270 résultats pour "ancient"
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Ancient Egypt.
around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...
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Ancient Egypt.
around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...
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Ancient philosophy
divine - were themselves an integral part of both physics and ethics, never a mere adjunct of philosophy. Thedominant philosophical creeds of the Hellenistic age (officially 323-31 BC) were Stoicism (founded by Zeno of Citium ) and Epicureanism (founded by Epicurus ) (see Stoicism ; Epicureanism ). Scepticism was also a powerful force, largely through the Academy (see Arcesilaus ; Carneades ), which in this period functioned as a critical rather than a doctrinal school, and also, st...
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Ancient Egypt - history.
The Nile River runs through the ancient city of Thebes in eastern Egypt. For a time, beginning in 2040 bc, Thebes was the capital ofEgypt.Farrell Grehan/Photo Researchers, Inc. According to inscriptions and documents found by archaeologists, the Egyptians called their country Kemet, meaning “the Black Land,” a reference to the dark, fertile soil that remained after the Nile floodwaters had receded. They also used another term, Deshret, or “the Red Land,” a designation for the desert sands th...
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Ancient Egypt - USA History.
around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...
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Ancient Greece - history.
Palace of KnossosThe ancient city of Knossos was a center of the Minoan civilization, an advanced society on Crete named after Minos, a legendaryCretan king. Skilled in such fields as engineering and architecture, the Minoans constructed the palace at Knossos in 1700 bc. Aserious fire at least three centuries later caused the collapse of the palace and foreshadowed the subsequent decline of the city.Wolfgang Kaehler Settlers had begun sailing from Asia Minor to Crete about 6000 BC because the i...
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Egyptian Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Egyptian Mythology, specifically, the religion of ancient Egypt.
PtahThe Egyptian god Ptah was, among other things, patron of the arts and of artisans. He was worshipped at Memphis, theancient capital of Egypt. This statue of the deity dates from the 18th dynasty and is in the Egyptian Museum of Turin,Italy.Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis In addition to those already named, the important divinities included the gods Amon, Thoth, Ptah, Khnemu, and Hapi, and the goddesses Hathor, Mut, Neit, andSekhmet. Their importance increased with the political ascendancy of the lo...
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Ancient Greece.
The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...
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Ancient Greece .
The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...
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Ancient Rome .
attributed to Numa, including the selection of virgins to be priestesses of the goddess Vesta. He also established a calendar to differentiate between normal workingdays and those festival days sacred to the gods on which no state business was allowed. His peaceful reign lasted from 715 to 673 BC. Under Tullus Hostilius (672–641 BC) the Romans waged an aggressive foreign policy and began to expand their lands by the conquest of nearby cities like Alba Longa. When the warlike King Hostilius co...
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1983, « A Critical Examination of the Theory that the Right to the Throne of Ancient Egypt Passed Through the
Female Line in the 18th Dynasty », GM 62, 67-78.
1977-1978, «Ahhotep Iand Ahhotep II», Serapis 4,31-40. Jean ROUSSEAU 1988, «Les calendriers deDjoser »,DE 11, 73-86. Georges Roux 1985, LaMésopotamie. Essaid'histoire politique, économique etculturelle ,Paris, Seuil. RSO =Rivista degliStudi Orientali, Rome. Gerhard RÜHLMANN 1971, «Deine Feinde fallenunterdeinen Sohlen :Bemerkungen zueinem altorientalischen Machtsymbol», WZU Halle 20,61-84. Edna R.RUSSMANN 1974, TheRepresentation ofthe King, XXVth Dynasty, Bruxelles. 1979, «Some Reflections onthe...
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Homer
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INTRODUCTION
Homer
According to tradition, the Greek poet Homer is believed to be the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two great epics of
ancient Greek literature.
The Return of OdysseusAfter the Greek warrior Odysseus returns from the Trojan War to his home in Ithaca, he kills the uninvited and unwantedsuitors of his wife, Penelope, who believed him to be dead. Odysseus’s astonishing skill with the bow convinces Penelopethat he is indeed her long-absent husband. This anonymous engraving is of an unknown date.Corbis The Odyssey narrates the return of the Greek hero Odysseus from the Trojan War. The opening scenes depict the disorder that has arisen in Ody...
- Pythian Games Greek A sacred rite enacted in ancient Greece to honor the ancient serpentmonster, Python, slain by the god Apollo.
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Byzantine Art and Architecture
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INTRODUCTION
Archangel Michael
This depiction of the archangel Michael, in Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Italy, is an example of ancient enamel art.
