Underwater and Oceanic Oddities : WebUrbanist Underwater and Oceanic Oddities Most of the planet is covered in water and many of the world’s strangest stories and most amazing mysteries surround the vast expanses of it that cover the Earth. From remote islands to underwater cities, sea forts to floating utopias, here are some of the most mysterious, intriguing and impressive wonders of the world’s lakes, seas and oceans. 7 Underwater Wonders of the World: As modern technologies have evolved so to has our ability to see deep underwater and locate long lost cities and other buried treasures. 7 Island Wonders of the World: Each of these islands holds a world record though some of them are more dubious than others. Amazing Private Islands of the World: Most of us dream of owning a private island of our own – but for some of the super-rich this dream is an amazing reality. Extreme Houseboats and House Boat Designs (and More Houseboats and House Boat Designs): Can’t afford your own private island?
Center for History and New Media » Teaching + Learning Sea of Liberty Providing interactive tools for teaching, exploring, and sharing the power of Jefferson’s ideas across cultures and borders. Learn More | Visit the Site 100 Leaders Encouraging exploration of leadership and legacy in world history through voting, classroom activities, and teaching resources. Learn More | Visit the Site Teachinghistory.org Sharing quality content, tools, and strategies to improve teaching and learning American history. Learn More | Visit the Site Ford’s Theatre Videos Bringing to light the value of quality professional development for teachers through video. Learn More | Visit the Site Popular Romance Project Rethinking the concepts of love and romance through study of popular fiction and popular culture. Learn More | Visit the Site Hidden in Plain Sight Nurturing historical thinking and investigation skills via an asynchronous online course focusing on objects. Learn More | Visit the Site
Sex In The Middle Ages: 10 Titillating Facts You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid to Ask By David MortonImages: History of Sex: Middle Ages Without the Christian church of the Middle Ages, Sigmund Freud of the 19th century would have been out of work. Many of the deepest ideas and notions of sex that we hold today were formulated and laid down in the Middle Ages, especially by the Church’s sometimes confused and other times severe pronouncements. The Church had opinions and laws about every aspect of sex. But despite the Church’s overall opposition to sex, it appeared to be very interested in the subject. Courtly Love: You can look, but you’d better not touch The Church forbade open expression of sexual desire, but the medieval notion of “courtly love” suggested that love and admiration could exist somewhere between erotic desire and spiritual attainment. Courtly love is associated with the Knight who falls in love with the married woman – or at least the idea of the pure woman. Her adoring boyfriend meets her there: a mountain stag makes the waters stir.
Europe’s Top 25 Castles – The Best Castles in Europe There is something about castles that inspires awe and at the same time touches a gentler, more romantic side in each of us. And if you want to visit and tour some of the best castles in the world, then Europe should be your destination as this continent certainly has more than its share. Here are the top 25 castles in Europe, in no particular order. 1. Castle Neuschwanstein in Germany Neuschwanstein Castle For many of those that see this castle for the first time, they get a niggling feeling that Castle Neuschwanstein looks so familiar. 2. Peles Castle Known as one of the most beautiful castles in Europe, Peles Castle can be discovered in the majestic Carpathian Mountains, near the town of Sinaia, Romania. 3. Bojnice Castle Bojnice Castle is located in Bojnice, Slovakia and is one of the most delightful romantic castles in Europe. 4. Castillo de Coca 5. Brodick Castle Situated in the Isle of Arran in Scotland, this castle is one of the oldest. 6. Veliki Tabor Castle 7. Ksiaz Castle 8. 9. 10.
How did the ancient city of Palmyra support such a large population? Published on June 20th, 2012 | by Sevaan Franks The ancient Roman city of Palmyra once supported a population of 100,000 people in the middle of the desert. Now researchers, using satellite photographs, believe they have figured out how this was possible. Professor Meyer and his colleagues came to realise that what they were studying was not a desert, but rather an arid steppe, with underground grass roots that keep rain from sinking into the soil. The archaeologists gathered evidence that residents of ancient Palmyra and the nearby villages collected the rainwater using dams and cisterns. Local farmers also cooperated with Bedouin tribes, who drove their flocks of sheep and goats into the area to graze during the hot season, fertilising the farmers’ fields in the process. [Full story] Story: Physorg | Photo: J.C. Tags: Cities, Desert, Palmyra, Romans
Jordan Times AMMAN — Regional politics, Jordanian hospitality and a stroke of luck kindled a three-decade-old love affair between a team of French archaeologists and one of the Kingdom’s most important archaeological sites. Last week marked the 30th anniversary of an excavation by the team that led to the reconstruction of the ancient city of Jerash and the shattering of many assumptions about daily life 2,000 years ago. According to the archaeologists, their lifelong bond with the Greco-Roman city sprouted from a chance encounter. The archaeological team from the French Institute of the Near East that is now synonymous with Jerash was originally destined for Lebanon, but the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country forced them to relocate to Jordan. “It turned out 1982 was not the best time to be in Lebanon,” said Jacques Seigne, who has overseen the Jerash project since its inception. “They simply asked us if we wanted the Temple of Zeus. Cultural clues
Excavations at Ancient Galilean Synagogue Expose Samson Mosaic December 2012 update: The Samson mosaic was published for the first time ever in Huqoq excavation director Jodi Magness’s article “Samson in the Synagogue” in the January/February 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Read more about the Samson mosaic here in Bible History Daily here, or read Magness’s full article in the BAS Library here. Recently discovered mosaics at the Late Roman Galilean synagogue at Huqoq include Hebrew texts (see accompanying photo) as well as narrative scenes, including a depiction of Samson from Judges. Photograph by Jim Haberman, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday that recent excavations at Huqoq, Israel, have exposed a monumental 4th-5th century C.E. synagogue with detailed mosaic floors. Jodi Magness gave a statement in the IAA press release. Read the press release on the IAA site. Interested in early synagogues? Not a library member yet? Atkinson, Kenneth, Eshel, Hanan, Magness, Jodi.
