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Tarentum
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Tarentum

Tarentum (Taras, modern Taranto), located on the southern coast of Apulia, Italy, was a Greek and then Roman city. Controlling a large area of Magna Graecia and heading the Italiote League, Tarentum, with its excellent harbour, was a strategically...
Woolly Mammoth
Definition by Emma Groeneveld

Woolly Mammoth

The woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, is an extinct herbivore related to elephants who trudged across the steppe-tundras of Eurasia and North America from around 300,000 years ago until their numbers seriously dropped from around 11,000...
Metapontum
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Metapontum

Metapontum, located on the southern coast of Basilicata, Italy, was an Achaean colony founded in the late 8th century BCE. Thriving on agriculture and trade, the city became one of the most prosperous colonies in Magna Graecia. Today, the...
Longmen Grottoes
Definition by Benjamin Oswald

Longmen Grottoes

The Longmen Grottoes, a Buddhist cave complex located 13 kilometers south of Luoyang in China's Henan province, form some of the most significant and exquisite representations of ancient Chinese stone art. Created over the course of approximately...
Amarna Period of Egypt
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Amarna Period of Egypt

The Amarna Period of ancient Egypt was the era of the reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE), known as 'the heretic king'. In the 5th year of his reign (c. 1348 BCE), he issued sweeping religious reforms which resulted in the suppression of the...
Amarna
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Amarna

Amarna is the modern Arabic name for the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten, capital of the country under the reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 BCE). The site is officially known as Tell el-Amarna, so-named for the Beni Amran tribe...
Fayum
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Fayum

The Faiyum (also given as Fayoum, Fayum, and Faiyum Oasis) was a region of ancient Egypt known for its fertility and the abundance of plant and animal life. Located 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of Memphis (modern Cairo), the Faiyum was...
Silk in Antiquity
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Silk in Antiquity

Silk is a fabric first produced in Neolithic China from the filaments of the cocoon of the silk worm. It became a staple source of income for small farmers and, as weaving techniques improved, the reputation of Chinese silk spread so that...
Senusret III
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Senusret III

Senusret III (c. 1878-1860 BCE, also known as Senwosret III, Sesostris III) was the 5th king of the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE). His reign is often considered the height of the Middle Kingdom which was the...
Mandate of Heaven
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Mandate of Heaven

The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), also known as Heaven's Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China's early kings and then emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky selected a particular...
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