bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Caspian/Hyrcanian Sea and region
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

The Caspian Sea was known to ancient writers on geography and to historians. Herodotus makes it an inland sea, but Strabo thought it was connected to the northern ocean. Strabo notes that the Caspian Sea was also called the Hyrcanian Sea.
Caucasus mountain
Authors: Cojocaru Victor
Published: December 2012

The mountains between the Black and Caspian seas were not only a land of the famous mythological heroes—Argonauts, Medea, Prometheus, Herakles, Amazons—but also a very important crossroad of civilizations.
Demetrias
Authors: Michaleas Spyridon
Published: December 2012

Located in Magnesia in Thessaly on the Pagasitikos Gulf near the Anauros River (Strabo 9.436), Demetrias bordered on Tempe to the north and Thebes and Pherai to the southwest (Polyb. 5.99.3).
Diolkos
Authors: Pettegrew David K.
Published: December 2012

Diolkos
is a term used in ancient literature for a narrow land strip associated with portaging (from διέλκειν, “to haul across”) and in modern scholarship for the paved limestone road across the 7 km wide Corinthian Isthmus.
Eresos
Authors: Schaus Gerald
Published: December 2012

Best known as the birthplace of Sappho and Theophrastus, Eresos was one of five city‐states on Lesbos in the Classical period. Located in the southwest of the island, its main settlement lay around an acropolis with some sheltered anchorage at the south end of the main coastal plain. Polygonal (“Lesbian”) enclosure walls, probably archaic, and two early Christian basilicas are among the few remains. It produced fine barley meal (Ath. 3.111f–112a), and the best wine of Lesbos (Gal. 14.28k).
Ganges
Authors: Gupta Sunil
Published: December 2012

The river Ganges/Ganga begins at the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas.
Halieis
Authors: Ault Bradley A.
Published: December 2012

Halieis is a small Archaic to Late Classical
polis
, whose name translates to “fishermen” or “salty place,” located in the southwest Argolid near the modern town of Porto Cheli.
Hellespont
Authors: Loukopoulou Louisa
Published: December 2012

The Hellespont (modern Dardanelles) is a narrow strait of primeval and enduring strategic importance, separating mainland Asia from Europe; indeed, northwest Asia Minor from the Thracian Chersonese (modern Gallipoli peninsula;seeChersonese, Thrace) and south‐east Thrace.
Iasos
Authors: Fabiani Roberta
Published: December 2012

Iasos (now Kiyikislacik) lies on a peninsula of the Carian coast. Ancient sources call it an island‐town, with a poor territory, whose main economic resource was fishing (Strabo 14.2.21); but its wealth (Thuc. 8.28.3) also derived from agriculture and commerce. Its red marble was renowned in imperial times.
Ikaros in Persian Gulf
Authors: Iossif Panagiotis P.
Published: December 2012

The island of Ikaros (mod. Failaka; probably from the Greekphylaké, “fortress”) is situated south of the Euphrates delta in the Persian Gulf, some 20 km east‐northeast from Kuwait city.
Ilissos
Authors: Camp John McK.
Published: December 2012

The Ilissos River flows along the foothills of Mount Hymettos, to the southeast of Athens, outside the ancient walls.
Indus
Authors: Gupta Sunil
Published: December 2012

The Indus River (Sanskrit: Sindhu) is one of the great rivers of the ancient world. The Indus originates in Tibet and flows for 2,900 km through Kashmir, the Punjab plains, and the coastal province of Sind (Pakistan) to debouch into the Arabian Sea.
Issos
Authors: Worthington Ian
Published: December 2012

The plain of Issos was off the Gulf of Iskenderun and was the site of Alexander the Great's second battle in Asia in September 333
BCE
.
Karystos
Authors: Reber Karl
Published: December 2012

Karystos is a city on the southern tip of the island of Euboea where, according to legend, the Dryopes lived (Thuc. 7.57.4). The area at the foot of the Ochi mountains was already settled in the prehistoric era. Homer (Il. 2.539) mentions it as one of six Euboean cities that participated in the Trojan War under the leadership of Elephenor of the Abantes.
Kassope
Authors: Loukopoulou Louisa
Published: December 2012

