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Ancient Afghanistan
Definition by Ralf Rotheimer

Ancient Afghanistan

The ancient history of Afghanistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, is full of fascinating cultures, from early nomadic tribes to the realms of Achaemenid Persia, the Seleucids, the Mauryans, the Parthians, and Sasanians, as well as...
Wars of the Diadochi
Definition by Donald L. Wasson

Wars of the Diadochi

On June 10, 323 BCE Alexander the Great died in Babylon. Although historians have debated the exact cause most agree that the empire he built was left without adequate leadership for there was no clear successor or heir. The military commanders...
Portuguese Macao
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Portuguese Macao

Macao (Macau) is located on a peninsula in the estuary of the Pearl River delta in southeast China and it was a Portuguese colonial settlement from c. 1557 until 1999. Macao was a major trade hub of the Portuguese Empire and with its unique...
Alexander the Great as a God
Article by Donald L. Wasson

Alexander the Great as a God

The age-old concept of the “divine right of kings” allowed that a country's ruler received his or her power or authority from God. However, few, if any, were delusional enough to actually believe themselves to be a god. An exception to this...
Jade in Ancient China
Article by Mark Cartwright

Jade in Ancient China

Jade (nephrite) was regarded as the most precious stone in ancient China, and it symbolised purity and moral integrity. Prized for its durability and magical qualities, the stone was laboriously carved and polished into all manner of objects...
Ming Porcelain
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Ming Porcelain

The porcelain of the Ming Dynasty of China (1368-1644 CE) benefitted, as did other arts, from the economic success of the 15th century CE, in particular, and the consequent surge in demand for quality handcraft production both at home and...
Diodorus Siculus' Account of the Life of Semiramis
Article by Joshua J. Mark

Diodorus Siculus' Account of the Life of Semiramis

Semiramis is the semi-divine Warrior-Queen of Assyria, whose reign is most clearly documented by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (l. 90-30 BCE) in his great work Bibliotheca Historica ("Historical Library") written over thirty years...
European Colonization of the Americas
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

European Colonization of the Americas

The European colonization of the Americas was the process by which European settlers populated the regions of North, Central, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean. It is also recognized as the direct cause for the cultures of the...
Parthia (Empire)
Definition by Patrick Scott Smith, M. A.

Parthia (Empire)

The Parthians ruled from 247 BCE to 224 CE creating a vast empire that stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to India and China in the east. East of the Caspian Sea there emerged from the steppe of Central Asia a nomadic Scythian tribe...
Chagatai Khanate
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate (also Chaghatai, Jagatai, Chaghatay or Ca'adai, c. 1227-1363 CE) was that part of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) which covered what is today mostly Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan, and western Tajikistan. The khanate...
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