of the Nile and the wishes of the king. Royal influence on[…]
The London Clinic / Photo by Ben Gilbert, Wellcome Collection, Creative Commons What have snakes, unicorns and crocodiles got to do with pharmacies? Modern pharmaceutical signs have a long history going back to the Greek gods. Wellcome Trust / 11.09.2017 While alchemists used secret symbols to disguise their chemical formulations, pharmacists used the tools of[…]
A medieval kitchen / British Library, Public Domain If your latest diet resolution is already under strain, take comfort from knowing that there’s a long history of people monitoring what they munch. By Dr. Alice White / 01.10.2018 Historian and Digital Editor Wellcome Collection Sure, Doc, I’ll Give Ya Patients! The physicians friend, Charles Williams /[…]
Wellcome Collection, Creative Commons It’s 15 years since England’s last public post-mortem, but what was the history of human dissection up to that point? By Taryn Cain / 08.15.2017 Visitor Experience Assistant Wellcome Trust Before the invention of X-ray in 1895 there was really only one way to accurately study the human body, and that[…]
The myth of Theseus’ sacred journey’ continued to be re-enacted in an Athenian state festival held in honor of Apollo at Delos. The ritualized journey in which the two-times-seven Athenian youths sailed to Delos and back again to celebrate that they had been saved was called a theōriā. But what evidence is there about what this[…]
Clay model of a first century Roman War Ship / Museum of Sparta The story of modeled ships starts with the introduction of Kinyras, a King of Cyprus. Center for Hellenic Studies Kinryas and the Honeycomb Boats The Gift of Kinryas This story of modeled ships starts with the introduction of Kinyras, a King of Cyprus.[…]
Potters began to enrich vases in the Geometric Period with depictions of people, animals, ships, and more. Center for Hellenic Studies The Dipylon Vase Following the heroic age of the Myceneans is the silence of the Greek Dark Ages. In the proto-Geometric period (c1150–c950 BCE), the pre-Greek tribes make war, then consolidate and start forming[…]
The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy, by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1773) / National Gallery, Wikimedia Commons Oral traditions provide valuable information, and proper historiography can discern as much likely truth as possible in combination with other sources. By Dr. Stephen E. Nash / 09.21.2018 Archaeologist and Historian of Science Denver Museum of Nature & Science It[…]