Definitions

Gideon was a judge and military leader, whose story was recounted in the Biblical Book of Judges. “Judge” (Hebrew, shofet) in this book was not a circuit, court judge, but someone raised up by the God of Israel during a crisis. It is equivalent...

Anaxagoras (l. c. 500-c. 428 BCE) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who claimed the First Cause of existence was Mind (nous) and all things were constituted of indestructible “seeds” (or “stuff”), originally a single mass, separated and...

The Magi are the visitors who came to Bethlehem to worship the newly-born Jesus of Nazareth in the gospel of Matthew (2:1-2). 'Magi' is a transliteration of the Greek magos from old Persian magus ("powerful") as a reference to the Zoroastrian...

Joseph of Arimathea was a follower of Jesus of Nazareth who buried him in his own tomb after the crucifixion. In the gospels, Mark and Luke identified him as a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council in Jerusalem. The location of Arimathea...

Jacob is one of the patriarchs of ancient Judaism and the father of who became the twelve tribes of Israel. His story is told in Genesis 25-50. His Hebrew name is derived from Ya-aqob ("to supplant" or "circumvent") and is constructed from...

Gorgias (l. c. 427 BCE) was a Greek Sophist and philosopher, considered the greatest Rhetorician of his day. He is said to have created several aspects of public speaking still in use and to have mastered the art of persuasion, commanding...

Born into slavery in rural Georgia, John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) rose to national prominence as a scholar, teacher, community leader, and Christian missionary. During 1890-91, he was the first African American member of the American School...

Charles II of England (r. 1660-1685) was the king of Scotland (1649-1685) before the Restoration in 1660 also made him king of England and Ireland. Charles was a charming and easygoing monarch who took a keen interest in sports, science...

Scythian warfare used state-of-the-art recurve bows and hit-and-run tactics against set infantry formations. Working from nimble horses, Scythian warriors could unleash a cloud of lethal arrows. Known, too, for their innovative use of scale...

Atreus was the mythical Greek king of Mycenae. He is perhaps best known for being the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, two heroes of the Trojan War, as well as for the terrible curse placed upon his family. This was a hereditary curse, plaguing...