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Lewis Chessmen
The famous Lewis Chessmen, now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the British Museum in London, are high-quality examples of the type of chessmen the Scandinavians produced. It is believed the Lewis Chessmen were made in...
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Lewis Knight Chess-piece
Walrus ivory knight chess-piece armed with a spear and kite-shaped shield from the Lewis series, found in Scotland, dated to c. 1150-1175.
The British Museum, London.
Video
Lewis Chessmen
This film uses replicas of the famous Lewis Chessmen to tell the stories of Norse Kings and kingdoms. Originally created as part of an installation for the Lews Castle Museum in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. http://isodesign.co.uk...
Article
Ancestor Worship in Ancient China
Ancestor worship in ancient China dates back to the Neolithic period, and it would prove to be the most popular and enduring Chinese religious practice, lasting well into modern times. The family was always an important concept in Chinese...
Article
Cylinder Seals in Ancient Mesopotamia - Their History and Significance
Among the most interesting and revealing artifacts discovered from ancient Mesopotamia are cylinder seals. These fairly small items may be seen today in museum exhibits around the world but, perhaps owing to their size, they are not given...
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Eyes on the East: Chronicles of the Indian Ocean Spice Trade
As the 15th century ended, Europeans were still mostly in the dark about the Eastern world. Early travelers like Marco Polo had given the West tidbits of information, but these accounts were too highly colored and fragmentary to provide a...
Definition
Cylinder Seal
Cylinder Seals were impression stamps used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. Known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian, the seals were used by everyone, from royals to slaves, as a means of authenticating identity in correspondence...
Article
Love, Sex, and Marriage in Ancient Egypt
Although marriages in ancient Egypt were arranged for communal stability and personal advancement, there is evidence that romantic love was as important to the people as it is to those in today. Romantic love was a popular theme for poetry...
Article
The Early Three Kingdoms Period
The Early Three Kingdoms Period in ancient China, from 184 CE to 190 CE for the purposes of this article, was one of the most turbulent in China's history. With an ailing Han government unable to control its empire, brutal localised wars...
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Magic in Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, if a woman were having difficulty conceiving a child, she might spend an evening in a Bes Chamber (also known as an incubation chamber) located within a temple. Bes was the god of childbirth, sexuality, fertility, among...