Kassope, the political center of ancient Kassopia, a part of Thesprotia in southwestern Epirus, was founded by the Kassopaeans before 350
BCE
through the synoecism of neighboring villages on the slopes of Mount Zalongo (near modern Kamarina), at the northern end of a vast and fertile plain extending down to the Gulf of Ambrakia.
Ceramic Gulf
Authors: Bresson Alain
Published: December 2012

The Ceramic Gulf is the longest gulf on the coast of western Asia Minor.
Kourion
Authors: Soren H. David
Published: December 2012

Kourion (Latin: Curium) was an ancient kingdom and city state of Cyprus, located on the southwestern coast 25 km west of the kingdom of Amathus.
Cyclades islands
Authors: Liampi Katerini
Published: December 2012

The Cyclades are in the center of the Aegean Sea between the Cretan Sea and mainland Greece.
Laodikeia by the Lykos
Authors: Corsten Thomas
Published: December 2012

Laodikeia by the Lykos (a tributary of the Maeander) was a city in southern Phrygia, sometimes counted in Caria, near modern Denizli.
Larissa
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Larissa lies in the center of the Dotion Plain in Pelasgiotis, one of the four tetrads of Thessaly, which were created by Aleuas the Red in the sixth century
BCE
.
Lebedos
Authors: Ager Sheila L.
Published: December 2012

Traditionally founded by one Andropompos or Andraimon (Strabo 14.1.3; Paus. 7.3.5), thepolisof Lebedos was one of the core members of the Ioniankoinon.
Lelantion Plain
Authors: Parker Victor
Published: December 2012

The Lelantion Plain lies in central Euboea, on the coast between Chalcis to the west and Eretria to the east. The territory surrounding the plain in many places emphasizes the latter's remarkable fertility, as barren scrub land commonly gives way without transition to intensely cultivated farms and gardens.
Long Walls, Athens
Authors: Conwell David H.
Published: December 2012

From Classical through early Hellenistic times, the Long Walls established a fortified connection between the inland city of Athens and its harbors. These fortifications, each one some 6 km in length, prevented enemy forces from conquering Athens simply by occupying the coastal plain so as to separate the city from its navy. Ancient literary and epigraphic sources document four major building phases, the first three of which are represented in the archaeological record. Because the structures were directly associated with a naval strategy, one may chart their history broadly based on fluctuations in Athenian naval strength.
Lycia
Authors: Gygax Marc Domingo , Tietz Werner
Published: December 2012

The ancient region of Lycia comprises the entire modern Teke peninsula on the southern coast of Asia Minor, bordering Caria in the west and Pamphylia in the east. To the north, the westernmost ranges of the Taurus mountains shield Lycia from Phrygia and Pisidia. The political and cultural borders vary through history. This is especially true in the west, where Telmessos is the last place with traces of the indigenous Lycian language and Krya the last with rock‐cut tombs in the Lycian style, whereas Kaunos in imperial times was part of the Roman province of Lycia. The landscape is characterized by a few large fertile plains and a rough hinterland with scarce arable areas.
Magnesia on the Maeander
Authors: Bingöl Orhan
Published: December 2012

Magnesia was an ancient city that flourished especially from the Hellenistic period to the end of the Roman imperial period, the ruins of which are in Aydin in Turkey.
Marsyas
Authors: Harl Kenneth W.
Published: December 2012

The Marsyas River in Phrygia is a tributary of the Maeander River (modern Büyük Menderes Çayi, Turkey) and takes its source near Kelainai, a residence of Persian satraps.
Megalopolis
Authors: Grieb Volker
Published: December 2012

Megalopolis is situated in the middle of a large upland basin in western Arcadia in the Peloponnese. Founded under the strong influence of Thebes after the battle of Leuktra, most probably in 368/7
BCE
, at that time as well as later on the city was a rival to Sparta.
Mesene (Charakene)
Authors: Hauser Stefan R.
Published: December 2012

Mesene (Greek; Middle Persian:Mēšān/Mēšūn; Syriac:Maysān/Mayšān; Arabic:Maisān) was the name of the southernmost part of the Mesopotamian alluvium where the Euphrates and Tigris, joined by the Karkhah River (Eulaios), having crossed swamps, reach the Persian Gulf (Mare Erythraeum). Geographical limits are the desert in the west, the swamps in the north, Elymais in the east, and the Gulf in the south. Politically, Mesene was the successor of the Seleucid “Satrapy of the Erythrean Sea.” Both included Bahrain (Thilousa) and minor islands in the Gulf.
Messon sanctuary
Authors: Williams Hector
Published: December 2012

