UNIT: The Earliest Civilizations
The World's First Temple, Sandra Scham, Archaeology, 2008
Was the oldest man-made place of worship the seven stone circles
erected and arranged over 25 acres by Neolithic people at Göbekli
Tepe in southeastern Turkey?
Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx, Evan Hadingham, Smithsonian,
2010
American archaeologist Mark Lehner has been working for many years
to discover aspects and the meaning of the Sphinx. He believes that
Pharaoh Khafre built the Sphinx to honor his father, Khufu, and it
served to harness the sun's power to resurrect the soul of the
pharaoh.
Journey to the Seven Wonders, Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian,
2004
Though only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still
stands, they still intrigue our imagination. Author Tony Perrottet
details the Pyramids, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of
Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Statue of Zeus at
Olympia. Why do these monuments still capture our thoughts after
2,000 years?
I, Pillar of Justice, Frank L. Holt, Saudi Aramco World,
2009
The major focus of this article is Mesopotamia in the time of
Hammurapi and the Law Code attributed to him. There are 282 laws
enumerated along with the conditions and penalties for various
offenses.
UNIT: Greece and Rome: The Classical Tradition
The Trojan War: Is There Truth Behind the Legend?, Trevor Bryce,
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2002
Thought for centuries to be a myth, evidence from a variety of
textual and archaeological sources is giving new life to the idea
that there is truth behind the legendary conflict between Greeks
and Trojans at the very spot at which the poet Homer claimed the
Trojan war took place.
Entertainment: Spartan Style, Elisa Queenan, Sparta: Journal of
Ancient Spartan and Greek History, 2009
It wasn't just men who participated in athletic contests and
festival entertainments at Sparta, or were expected to maintain a
regimen of physical exercises such as running, wrestling, and
dancing. Women, too, were a vital part of that city's games.
The Historical Socrates, Robin Waterfield, History Today,
2009
The popular image of Socrates as a man of immense moral integrity
was largely the creation of his pupil, Plato. If we study the
evidence of his trial, says the author, a different picture
emerges, of a cunning politician opposed to Athenian democracy.
Good Riddance, I Say, Frank L. Holt, Saudi Aramco World,
2008
Frank L. Holt uses a bit of broken pottery to enlighten us about
daily life in fifth-century Athens. He explains how the political
banishment called ostracism was used between two Athenian
statesmen—Themistocles and Aristeides the Just.
Hannibal's Big Mistake, Richard A. Gabriel, Military History,
2011
Why did Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian military commander in the
Second Punic War with Rome who repeatedly defeated Rome's best
armies, fail to win the war in the city of Rome itself?
Why Rome Fell, Richard Gabriel, Military History, 2013
The reasons for the Roman Empire's demise in the West remain among
the great unsettled historical debates. But Richard Gabriel argues
that it is nevertheless possible to identify some of the primary
forces that rendered the imperial government incapable of dealing
with the lethal challenges that beset it.
UNIT: The Judeo-Christian Heritage
Did Captured ARK Afflict Philistines with E.D.? Aren M. Maeir,
Biblical Archaeolog Review, 2008
What did the Bible mean by the statement that God afflicted the
Phillistines with `opalim, which is usually translated as
"hemorrhoids?" The author contends that the real meaning had to do
with sexual function.
The Books of the Bibles in Early Christianity, Jordan Scheetz,
Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 2012
Books like The Da Vinci Code made popular the idea that the list of
books now found in the New Testament, and accepted by Christians as
authoritative, was established by an Imperial fiat of the Emperor
Constantine at the Council of Nicea in 325 C. E. But is this view
grounded in anything other than a wholesale disregard of what our
earliest sources of knowledge about the canon tell us?
UNIT: Muslims and Byzantines
The Elusive Eastern Empire, Dionysios Stathakopoulos, History
Today, 2008
The author recounts the history of the Byzantine Empire, which
began with Constantine the Great and lasted until the capital,
Constantinople, was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Great
emperors such as Justinian and Heraclius are detailed along with
the many problems in religion and foreign attackers.
Best of Enemies, Jonathan Harris, History Today, 2013
Christian Byzantium and the Muslim Abbasid caliphate were bitter
rivals. Yet, as Jonathan Harris explains, the necessities of trade
and a mutual admiration of ancient Greece meant that there was far
more to their relationship than war.
Where Mystery Meets History, Tom Holland, History Today,
2012
The same spotlight of historical enquiry that scholars have long
been using to shed light on the biblical past illuminates the
origins of Islam and the impact that Judaism and Christianity had
on Muhammad, his monotheism, and his vision of the nature of
God.
