By Andrea M. Gáldy – Until recently, many of us were used to considerable mobility. Weekends away, summer holidays, conferences: all of those were part of our lives; we were modern and cosmopolitan. When we think of the past, however, “mobility†is not really the keyword coming to our minds […]
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Roman Aqueduct Engineering: The Delikkemer Inverted Siphon Near Patara Along the Lycian Way
By Ismayil Güracar – Nearly a decade ago I took a solo road and hiking trip along the Likya Yolu or Lycian Way where I encountered the main subject of this article. The Lycian Way is a nearly 500 km (300 mile) marked trail between Fethiye and Antalya along the southwestern […]
The Homes of Henry David Thoreau
By John Roman – “I have learned that even the smallest house can be a home.” Henry David Thoreau Although Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond is his most famous residence, historians also credit several other sites that served as “home” to this American literary figure. Looking into Thoreau’s […]
Trigonometry and Math – Egyptian Style
A section of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, ca. 1550 BCE.  It consists of reference tables, arithmetic, algebraic and geometric problems including volumes, and fractions (Courtesy of British Museum. London) By Susanne L. Houfek – The ancient Egyptians may not have taken trigonometry in school for entry level to a good university […]
Heraclitus meets Shakespeare: Character is Destiny and The Past is Prologue
By Walter A Borden, M.D. – “Character is destinyâ€, simple, enigmatic, written by the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus in the 6th to 5th century BCE. It is a powerful message for all peoples, a message for then—and now. The ancient Greek word for character was Ethos, meaning ideals, but derived from and related […]
Guillaume de Machaut: Medieval Polymath
By Susanne Houfek – Unless you’re a medievalist you may not know Guillaume de Machaut was an important 14th century French poet and composer. Living from 1300-1377, he was prolific, innovative and influential, creating over 400 poems, 235 ballades, 76 rondeaux, 39 virelais and more, both secular and religious, in […]
Pirates and Patristics
By Timothy J. Demy – The legacies of the classical world and late antiquity are many. In the second century CE the early Christian philosopher from Carthage, Tertullian (ca. 160 – ca. 220), asked an oft-repeated (and misunderstood) question “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”De praescritione haereticorum 7). Two disparate cities,”one, a center of […]
Sicily: Cradle of Civilization and Wine Island
By Patrizia Passerini – Sicily is a fascinating and mysterious land, with a history and culture of very ancient origins. Its beauty is sometimes wild, amazing and complex due to the overlapping and mixing of cultures that have alternated over the centuries. Rich in history and art, bright colours and […]
Baruch’s Tale – A Historical Gem of a Novel
By P. F. Sommerfefdt – Rembrandt’s 1630 painting of the prophet Jeremiah weeping over Jerusalem is an apt image for condensing this historical novel to a singular time and place in history. Historical fiction often falls into one of two pitfalls or both – either too historical and dry in […]
Electrum in Antiquity
Mitylene (Asia Minor) hectae electrum coins, ca. 500 B.C. (image public domain) By John Saul – WHY WAS ONE WORD USED FOR TWO SUBSTANCES? In former times the word electrum designated two substances which to us are very different. One was amber and the other was an alloy of gold […]