Messon, or “the middle” of the island of Lesbos near the eastern end of the Gulf of Kalloni, housed a sanctuary of Zeus, Dionysos, and a local goddess (perhaps identified with Hera) near the intersection of territories of the cities of Mytilene, Methymna, and Eresos; it was a place where the three cities could meet for festivals and common gatherings from at least the seventh century
BCE
.
Methana (Arsinoe)
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Methana is a triangular peninsula that juts out into the Saronic Gulf near Epidaurus.
Molossis
Authors: Meyer Elizabeth A.
Published: December 2012

Molossis (in Epirus, in northwest Greece) was the area of the inland plain centered around modern‐day Ioannina, along with the mountainous territory to its east, up to the watershed of the Pindus Mountains.
Naupaktos
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Naupaktos is a city of the Ozolian Lokrians, located in a very strategic position on the southern coast of Ozolian Lokris, which is the northern coast of the Corinthian Gulf.
Olbia
Authors: Bilde Pia Guldager
Published: December 2012

Olbia (alternatively Borysthenes; modern Parutino, Ukraine) was among the most important of the ancient Greek Ponticpoleis.
Orchomenos in Boiotia
Authors: Fappas Ioannis
Published: December 2012

Orchomenos is a major center in North Boiotia, Central Greece, located at the north edge of the Kopais terrain.
Paktolos
Authors: Daubner Frank
Published: December 2012

The Lydian river Paktolos, today Sart Çayı, flows from the Tmolos through Sardis and feeds the Hermos. In Antiquity, it was renowned for containing gold and electrum which was used for the first coinage of the Lydian kings and caused their proverbial wealth. In Strabo's time, the gold was exhausted (Strabo 13.1.23, 13.4.5), but the
Pactoli liquores
(Prop. 1.14.11) persisted as literary
topos
in Roman poetry.
Pamphylia
Authors: Mitchell Stephen
Published: December 2012

Pamphylia was an extensive coastal area of southern Asia Minor enclosed by the mountainous regions of Lycia, Pisidia, and Cilicia.
Panamara sanctuary
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Panamara was a sanctuary of Zeus Panamaros in the territory of Stratonikeia, Caria.
Patala
Authors: Gupta Sunil
Published: December 2012

Patala was a port‐town on the delta of the river Indus.
Peloponnese
Authors: Brown Amelia R.
Published: December 2012

The Peloponnese is the leaf‐shaped, southern peninsula of Greece attached to the mainland by the Corinthian isthmus on its northeast side.
Pisa
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Pisa was the district of
ELIS
around
OLYMPIA
. Whether Pisa was a separate city or not was disputed even in Antiquity (Strabo 8.3.31). The name itself is pre‐Greek. The classical ethnic is
Pisates
(Pind.
Ol
. 4.11; Eur.
IT
1). In the Hellenistic period, it is
Pisaios
(Paus. 5.8.6). The original extent of the territory of Pisa is not known, but it probably included the area annexed by Elis and contiguous with Olympia northward to Elis. The extent of its territory south of the Alpheios River was described differently by Hellenistic geographers (cf. Strabo 8.3.7, 3.11).
Priene
Authors: Raeck Wulf
Published: December 2012

Priene is situated in the southern foothills of the Mykale Mountain (Samsun Dağı, Dilek Yarımadası) and the northern edge of the Maeander plain (Büyük Menderes).
Same
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Same was the original name of the island of Kephallenia, as one can judge from Homer (
Il
. 2.634;
Od
. 1.246, 4.671, 9.24, 15.29).
Seleukeia
Authors: Iossif Panagiotis P.
Published: December 2012

Seleukeia on the Tigris was founded by Seleukos I Nikator on the site of Tell Umar.
Side
Authors: Vandeput Lutgarde
Published: December 2012

Side is the easternmost ancient harbor city on the fertile Pamphylian plain (Plin.HN5.96; Ptol. 5.5.2;Tab.Peut. 10.2).
Sigeon
Authors: Loukopoulou Louisa
Published: December 2012

