Collections

The 12 gods of Mount Olympus were the most important deities in ancient Greece. In this collection, we examine each of the 12 in detail. With their all-too-human qualities in Greek mythology, the Olympian gods were capable of displaying great...

One of the lasting contributions ancient cultures have made to modern life is architecture, both in terms of surviving monuments and their influence on contemporary buildings around the world. Ambitious rulers set up pyramids in Egypt and...

Chinese warfare involved perhaps the largest and most technologically advanced armies in the ancient world. Chariots, cavalry, swords, bows and crossbows were all staple features of the battles which raged as rulers forever struggled to dominate...

Peoples, cities and states have traded since antiquity but in the medieval period, things escalated so that goods travelled ever greater distances by land, river and sea. Great cities arose thanks to commerce and international trade such...

The Crusades were a series of military campaigns waged between Christians and Muslims, Christians and pagans (the Northern Crusades), and Christians against Christians (the Fourth Crusade and the Albigensian Crusade). This complex series...

Ancient peoples were as curious as ourselves about the wider world and even if the transport at their disposal meant travel could be long, arduous and dangerous, they still managed to get about and visit different cities, sacred sites and...

Pottery is the great survivor of history. Pottery vessels have rarely ever attracted tomb robbers and the material can not be reused like bronze or gold. Even if smashed to pieces, pots can be painstakingly put back together again and clay...

Many of the drinks we enjoy today such as wine, beer and tea have a very long history indeed and this collection examines some of those beverages and their cultural importance not just in daily life but also in rituals, ceremonies and trade...

Ancient History Encyclopedia has over 100 articles on UNESCO World Heritage sites, and in this collection, we look at just a few of them. The selection of sites, some well-known and others much less so, represents cultures from around the...

In this collection we look in detail at each of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The oldest and only surviving wonder is the Great Pyramid of Giza which held the record for the tallest structure in the world until the 19th century...