Perfume: Did you mean...?

Family in ancient Mesopotamia was considered the essential unit that provided social stability in the present, maintained traditions of the past, and ensured the continuance of those traditions, customs, and stability for the future. The...

Alabastron (pl. alabastra) - a small jar for storing perfumes, named after the material (alabaster) the first examples were made from. They were often carried by a string looped around the neck of the vessel. Amphora (pl. amphorae) - one...

Mediterranean trade increased exponentially at the turn of the first millennium. During Rome's zenith, goods of all sorts began to move in all directions. As a common traveler aboard merchant ships, Paul traveled within such a milieu. Tracing...

Diogenes of Sinope (c. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man. He was most likely a student of the philosopher Antisthenes...

Wine has been made for over 7,000 years, and effervescent wine for just as long since sealing wine before the fermentation is complete will naturally produce it. True sparkling wine, though, a wine that is clear from cloudy impurities, was...

An inscription on an Egyptian papyrus dating from the 2nd century CE relates that the goddess Isis, bestowing gifts on humanity at the beginning of time, gave as much power and honor to women as she did to men. This brief passage reflects...

The Silla Kingdom ruled south-eastern Korea during the Three Kingdoms period (1st century BCE - 7th century CE) and then, as the Unified Silla Kingdom, all of Korea from 668 to 935 CE. The Silla produced fine pieces of art, but their most...

When he came to the throne in 884 BCE, Ashurnasirpal II had to attend to revolts which broke out across the empire. He ruthlessly put down all rebellions, destroyed the rebel cities and, as a warning to others, impaled, burned, and flayed...

The story of Ruth and Naomi is found in the book of Ruth in the Jewish Scriptures. The Scriptures are traditionally divided into three sections: Torah (the first five books assigned to Moses), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and Writings (Ketuvim...

Ancient Egyptian art was created to serve a practical purpose, not for its own sake, and so every piece had a specific function. At the same time, these works were crafted in accordance with the cultural value of ma'at (harmony) and so attention...