Sigeon was a colony of Mytilene established in the late seventh centuryBCEin the Troad, on the strategically located promontory which controls the southern entrance of the Hellespont, at the northwest edge of the lower Skamander plain.
Skiathos
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Skiathos is an island of the northern Sporades Islands, the westernmost of the group, which Strabo calls ”the islands before Magnesia” (9.5.16).
Stymphalos
Authors: Williams Hector
Published: December 2012

The small Arcadian city of Stymphalos lies in the northeastern Peloponnese about 600 m above sea level beside Lake Stymphalos.
Syros
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Syros is one of the Cyclades Islands, west of Delos but close to the center of the group.
T
aprobane
Authors: Coloru Omar
Published: December 2012

Taprobane was the name given by the authors of the Greco‐Roman world to Sri Lanka. The name derives from Sanskrit
Tamraparni
, “copper‐colored palms,” and is related to a Buddhist legend.
Taxila
Authors: Gupta Sunil
Published: December 2012

Taxila or Takshashila was the first kingdom that Alexander confronted after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains in 327
BCE
.
T
enos
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Tenos is an island of the Cyclades Islands group, located on its northern perimeter.
Thuria, Peloponnese
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Thuria was a city in Messenia, located on the Stenykleros plain, west of the range of Taygetos Mountain, between the Aris and Nedon rivers.
T
los
Authors: Hülden Oliver
Published: December 2012

Tlos (Lycian
Tlawa
, now Kale Köy) is a Lycian city situated in the upper Xanthos Valley and beneath the Massikytos mountains.
Tralles
Authors: Blümel Wolfgang
Published: December 2012

Tralles ((αἱ) τράλλεις Strabo 14.1.42, 648) was an ancient city situated north of the Maeander River on a sufficiently fortified hill above the modern town of Aydıın (formerly Güzelhisar).
Trapezos
Authors: Scholten Joseph B.
Published: December 2012

Trapezos (modern Trabzon, Turkey) was a Greek settlement on the southeast coast of the Black Sea that marked the northeastern frontier of thepolisculture of the ancient Mediterranean world (Strabo 12.3.17).
Xanthos
Authors: des Courtils Jacques
Published: December 2012

The city of Xanthos lies in the rich valley of Xanthos river (which gave its name to the city) close to the Mediterranean shore.
Paphos
Authors: Michaelides Demetrios
Published: December 2012

The name refers to two different cities on the southwest coast of the island of Cyprus.
Methone, Magnesia
Authors: West William C.
Published: December 2012

Methone is located on the plain on the west side of the Magnesian Peninsula and of Mount Pelion, giving access to the Gulf of Pagasai.
Abu Rawash (Abu Roash)
Authors: Baud Michel
Published: December 2012

Abu Rawash is a wide archaeological area situated west of the Nile, close to the apex of the Delta.
Adaima
Authors: Midant‐Reynes Beatrix
Published: December 2012

The site of Adaima is crucial for understanding the Predynastic cultures of Upper Egypt. Located 8 km south from the modern city of Esna, Adaima occupies an area of 35 ha and consists of a large settlement and two necropoleis. It was occupied from the end of Naqada I (ca. 3900
BCE
) to the 3rd Dynasty (ca. 2700).
Administration, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Warburton David A.
Published: December 2012

There was no unified “administration” in Egypt, but rather several interlocking systems—of the state and provinces, the military, the cults of the gods, etc.
Akhmim
Authors: Elias Jonathan
Published: December 2012

Akhmim, a city located 470 km/290 miles south of Cairo, opposite Sohag, was in ancient times a center of worship of the fertility god Min, his consort Isis (local variant Aper‐Set), and their child Horus. The settlement developed in Predynastic times upon the eastern bank of the Nile at a strategic bend.
Ahmose II (Amasis)
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

Khnemibre Ahmose (II) of the 26th Dynasty began his career as an official – probably a senior military officer – under Wahibre his mother was named Tashereniset, while his father may have been a certain Taperu.
Anubis
Authors: Duquesne Terence
Published: December 2012

Anubis is one of the most important and complex deities of the Egyptian pantheon.
Apis
Authors: Meyrat Pierre
Published: December 2012

