Questions tagged [ancient-history]
Ancient history was from the beginning of recorded history (c. 4000 B.C.) until the fall of the Roman Empire (c. A.D. 500).
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Did the people of the ancient Middle East control the world thousands of years before Christ? [closed]
Numerous documents, evidences and structures have been found around the world that resemble those of the Middle East.
such as:
Sacsayhuamán
Monte d’Accoddi – Mesopotamian Ziggurat In Europe
Did ...
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Is there a database of ancient/current names of cities?
I am working on map of Ancient Etruscan civilization and I can't identify the exact location of Spica city. Based on minimap from Wikipedia page about Etruscan civilization, the city should lie about ...
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Was Yahweh a god in a possible Edomite Pantheon?
I understand from the Bible, from the Wikipedia articles Yahweh and Yahwism and from lectures of various scholars that polytheism was practiced by at least some religious leaders, priests, kings and ...
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How did Jerusalem function as an ancient city without a major water source? [closed]
Jerusalem seems to be an exception to the rule that all ancient cities must either be on a river or freshwater lake.
First settlement is estimated at 3500 BC.
The nearest major river as far as I can ...
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What actually happened during the elephant duel (Songkram Yutahatti) between King Naresuan of Ayutthaya/Siam and Mingy Swa of Hongsawadee/Burma?
Before we start, I just want to say that I find Thai history and the history of Southeast Asia in general to be extremely fascinating and interesting. I think that it’s just as interesting as Chinese ...
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Did migrating people ever maintain contact across the Bering Strait?
The Inuit ranged from Alaska to Greenland. The Yupik were in Alaska and Russia. Would peoples have kept in contact across islands in the Arctic but not across the Bering Strait? This question could be ...
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Why are there so many laws about eye injuries in the Code of Hammurabi?
Why are there so many laws about eye injuries in the Code of Hammurabi? (And so few laws about other body parts injuries.)
I want to concentrate on injuries mentioned as the crimes of physical ...
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Are there sources that record ancient women in patriarchal societies' thoughts about patriarchy?
Are there any sources describing what women in ancient patriarchal societies (like Greece, Rome, etc.) thought about the patriarchy? I've heard of feminist movements throughout history; this ...
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What would one call a skilled metal worker in Jerusalem, circa 600 BC?
I'm doing research for a book of fiction in which the main character is a skilled metalworker in ancient Jerusalem, circa 600 BC. I want to be authentic and historically accurate.
This person is ...
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How to you reply to Henry Ford and Otto von Bismarck? [closed]
All history is bunk -- Ford
All history is fairy tales rewritten by the winner of the last war --
Bismarck
There is a LOT of truth to what they say. And with PhD thesis like
the courtmartial of ...
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What are the most recommended non-biased books on Egyptian History
I am new to Egyptology, what are the most recommended non-biased books on Egyptian History, Hieroglyphs, mythology, etc... that are not biased and written by experts in the field?
By non biased, I ...
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What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
My question is about, not cultural differences, but conceptual differences." Wikipedia doesn't compare them. ...
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What is the origin of the idea to cover genitals with clothes or other materials? [closed]
This question was difficult to word. Please edit if it can be worded better.
I've seen many murals and ancient drawing as far back as 3,000BC (Kemetian, Sumerian) of society wearing atleast some ...
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Did soldiers and/or athletes of ancient times perform any kind of stretch or warmup exercises?
There are some 'time travel' stories where the protagonist, hailing from a modern age, does stretches and warmup exercises (calisthenics, radio, etc) and the natives have no idea what that is.
There'...
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How did Roman armies survive in the desert?
I'm writing a novel set in the third century. A general is marching his army through the middle of the Syrian Desert. How did Roman armies with tens of thousands of soldiers survive in the arid ...
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Did slaves have slaves?
Was there anywhere in history where the enslaved were able to enslave others?
Was there a slave hierarchy?
I read the slavery wikipedia entry, it mentions that in various cultures people retained ...
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Are there more long Egyptian texts in pure hieroglyphics available online?
So far I've only found 3 or 4:
https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip34.pdf (This has a lot of fragments)
http://etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/14900.pdf ...
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Did ancient people regularly suffer from colds?
It seems that most people suffer some kind flu or a cold each year, particularly throughout winter. Did ancient people tend to regularly suffer seasonal sickness such as colds and the flu?
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Where is it recorded that Spartan common meals were followed by a recounting of noble deeds?
I'm having trouble finding a particular historical reference.
In On Manly Courage: A Study of Plato's Laches, on page 57, the author implies that Spartan common meals were followed by the recounting ...
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Why is the Harappa (Indus Valley) civilization considered one of the six independent cradles of civilization?
In addition to the proven Sumerian presence in Harappa, all its crops originates in the Fertile Crescent or Far East, which proves that they have been influenced by foreigners since the Neolithic ...
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Did ancient peoples ever hide their treasure behind puzzles?
I just saw the film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, in which there is a somewhat meta running commentary over whether so-called "jungle puzzles", intellectual challenges typically requiring explorers ...
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Earliest evidence of objects intended for future archaeologists?
In modern times, it is not unusual for people to wonder what, if anything, will archeologists of the future (human or otherwise) will learn about our civilization from various artifacts we leave ...
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When was the first recorded example of a race competition in human history?
Individuals in a race compete with another or others to see who is fastest. But when the race competition was invented? It is reported that races were popular in the ancient Olympic games: (see https:/...
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Question on names in ancient Rome
I'm writing a novel set in 268 AD and the character is called Marcus Piavonius Victorinus, one of the many upstart military emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century. I've heard that by this ...
