Ancient Archives

Cracking the Code: The Quest to Decipher the Indus Valley Script

by History Guild | Sep 17, 2024 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
The Rosetta Stone laid the groundwork for our understanding of Ancient Egyptian language and culture when French scholar Jean-François Champollion cracked its code in September 1822. But the Rosetta Stone isn’t the only unsolved puzzle out there. Since the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the 1920s, the Indus Valley Script has remained an enigma, resisting all attempts at decipherment. From the origins of the civilisation to the reasons why the script remains undecoded, and what the future may hold, unlocking the Indus Valley Script could reveal important insights into one of history’s great ancient cultures.

The Hippocratic Oath: Changing Perspectives Throughout History

by History Guild | Jun 17, 2024 | Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
With its oldest known version penned around 400 BCE, the Hippocratic Oath has a long and illustrious past. However, despite its age, the document remains very much alive, and new perspectives surrounding its language and purpose are constantly emerging.

Why the Romans weren’t quite as clean as you might have thought

by History Guild | May 15, 2024 | Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Prior to the Romans, Greece was the only part of Europe to have had toilets. But by the peak of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD, the Romans had introduced sanitation to much of their domain, stretching across western and southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Their impressive technologies included large multi-seat public latrines, sewers, clean water in aqueducts, elegant public baths for washing, and laws that required towns to remove waste from the streets. But how effective were these measures in improving the health of the population?

The discovery of the lost city of ‘the Dazzling Aten’ will offer vital clues about domestic and urban life in Ancient Egypt

by History Guild | Feb 26, 2024 | Historical Sites, History News | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Built by Amenhotep III and then used by his grandson Tutankhamen, the ruins of the city were an accidental discovery. In September last year, Hawass and his team were searching for a mortuary temple of Tutankhamen.

Fake news was a thing long before Donald Trump — just ask the ancient Greeks

by History Guild | Jan 1, 2024 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Thucydides and Plato lived through the crisis of Athenian democracy and, not unlike Trump, informed posterity that the fate of their beloved Athens resulted from the systematic misinformation and mis-education of the citizens.

Cheating, bribery and scandal: how the ancient Greeks did the Olympic Games

by History Guild | Dec 25, 2023 | Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
While in antiquity instances of bribery remained the exception – and were heavily punished – there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that attempts to manipulate the outcome of the competitions are as old as the Games themselves.

ALL RIVERS LEAD TO ROME

by History Guild | Nov 22, 2023 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
Never mind the roads, rivers were the arteries of the Roman Empire, carrying food, fuel and livestock along important ancient trade routes. The expression “All roads lead to Rome” encapsulates the might of the Roman Empire, but the arteries which carried its lifeblood – food, fuel, livestock and luxuries – were not roads, but rivers.

LUCKY DISCOVERIES OF LOST ANCIENT HISTORY

by History Guild | Aug 7, 2023 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 8 minutes
Our knowledge of the ancient world owes a lot to chance discoveries. Here, we share the stories of some of the most important and unlikely finds from ancient Western history.

They range from the keys to forgotten scripts from Ancient Egypt and the time of Troy, to lost poems, philosophies and even a legal text book. We owe their preservation not only to luck, but to the fastidious and obsessive geniuses who uncovered and deciphered them.

The Roman dead: new techniques are revealing just how diverse Roman Britain was

by History Guild | Jan 30, 2023 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
Our knowledge about the people who lived in Roman Britain has undergone a sea change over the past decade. New research has rubbished our perception of it as a region inhabited solely by white Europeans. Roman Britain was actually a highly multicultural society which included newcomers and locals with black African ancestry and dual heritage, as well as people from the Middle East.

18th- and 19th-century Americans of all races, classes and genders looked to the ancient Mediterranean for inspiration

by History Guild | Dec 27, 2022 | Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
The ancient world of the Mediterranean has long permeated American society, in everything from museum collections to home furnishings. The design of the nation’s public monuments, buildings and universities, as well as its legal system and form of government, show the enduring influence of Mediterranean antiquity on American culture.

Until the late 19th century, Americans encountered the ancient world almost exclusively through reproductions – in books, artwork and even popular plays. Very few could afford to travel abroad to encounter Mediterranean artifacts firsthand.

What the Romans can teach us about immigration and integration

by History Guild | Dec 23, 2022 | Political and Economic History, Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 4 minutes

At its largest, the Roman empire encompassed an area from Spain in the west to Syria in the east, and while start and end dates are largely a matter of perspective, it existed in the form most people would recognise for over 500 years.

The empire of course had many great strengths – but it could be argued that one of the most important keys to its durability was its inclusiveness.

Roman society was, of course, marked by stark inequalities. It was inherently misogynistic and rigidly classed, while slavery was ubiquitous. But in other ways, it was surprisingly open-minded – even by the standards of 2015.

Harking back: the ancient pagan festivities in our Christmas rituals

by History Guild | Dec 15, 2022 | Social and Cultural History | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
When we think of the Romans, gift-giving, carol-singing and celebrating the birth of Christ don’t immediately present themselves. Waging wars, general oppression and a never-ending desire to rule the world are more likely to spring to mind.

But various Christmas traditions come from ancient pagan festivities, including the Roman celebration of the Saturnalia.

Tag: Ancient