Apis was a very ancient Memphite bull god, worshipped from at least as early as the reign of King Hor‐Aha of the 1st Dynasty (Simpson 1957).
Astronomy, Egyptian
Authors: Symons Sarah
Published: December 2012

Interest in celestial bodies is present in ancient Egyptian religious texts from the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts onward. However, evidence of astronomical observations is comparatively rare. Sources include instruments, texts used for the decoration of temples and tombs, and other texts such as temple records, star tables, and biographies.
Aten/Aton
Authors: Ikram Salima
Published: December 2012

Aten was a sun god who was known at least by the Middle Kingdom, where he appears in the Coffin Texts Funerary Cult, Pharaonic Egypt).
Atum
Authors: Nelson‐Hurst M. G.
Published: December 2012

Atum (
Itm
), often called “Father of the Gods,” was the first god of creation and head of the Ennead (initial nine gods) in the Heliopolitan tradition. He was most often depicted in the likeness of a king, as a fully human man wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, though with a uniquely‐shaped beard. Atum's principal geographic centers were at Heliopolis and Pithom (
Per‐Tem
).
Bakenrenef (Bokkhoris)
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

Wahkare Bakenrenef (Greek: Bokkhoris) was the second king of the 24th Egyptian Dynasty that briefly ruled the north of Egypt following the withdrawal of Piy (Piankhy) to Nubia after his invasion ca. 734
BCE
. Bakenrenef was the successor of Tefnakhte, who had previously been prince of the west, ruling northwestern Egypt from Sais, and had taken royal titles. Little is known of Bakenrenef's reign, which lasted ca. 724–718, only a few scarabs and a vase–found in an Etruscan tomb at Tarquinia, Italy–being known, along with the record of the interment of a sacred Apis bull in his year 6.
Bubastis/Tell Basta
Authors: Wilson Penelope
Published: December 2012

The modern town of Zagazig in the eastern Nile Delta stands on the site of ancient Bubas‐tis (Per‐Bastet).
Khafre (Chephren)
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

It appears that Khafre reigned for around twenty‐five years during the second half of the twenty‐sixth century
BCE
. He was a son of Khufu, and is depicted as such in the later propagandistic folktale contained in Westcar Papyrus. Khafre came to the throne following the reign of his brother Djedefre and possibly also that of the latter's son Setka. Khafre had at least four wives – Meresankh III, Khamarernebty I, Hekenuhedjet, and Persenet – and at least ten children (Dodson and Hilton 2004: 52–3).
Chronology, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

The basic structure of Egyptian chronology is provided by the dynasties into which the history of Egypt was arranged by the Hellenistic historian Manetho (
see
Manetho, Egyptian Historian).
Letters, letter writing, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Warburton David A.
Published: December 2012

Letters offer direct access to private and state interests. Aside from their disparate contents, the mode of address clearly defines the social relations between sender and recipient: the official position of the higher‐ranking individual usually determines the order in which names are listed. Most letters betray very little information, consisting of platitudes for the most part, matters of particular relevance usually being referred to obliquely.
Cosmetics, Egypt
Authors: Depietro Dana D.
Published: December 2012

Cosmetics may refer to any number of powders, lotions, compounds, tinctures, or other preparations ultimately centered on the attempt to make the body more attractive by superficial means. In ancient Egypt personal hygiene, appearance, and ritual purity were of tremendous importance. Cosmetics, then, were widely used by both sexes and were inextricably intertwined with ritual, trade, medicine, and sexuality.
Demons, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Szpakowska Kasia
Published: December 2012

References to demons abound in Ancient Egyptian magical and funerary texts, testifying to the belief in supernatural beings who were harmful to humans. One of the largest groups was made up of anonymous hordes called male and female “enemies,” “adversaries,” and the “dead.”
Diospolis Parva (Hiw)
Authors: Bednarski Andrew
Published: December 2012

The modern village of Hiw is located 10 km southeast of Nag Hammadi. Founded as Hut‐sekhem in the Middle Kingdom on the west bank of the Nile in the seventh Upper Egyptian Nome, the name survived as Ho, or Hou, in Coptic.
Djet
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