This Byzantine ivory relief shows Christ the Pantocrator, or ruler of the world, raising his hand in a gesture of blessing. Itcomes from the cover of a lectionary, or book containing portions of the scriptures, and dates from the second golden ageof Byzantine art, the late 10th century. The relief is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England.Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York Mosaics were the favored medium for the interior adornment of Byzantine churches. The small cubes, or tesserae, t...
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Ancient Greece - USA History.
The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...
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Ancient Rome - USA History.
attributed to Numa, including the selection of virgins to be priestesses of the goddess Vesta. He also established a calendar to differentiate between normal workingdays and those festival days sacred to the gods on which no state business was allowed. His peaceful reign lasted from 715 to 673 BC. Under Tullus Hostilius (672–641 BC) the Romans waged an aggressive foreign policy and began to expand their lands by the conquest of nearby cities like Alba Longa. When the warlike King Hostilius co...
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Roman Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Roman Mythology, the religious beliefs and practices of the people of ancient Rome.
Aeneas and AnchisesAccording to mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan prince. After Troy fell to the Greeks during the Trojan War, Aeneas traveledto Italy and met and married a woman in the kingdom that occupied the region that would one day become Rome.Through this marriage, Aeneas was the direct ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. In thispainting he is carrying his father, Anchises, on his back while fleeing from Troy. This painting by Lionello Spada is in theLouvre Museum...
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Mesopotamian Art and Architecture
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INTRODUCTION
Mesopotamian Art and Architecture, the arts and buildings of the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations that developed in the area (now Iraq) between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers from prehistory to the 6th century
BC.
arts. III EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Figures from Tell AsmarCreated around 2700 bc, these stone figures are from the city of Tell Asmar in what today is Iraq. From the Temple ofAbu, the statuettes stood in watchful prayer with the wide, staring eyes often found in Sumerian sculpture. The figuresare in the Iraq Museum, Baghdād, Iraq.Art Resource, NY The first historical epoch of Sumerian dominance lasted from about 3000 BC until about 2340 BC. While earlier architectural traditions continued, a ne...
- Colosseum Colosseum, largest and most famous ancient Roman amphitheater.
- Priapus Greek An ancient god of fertility, protector of herds, bees, fish, and the vine.
- Latium Roman In ancient times, a region in west-central Italy, south and east of the Tiber River on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
- Seven Wonders of the World Seven Wonders of the World, works of art and architecture regarded by ancient Greek and Roman observers as the most extraordinary structures of antiquity.
- ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
- Atomism, ancient
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- Libitina Roman Ancient goddess who presided over funerals.
- Selene (Moon) Greek An ancient moon goddess.
- Ceto (Whale) Greek An ancient Greek sea goddess.
- Diana (Bright) Roman An ancient Roman, perhaps Etruscan, goddess of the Moon.
- Pan Greek An ancient deity from the mountainous region of Arcadia, in Greece.
- Liber (Free) Roman An ancient god of fertility and procreation, particularly of seeds and plants.
- Picus (Woodpecker) Roman An ancient Italian god of the wild country, perhaps a satyr.
- Luna (Moon) Roman An ancient Italian goddess of the Moon, probably of a lesser rank than the great Roman goddesses, such as Minerva and Juno.
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- flamen Roman In ancient Rome, a special priest ordained to offer daily tributes to particular gods in the Roman pantheon.
- Phoenicia (Purple) Greek An ancient kingdom on the eastern Mediterranean, in the region of modern Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
- Earth Mother A symbol in many ancient myth systems of the Earth, the source of all life and the power to create life.
- Oceanids (Oceanides) Greek The many daughters of the two Titan deities, Oceanus, the ancient god of water, and his wife and sister, Tethys.
- Midas Greek A mythical king of Phrygia, an ancient region of central Asia Minor; son of the goddess Cybele and Gordius, from whom he inherited the throne.
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Athens (Greece) - geography.
expected to further develop the city’s tourism industry. Athens serves as the hub of Greece’s national transportation network. The Greek railway system is centered in Athens, and ferries sail to the rest of the country from theport at Piraeus. The urban area itself in Athens is served by taxis and public buses that must contend with heavily congested traffic. The major part of the city’s metrosubway, Attiko Metro (Athens Metro), was completed in 2000 and serves the heart of Athens; extensions to...
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Archaeology.
Prehistoric archaeology is practiced by archaeologists known as prehistorians and deals with ancient cultures that did not have writing of any kind. Prehistory, a term coined by 19th-century French scholars, covers past human life from its origins up to the advent of written records. History—that is, the human past documented insome form of writing—began 5000 years ago in parts of southwestern Asia and as recently as the late 19th century AD in central Africa and parts of the Americas. Becaus...
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Athens (Greece) - geography.
