Electrum Magazine - Why The Past Matters

Food History
Marrakech Cooking School at La Maison Arabe

9 hours ago

Maison La Arabe Marrakech with Amazigh (Berber) hotel pool motif (Image public domain) By P. F. Sommerfeldt – On occasion I’ve enjoyed taking cooking lessons, for example, in Lago Como, Italy, and while living in London and when I even had a conversation with Julia Child at a food show. […]
Art, Literature
Lot and His Daughters in Baroque Art

1 month ago

Hendrik Goltzius, Lot and His Daughters, 1616, Rijksmuseum By Patrick Hunt – The sordid story of Lot, errant nephew of Abraham and his opposite in nearly every way – the man of flesh as counterpoint to the man of faith – is one of the saddest Genesis expository examples in […]
Philosophy
Moral Law

2 months ago

Roman marble bust of Aristotle,2nd c. CE, Palazzo Altemps, Rome (Image in public domain) By Walter Borden, M.D. – “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” —Aristotle (Politics 1.2.1253a31-37) I. History of Justice Aristotle speaks of law and justice. Law means […]
Archaeologia
The Etruscans: Singular Features of Culture and Technology ? A Few Thoughts

3 months ago

1 “Sarcophagus of the Spouses” Etruscan Terracotta Couple, Louvre, ca. 510 BCE (Photo P. Hunt, 2025) By Patrick Hunt – One of the most fascinating cultures of the ancient Mediterranean is the Etruscan world. This culture is well-represented in major global museums, and the better the museum, the better represented are […]
Art, Artifacts of Material History
Caravaggio: Possible Effects of Lead Poisoning

4 months ago

Ottavio Leoni, Caravaggio portrait sketch early 17th century,. Biblioteca Marucelliana, Firenze By Leslie Ilic – Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known universally as Caravaggio, was a genius Baroque painter. Much of his life, and certainly his death, is shrouded in mystery, due to the lack of contemporaneous accounts of his activities. […]
Artifacts of Material History
Ancient Egyptian Ropes

6 months ago

Three-strand rope of palm fiber exhibited in the Royal Ontario Museum, from Deir-el-Bahri, New Kingdom (ca. 1567-1085 BCE) Image public domain By Garth C. Hall – Ropes (more generally, “cordage”) were critically important tools in Egypt’s ancient progression through the pre-Dynasty period all the way to modern times. The artistry […]
Archaeologia
Hannibal Barca and Map-Based Storytelling

7 months ago

Have you ever read a historical treatise and wished it was integrated into an interactive map, allowing you the ability to visualize the story geographically?
Classics, History, Roman heritage
Polybius, the Historian’s Epitome

7 months ago

Polybius sculpture, modern (image courtesy of Britannica) By Carole Hyde – What would we do without Polybius to tell us of Hannibal’s march to Italy? This historian of Rome overlapped in life (ca. 200-118 BCE) with Hannibal by twenty years; with the Carthaginian’s threat still a living memory, Polybius had […]
Artifacts of Material History
Huguenot Silversmiths in Britain

9 months ago

Trafalgar Silver Vase, ca. 1806, estate of Lord Cottesloe (Image courtesy of Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge) By Timothy J. Demy – Artistic trends and movements do not arise in a vacuum; they are birthed and shaped by the intellectual ideas, religious and cultural values, and current events of the era in […]
Philosophy
Character: Thoughts About US[a] (Musings of a Philosophic Psychiatrist)

9 months ago

Heraclitus (6th-5th c BCE) and Shakespeare (images in public domain) By Walter A Borden, M.D. – “Character is destiny”. This is a simple, enigmatic aphorism written by the Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 540-480 BCE). It is a powerful message for all peoples, a message for then and now, as […]