The Horus Djet was a king of the 1st Egyptian Dynasty, around the thirtieth/twenty‐ninth centuryBCE. He was probably a son of his predecessor Djer, while his wife was presumably Merneith, known to be the mother of his successor, Den. To judge from the late Abydos temple offering lists, his personal name seems to have been Ita.
First Intermediate Period, Egypt
Authors: Musacchio Tracy
Published: December 2012

While the First Intermediate Period may have been short in duration (scholars estimate it to have lasted around two hundred years), its impact was long‐lived.
Middle Kingdom, Egypt
Authors: Grajetzki Wolfram
Published: December 2012

The Middle Kingdom was regarded in later periods of Ancient Egypt as the classical age. Its literature and art works served as a model for the New Kingdom and Late Period. Its language was still used for the latest hieroglyphic inscriptions in the Roman Period.
Predynastic Period, Egypt
Authors: Hendrickx Stan
Published: December 2012

In the winter of 1895, W. M. F. Petrie discovered several sites in the Naqada region
El‐Kab
Authors: Huyge Dirk
Published: December 2012

The Upper Egyptian site of El‐Kab (ancient Egyptian Nekheb, Greco‐Roman Eileithyiaspolis) is extensive (about 16 sq km) and contains monuments from all periods of Egyptian history from the Final Paleolithic (ca. 7000
BCE
) down to Coptic times. The principal deity of El‐Kab was the vulture‐goddess Nekhbet (“She of Nekheb”), who, with the cobra‐goddess Wadjet of Lower Egypt, was one of the two tutelary deities of pharaoh himself, as well as being the goddess of Upper Egypt.
Famine and food shortages, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Manley Bill
Published: December 2012

The Nile cuts a course through the Sahara Desert. For much of its length the river is fringed by farmland, until it sweeps out across a marshy delta. Nearasyut, a single branch leaves the main flow to irrigate the broadfayyumregion. Otherwise, Egypt is arid and hostile. Rainfall is rare and often destructive, reducing homes and granaries to mud and unleashing flash floods. Nevertheless, because of the Nile's constancy, Egypt is exceptionally fertile, and life for most Egyptians through history has been lived at subsistence levels but not usually in hardship.
Fayyum
Authors: Davoli Paola
Published: December 2012

The pseudo‐oasis of El‐Fayyum is avast region (1,827 sq km) and a Governorate in the Western Desert of Egypt. Its capital is Medinet el‐Fayyum, Shedet in the Pharaonic period, Krokodilopolis/Ptolemais Euergetis in the Ptolemaic period, and Arsinoiton polis in the Roman period.
Forts, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Mumford Gregory D.
Published: December 2012

A fort is often defined as a “fortified building,” or “fortified position,” while military historians recognize three basic types: a refuge (place of retreat), a stronghold (essentially a center securing an area), and strategic defenses (an integrated line of fortifications controlling a broad region or frontier) (Gilbert 2004: 99). The materials, designs, sizes, population (“garrison”), aims/functions, and locations of fortifications vary widely throughout antiquity, while innovations over time are closely related to geographical location (i.e., landscape), changing sociopolitical and economic circumstances, means, and needs, and advances in and adaptations against military technology, siege tactics, and other strategies. This entry covers Egyptian fortifications from the late Predynastic through Pharaonic periods (ca. 4000‐332BCE).
Harim
Authors: Manley Bill
Published: December 2012

Harim (harem) is the word typically used to translate various Egyptian terms associated with the royal family and its staff, or with palaces and institutions reserved for royal women.
Heh
Authors: Ikram Salima
Published: December 2012

Hel was a member of the Ogdoad, a group of creator gods originating in Khemnu, modern el‐Ashmunein (Hermopolis Magna).
Hekanakhte (Heqanakht)
Authors: Allen James P.
Published: December 2012

A funerary priest (“ka‐servant”) of the Vizier Ipi, Heqanakht is known only from a series of papyri composed by and for him in regnal years 5–8 of Senwosret I (ca. 1957–1954
BCE
). The documents consist of four letters, four accounts, and four fragments. They are significant for their unparalleled depiction of the daily life and economy of a middle‐class Egyptian family during the Middle Kingdom.
Heliopolis, Ain Shams/ Matariya
Authors: Raue Dietrich
Published: December 2012