Ancient 'Cow Woman' Skeleton Called Bizarre The skeleton of a 1,400-year-old Anglo-Saxon woman buried alongside a cow has emerged from a former children's playground near Cambridge in England, making the "cow woman" an extraordinary unique find. Described as "hugely exciting" and "bizarre," the burial was uncovered by students from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Central Lancashire. The find is believed to be the only one of its kind ever found in Europe. ANALYSIS: 'Vampire' Skeletons Found in Bulgaria "Usually it is warrior men who are discovered buried with their animals. Never before have we found a woman buried alongside a cow," Faye Simpson, of the Department of History at Manchester Metropolitan University, said. Simpson and colleague Duncan Sayer, from the University of Central Lancashire, believe the burial indicates the woman enjoyed a high social status within her community. "A cow is symbolic of economic and domestic power. ANALYSIS: Cows Almost Impossible To Domesticate, DNA Reveals
UK citizenship test: Could you pass on British history? | UK news The government has announced a major update to the citizenship test taken by all those who want to settle in Britain with a UK passport. The new section will cover a range of British history, from the Roman conquest of Britain to the modern day after the home secretary, Theresa May, called for a more "patriotic guide" for migrants wishing to settle in the UK, with less emphasis on knowing human rights and reading the gas meter. Would your knowledge of British History stand up to the test? These sample questions were created by Red Squirrel Publishing, who publish a range of British citizenship test study guides, and are drawn from the official study materials published by the Home Office, A Journey to Citizenship. Note: Although the new official test questions have not been published, the quiz below is an independent representation of the new questions that a would-be citizen could be asked. A 1616 map of Great Britain engraved by Jocodus Hondius.
Medieval Codex Calixtinus recovered; four arrested A medieval text stolen from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in northwest Spain last year was found in a nearby garage on Wednesday, after police arrested a handyman - fired after 25 years at the cathedral - and three members of his family. The Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century collection of sermons and liturgical passages, vanished last July from a safe deposit box in the cathedral, the end of the ancient pilgrimage route the Camino de Santiago. Police said they had found the elaborately illustrated manuscript, a treasured part of Spain's cultural and religious heritage, in a garage near the Galician town. The cathedral is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Greater, one of Jesus's twelve apostles who, according to tradition, went to Spain to preach Christianity. The Codex tells the story of how the apostle's remains were transferred to Santiago de Compostela and details the various routes to the town - effectively a guide for early pilgrims.
500 year old map of ‘America’ discovered in Munich A previously unknown version of Martin Waldseemüller’s famous world map has been disocvered in the collections of the University Library in Munich. On this map, the New World appears for the first time under the name “America”, chosen to honor the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1451 – 1512), whom Waldseemüller erroneously regarded as the discoverer of the continent. Waldseemüller and his colleague Matthias Ringmann created the map in their workshop in the monastery of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges around the year 1507. Four other versions of the map are known to exist, and one of them was sold at auction in 2005 for $1 million. This fifth version is created in so-called globe segments, which depict the world in twelve individual segments, or rather surface wedges, which taper to a point at each end and are printed on a single sheet, like cut-outs on construction paper. The “new” Munich copy of the segmented map itself has obviously followed a tortuous course to reach its present haven.
The History of Costume - Index #1 Click On Picture To Enlarge It (100K). Plate # 1 - Egyptians, Moors, Turks Plate # 2 - Ancient Near East - Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian Plate # 3 - Ancient Near East - Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian Plate # 4 - Ancient Judah Plate # 5 - Ancient Greece Plate # 6 - Ancient Rome NEXT PAGE: TEXT INDEX (Faster): Ancient Rome :: Roman Entertainment As of July 1, 2013 ThinkQuest has been discontinued. We would like to thank everyone for being a part of the ThinkQuest global community: Students - For your limitless creativity and innovation, which inspires us all. Teachers - For your passion in guiding students on their quest. Partners - For your unwavering support and evangelism. Parents - For supporting the use of technology not only as an instrument of learning, but as a means of creating knowledge. We encourage everyone to continue to “Think, Create and Collaborate,” unleashing the power of technology to teach, share, and inspire. Best wishes, The Oracle Education Foundation
Photolog: British Museum Royal Lion Hunt bas-relief details, Mesopotamian Collection ‘Photolog’ is a new series of posts with predominant focus on photographs rather than text. I’ll be posting a selection of images from my photographic endeavors that are mostly around travel, nature, landscape and urban photography. Starting with one of the world’s greatest museums of human history and culture the British Museum London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. Bas-relief details, Mesopotamian Collection Roman Sculptures Crouching Venus, Roman, circa 1st century AD Parthenon marbles from the Acropolis of Athens – 447 BC Colossal statue of Ramesses II, the ‘Younger Memnon’ – 1250 BC Egyptian hieroglyphs Mechanical Galleon (Ship Clock), Augsburg – 1585 AD Nimrud & Nineveh Palace Reliefs, Mesopotamian Collection Chariot horse details, Mesopotamian Collection Assyrians relief details, Mesopotamian Collection Jewellery and armoury Roman metal pot