At the heart of the modern city is Syntagma (Constitution) Square, located east of the Acropolis. The square is bordered by the national Parliament Building, originally aroyal palace completed in 1842 for King Otto I. Nearby is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which features a daily changing of the guard. Several of the city’s principalhotels as well the offices of major banks and airline companies also face the square. Behind the Parliament Building is the National Gardens, a public park that i...
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History of Astronomy - astronomy.
Egypt, the Sun was directly overhead at noon. On the same date and time in Alexandria, Egypt, the Sun was about 7 degrees south of zenith. With simple geometryand knowledge of the distance between the two cities, he estimated the circumference of the Earth to be 250,000 stadia. (The stadium was a unit of length, derivedfrom the length of the racetrack in an ancient Greek stadium. We have an approximate idea of how big an ancient Greek stadium was, and based on that approximationEratosthenes was...
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Nile - Geography.
The Nile is also a source of hydroelectric power ( see Waterpower), although the river’s potential as a source of electricity has yet to be fully exploited. Dams to provide hydroelectricity (and control flooding) have been constructed along the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and Uganda. Additional hydroelectric projects are planned. IV HISTORY OF THE NILE A Ancient Egypt and the Nile The first great African civilization developed in the northern Nile Valley in Egypt in about 3300 BC. Settlements alon...
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Metropolitan Museum of Art.
B Ancient Near Eastern Art The objects in this department range from a vast geographical area in southwest Asia and northeast Africa from around 5000 BC to around AD 600. Notable works include Assyrian reliefs from the palace of King Ashurnasirpal II at Calah (now Nimrud, Iraq), Sumerian sculpture, Anatolian ivories, Iranian bronzes, and Achaemenidand Sassanian works in silver and gold. C Arms and Armor This department is renowned for its collection of European armor from the Middle Ages (5t...
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Olympic Games.
the next decade nearly all the ISFs abolished the distinction between amateurs and professionals, accepting so-called open Games. One of the most visible examples of the policy change came in 1992, when professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) were permitted to play inthe Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain. Professionals from the National Hockey League (NHL) became eligible to participate beginning with the 1998 Winter Olympics inNagano, Japan. V CEREMONIES The Olymp...
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Martial Arts.
These movements are based on stylized renditions of ancient kung fu arm and foot blows. C Tae Kwon Do Tae kwon do (Korean for 'way of hands and feet') was founded in 1955 by a group of masters led by Korean general Choi Hong Hi. It is the national sport and pastimeof Korea and is also popular throughout the world. Often referred to as Korean karate, tae kwon do is reputedly based on ancient Korean and modern Japanesemethods of combat. Basic to tae kwon do are many spectacular kicks, particularl...
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Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Mythology, the body of myths of a particular culture, and the study and interpretation of such myths.
usually define a myth as a story that has compelling drama and deals with basic elements and assumptions of a culture. Myths explain, for example, how the worldbegan; how humans and animals came into being; how certain customs, gestures, or forms of human activity originated; and how the divine and human worlds interact.Many myths take place at a time before the world as human beings know it came into being. Because myth-making often involves gods, other supernatural beings, andprocesses beyond...
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Mythology.
Across cultures, mythologies tend to describe similar characters. A common character is the trickster. The trickster is recklessly bold and even immoral, but through hisinventiveness he often helps human beings. In Greek mythology, Hermes (best known as the messenger of the gods) was a famous trickster. In one version of acharacteristic tale, Hermes, while still an infant, stole the cattle of his half-brother Apollo. To avoid leaving a trail that could be followed, Hermes made shoes from thebark...
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First Americans.
bones and artifacts helped 19th-century archaeologists establish the age of ancient human encampments in Europe. Yet, search as they might, American archaeologists found no comparable evidence of a Pleistocene-era human presence. But several sites revealed stone artifacts thatsome scholars believed looked similar to the ancient stone tools found in Europe. On the basis of this similarity, these experts claimed the American artifacts must be asold. By the 1890s, however, other scholars had challe...
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First Americans - Canadian History.
bones and artifacts helped 19th-century archaeologists establish the age of ancient human encampments in Europe. Yet, search as they might, American archaeologists found no comparable evidence of a Pleistocene-era human presence. But several sites revealed stone artifacts thatsome scholars believed looked similar to the ancient stone tools found in Europe. On the basis of this similarity, these experts claimed the American artifacts must be asold. By the 1890s, however, other scholars had challe...
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Fire - chemistry.
were usually natural caves. Eventually people learned to dip branches in pitch to form torches. They created crude lamps by filling a hollowed out piece of stone withmoss soaked in oil or tallow (a substance derived from animal fat). By cooking with fire, prehistoric people made the meat of the animals they killed more palatable and digestible. They learned to preserve meat by smoking it over a fire,vastly decreasing the danger of periodic starvation. Cooking also enabled them to add some for...