Heliopolis is situated at the southeastern fringe of the Nile Delta.
Horus
Authors: Ikram Salima , Eavis Ros
Published: December 2012

Horus was a solar and sky god and one of the most important Egyptian gods associated with kingship.
Human sacrifice, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Bestock Laurel
Published: December 2012

The practice of human sacrifice in early Egypt is a matter of perennial interest and some debate.
Huni
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

Huni is the name given in the Saqqara and Turin King Lists and in the “Instructions of Kagemni” as preserved in Papyrus Prisse, now in Paris, to the last king of the 3rd Dynasty.
Hyksos
Authors: Bietak Manfred
Published: December 2012

Hyksos is the Hellenized version of the Egyptian word, Heqa Khaswt, “Rulers of foreign countries” – a term used originally for foreign chieftains and adopted, according to the Turin King List and monumental evidence, by the rulers of the 15th Dynasty for official use and by contemporary vassal‐dynasties on account of their Syro‐Palestinian descent.
Karnak
Authors: Orel Sara E.
Published: December 2012

Karnak, north of modern Luxor in Upper Egypt, is the site of important temples from at least the Middle Kingdom through to the time that Christianity replaced the ancient gods.
Law, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: David Arlette
Published: December 2012

In its general meaning oflegal system or legal norms, the law of Pharaonic Egypt, from the Old Kingdom to pre‐Demotic Egypt, in principle originated from the royal persona in times of strong central government: the monarch embodied all the powers of the state through holding a divine office. His word was recorded in decrees with normative value; he was considered supreme judge and head of the executive power, and delegations of some of his competences remained theoretically under his control. Since the Old Kingdom, the vizier (two viziers for Lower and Upper Egypt, respectively, mainly during the New Kingdom) was associated with the administration of justice and the functioning of the courts, assisted by a host of agents and scribes.
Leontopolis
Authors: Redmount Carol A.
Published: December 2012

Leontopolis, “City of the Lions,” is the Greco‐Roman name of two prominent sites in the Egyptian Delta: Tell el‐Muqdam in Daqaliya Governorate and Tell el‐Yahudiya in Qalyubiya Governorate.
Literacy, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Zinn Katharina
Published: December 2012

Literacy, understood as the ability to read and write, was the trigger for and prerequisite of ancient Egyptians entering into a good profession, rank, and high social status, as stated in the “Instruction of Ani,” one of the Egyptian wisdom texts: “One will do all you say if you are versed in writings” (Lichtheim 1976: 140). This could happen regardless of social rank at birth, as to rise socially was possible for literate people.
Lykopolis/Asyut
Authors: Duquesne Terence
Published: December 2012

Lykopolis, more properly Lykonpolis, means “City of Wolves,” and is the classical name for the ancient city known to the Egyptians as Saut(i) (“The Guardian,” or “[Place] of the Guardian”). The Arabic form Asyut or Siut is derived from the Egyptian name. Both the hieroglyphic and the Greek names refer to the god Wepwawet or Upwawet, the tutelary deity of Asyut who is represented as an ever‐watchful and often warlike jackal. Asyut is siuated in the center of Egypt, 407 km from Cairo, and in antiquity was the last settlement on the way to the oases of Upper Egypt.
Maadi
Authors: Hartung Ulrich
Published: December 2012

The Predynastic settlement of Maadi is the site of an eponymous Chacolithic Lower Egyptian culture which spread during the first half of the 4th millenniumBCEfrom the Fayyum in the south throughout the Nile Delta. The site is located in the southern suburbs of Cairo, covering an area ca. 1.5 km long and 200 m wide. Today, large parts of the site are destroyed or threatened by the rapidly growing city of Cairo.
Medinet Habu (Djeme)
Authors: Wilfong T. G.
Published: December 2012

Medinet Habu, to the west of modern Luxor (ancient Thebes) in southern Egypt, is the site of the mortuary temple of Rameses III. The temple and its enclosure became a site of habitation, and eventually (in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods) developed into a small town called Djeme, best known from its final stages in the Late Antique and Byzantine periods, and ultimately abandoned around the year 800CE.
Medinet Madi
Authors: Davoli Paola
Published: December 2012