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How old is the practice of a woman accompanying another woman to the ladies restroom? [closed]
I am curious to know how old is the practice of a woman accompanying another woman to the ladies restroom.
I assume that this practice began in America and Europe when indoor plumbing and indoor ...
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Did the “ancients” use lead plates to prevent pain in their knees?
While reading The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, I came upon the following line:
Just before tea I told Nantz the anecdote of the ancients using lead plates to prevent pain in their knees, the ...
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Fermat's statement about the ancients: How serious was he?
I am extremely interested in the idea that there was a period in time when, at least in the west, people looked upon the ancients (Romans/Greeks) as possessors of wisdom that had been lost. Fermat ...
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What is the etymological origin of the Marsi, the ancient Italic people?
The English Wikipedia article does not provide any etymological explanations on the demonym. The Italian article, which is marked as "recommended", points the name's origin to the Italic deity Mamerte,...
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Did ancient Romans anticipate the fall of Rome?
Background: The Fall of Rome
The Roman Empire collapsed as a political entity in several stages during the 5th, 6th, and 7th century CE. Specifically, these are:
the crossing of the Rhine by the ...
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Why didn't slaves just leave? [closed]
How did ancient cultures keep their slaves from just walking away? Record-keeping in these societies was quite poor. Even if paperwork did exist stating that someone was a slave, the next town over ...
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What did the ancient Eastern world think of the ancient Greeks?
The opinions of the Greeks the Eastern world which notably included the Persians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Indians and Egyptians are known to all. They elaborated at length through their literature ...
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Why did the ancient Romans kill deer so often? [closed]
I've heard that they killed deer for tools and food,but why always deer?
they also killed other animals, but why deer most of the time?
was there some sort of benefit?
many books say," they do it for ...
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Why do very old arts (paintings, sculptures) look pretty inaccurate and abstract? [closed]
I have been looking at arts (drawings, sculptures) from different archeological periods (40000BC up to now). A pattern that I have picked up consistently when looking at arts from these periods is ...
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Demonym for someone from the kingdom of D'mt
D'mt is a little-studied kingdom which lasted from the 10th to 5th centuries BC, in Eritrea and Ethiopia. For further information, you can look here and just about nowhere else.
The civilization is ...
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In Classical Athens, what did the portico of the archon basileus look like?
In Plato's Euthyphro, Socrates and his titular interlocutor meet at the portico of the archon basileus - or chief archon. I've been looking for an image of the portico but had no luck so far, and am ...
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Was early Mari Sumerian or multicultural?
Mari was a multicultural Semitic and Sumerian city in central Mesopotamia. Despite its rich history during the historical period, I have found almost no discussion of the earliest period. This was ...
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Micromanagement before the modern era?
We read a lot about the problem of micromanagement today, particularly in examples of failed leadership. And Google Ngram Viewer shows the first occurrences of the word in the 1970s.
Did ancient (...
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European Life Expectancy Comparable? Now or When?
Question:
Was their ever a people in European history where life expectancy was similar to Now? 21st century? 70+ years of age? Average or Median?
I realize conventional wisdom would inform us ...
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Is the entire history, we read, accurate? [closed]
In today's era, having great advanced technologies, we get many rumors. So how can we write the historical facts so firmly.
We talk about ancient personalities, their quotes, their lives, etc. so ...
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what ended the Islam golden age [closed]
please answer the question I will check back in a few days and thank you all.
I have tried every website I could find and this is the last one on the list and I hope to get a result
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What evidence do we have to claim the Ancient Romans kept African grey parrots as pets?
The book Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend by Rachel Warren Chadd and Marianne Taylor states:
[...] The Ancient Romans, who kept both Rose-ringed Parakeets and African Greys (Psittacus erithacus), right,...
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Examples of ancient maps that gave names based on a cardinal direction
Years ago I read that civilizations had maps like that of the Herodotus, who was an ancient Greek historian. Said maps named lands or peoples according to cardinal directions, but without referring to ...
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On the Ezana Stone, who are the black and red people that the Ethiopian king was referring to?
On the Ezana stone, the Axumite (modern day Ethiopia) king wrote in Ge'ez, Sabaean and Greek to describe his victory over the Kasu (Kushites) and Nuba (Nubians).
He mentions the black and red peoples,...
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What was the image of Jhwh before it was almost erased from history?
Clay tablets found in Mesopotamia tell us that Adam was an earth god. In Genesis Adam was demoted to human status probably to make a monotheistic text possible.
Did Jhwh have an image (idol) before ...
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What was the function of the walls of Jericho?
The walls of old Jericho have been dated to around 8000bc. This is thousands of years before the nascent civilisations of Babylon and Egypt built similar fortifications and thousands of years before ...
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How long ago was the yo-yo first used as a weapon?
How long ago was the yo-yo first used as a weapon?
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What's the most ancient known example of a woman challenging feminine gender roles?
One example of that would be the goddess Inanna from Sumerian pantheon. She rejected to live as her culture felt a woman should live, namely, bear and raise children, do the housework, etc. In most ...
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Hyrcanian Burial Practices
In Cicero's Tusculan Disputations (book I, section XLV), he remarks:
It is customary with the Magi, to bury none of their order, unless they have been first torn by dogs. In Hyrcania, the people ...
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Is a wheel older than a wall?
I caught a snippet from the president’s remarks. He was talking about the wheel and how it is older than the wall.
Is there historical fact to back such a statement? Or the other way around?