The Arab Invasions, Eamonn Gearon, History Today, 2011
What was the nature of the conquests of the Islamic Empire
throughout Northern Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries and
how did they contribute to the cultural shifts and conflicts which
occurred between the Byzantine, Arab, and Berber societies during
the period?
Islam's First Terrorists, Clive Foss, History Today, 2007
The Kharijites emerged in the late seventh century and caused chaos
during the Arab civil wars. Although they flourished in chaotic
times and were able to set up a few states, none of these states
lasted. Their insistence on democracy undermined a strong
leadership, while their fanaticism led to internal splits.
UNIT: The Medieval Period
The Church in the Middle Ages, Marius Ostrowski, History Review,
2006
When the Roman Empire fell in the fifth century, it was the
Christian church that gained immense power and held it for a
millennium. The church brought together politics, religion,
warfare, and culture, which lasted until the Reformation.
What Did Medieval Schools Do for Us? Nicholas Orme, History
Today, 2006
When the Roman Civilization evaporated in England during the fifth
century, learning inclined more toward the monasteries, where Latin
Grammars were developed to teach those who knew no Latin. By the
twelfth century, school became what we would call modern: they
moved away from the monasteries, had full-time teachers, and were
more in number. Many more children—boys and girls—were
literate.
What Hundred Years War? Ian Mortimer, History Today, 2009
By challenging the very idea of a continuous Anglo-French medieval
war, Ian Mortimer reveals the remarkable complexities of a series
of distinct conflicts that began with a prophecy and ended with an
English dynasty seeking the approval of God.
The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, Jonathan
Phillips, History Today, 2004
What caused the knights of the Fourth Crusade to sack
Constantinople and establish a Latin Empire, which lasted from 1204
to 1261? Jonathan Phillips says that it was a clash of cultures—the
Byzantines saw themselves as superior to the West and the
Westerners saw the Byzantines as effeminate and duplicitous.
How a Mysterious Disease Laid Low Europe's Masses, Charles L.
Mee Jr., Smithsonian, 1990
The great Bubonic plague of the fourteenth century destroyed a
third of Europe's population and had profound psychological,
social, religious, economic, and even artistic consequences.
Charles Mee spells out the causes, symptoms, and effects of the
epidemic that altered medieval life.
Positively Medieval, Stephen Cooper, History Today, 2013
Stephen Cooper provides arguments that we should resist using
"medieval" as another word for backward. The fifteenth century, in
particular, was a time of remarkable progress and
enlightenment.
Rich Pickings from Medieval Pilgrims, Adrian Bell and Richard
Dale, History Today, 2013
The economic importance of pilgrimages and shrines in the Middle
ages and how the various means (including "miracles") of promoting
these institutions, which were a lucrative source of income for the
Medieval Church, have some striking parallels with modern marketing
tactics and techniques.
UNIT: Renaissance and Reformation
The World, the Flesh and the Devil, Robert W. Thurston, History
Today, 2006
Thurston surveys the history of witch hunting and the misogyny that
accompanied it and how Dominican monk Heinrich Kramer's linking of
¬demonology to heresy provided a powerful intellectual
justification for the trial and execution of thousands of
women.
Christian Humanism: From Renaissance to Reformation, Lucy
Wooding, History Review, 2009
Christian Humanism had key features such as internationalism (or
traveling scholars), correspondence between scholars, one
language—Latin—a sound biblical knowledge, and a desire for
education.
The Luther Legacy, Derek Wilson, History Today, 2007
Martin Luther has been seen as an advocate of individual freedom,
intellectual repression, nationalism, spirituality, and secularism.
But, as Derek Wilson says, this did not make Luther a dry
philosopher but a flesh-and-blood fallible human being. He was a
theologian who lived his theology.
Who Was Henry VIII and When Did It All Go Wrong? Suzannah
Lipscomb, History Today, 2009
The author says that what we know today of King Henry VIII is a
false picture. We take our understanding of Henry in his last days
and use it as a blueprint for his life and his reign—his character
flaws were not manifest until late in his life.
Women in War, John A. Lynn, Military History, 2007
In the armies of sixteenth-century Europe, there was a woman for
every man: the tasks performed by camp women were prostitution,
laundry, meal preparation, commerce, and heavy camp labor. The
import of women in the field is recounted by John A. Lynn.
The King's Good Book, Derek Wilson, History Today, 2011
Translated in 1611, the King James Authorized Version of the Bible
is still the best known and most widely used English Bible in the
world. But why was it produced? What role did religious controversy
and doctrinal difference between the Church of England and
Reformation Catholicism play in its development?
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