Kom Medinet Madi is located in southwestern Fayyum, north of El‐Gharaq basin.
Mnevis
Authors: Meyrat Pierre
Published: December 2012

Mnevis was an important bull god worshipped in Heliopolis.
Nektanebo
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

The 30th Egyptian Dynasty kings Nakhtnebef and Nakhthorheb are often referred to under the Greek name “Nektanebo.”
Nefertiti
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

Nefertiti was the Great Wife of the Egyptian king Akhenaten (Amenhotep Iv), whom she seems to have married soon after his accession.
Nekhbet
Authors: Monkhouse Wendy
Published: December 2012

A female deity who took the form of a vulture, Nekhbet was the guardian of Upper Egypt. Originally a local deity of El‐Kab, as early as the 1st Dynasty Nekhbet had become one of the “Two Ladies” (
nbty
), the vulture and cobra goddesses closely associated with the king. Royal identity was partly configured through the king's
nbty
name, each goddess representing power over and allegiance from Upper or Lower Egypt. The vulture headdress worn by royal women from the Old Kingdom onwards is also linked to Nekhbet.
Nine Bows
Authors: Bednarski Andrew
Published: December 2012

The term “Nine Bows,” and its associated iconography, referred to Nubian, Asiatic, and Libyan peoples considered subordinate to Egypt.
Nome
Authors: Nelson‐Hurst M. G.
Published: December 2012

Nome is the Greek word used to describe an ancient Egyptian administrative district (
sepat
in Egyptian).
Obelisk
Authors: Bandy Kathryn E.
Published: December 2012

An obelisk is a tall, rectangular, four‐sided stone monument whose top is in the shape of a pyramid, known as the pyramidion.
Oracles, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Moore Teresa
Published: December 2012

The earliest evidence for oracular consultation in Pharaonic Egypt survives in a few enigmatic royal inscriptions of the mid‐18th Dynasty; accounts of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III reveal that Amun communicated his will through the medium of his portable barque.
Palette
Authors: Kuhn Robert
Published: December 2012

The so‐called slate palettes are objects of special interest, as they shed light on the development of culture and media in Predynastic Egypt.
Papyrus
Authors: Espinel Andres D.
Published: December 2012

Papyrus (
Cyperus papyrus
) grows, like the rest of
Cyperaceae
plants, in quiet and shallow river waters in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, and the Near East.
Philai
Authors: D'auria Sue
Published: December 2012

The island of Philai is located at the ancient juncture of Egypt and Nubia, at the southern end of the Nile River's First Cataract. It was the site of a major temple built during the later periods of Egyptian history dedicated to the goddess Isis, whose cult reached international status during this time.
Piy (Piankhy)
Authors: Anderson Julie Renee
Published: December 2012

During the mid‐eighth centuryBCE, the Kushite king Piy (747–716BCE) invaded Egypt, creating the basis for the 25th Dynasty (747–656).
Pottery, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Orel Sara E.
Published: December 2012

Pottery is the most common artifact at archaeological sites in Egypt. Pot fragments cover the ground, providing a marker of human activity thousands of years ago. We find pottery in a wide variety of contexts, from tombs to towns to temples. Its durability, as well as the easy availability of the raw material, low cost of manufacture in hours worked, and simplicity of the requisite technology, make it an essential tool for the study of ancient Egyptian culture. Pottery has been used to date the habitation of sites, determine the primary activity conducted in a certain area, and reconstruct the ethnic identity and social status of the ancients.
Pyramid
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

A pyramid is a square or rectangular monument with sloping or stepped faces, generally used as a marker for a tomb, particularly in ancient Egypt or as a cultural borrowing from there. Pyramidal temple platforms are known in other cultures, for example, in Mesoamerica and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia.
Queens, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Sabbahy Lisa
Published: December 2012

The word for queen in ancient Egypt washemetnesw, “wife of the king,” making clear that the position and importance of this women was her physical relationship to the king.
Saqqara
Authors: Bárta Miroslav
Published: December 2012

One of the most prominent sites of third millennium Egypt, Saqqara is situated about 25 km south of modern Cairo. A cemetery was founded around 3000
BCE
in connection with the foundation of Memphis, the first capital of unified Egypt, and continued in use down to the Coptic era.
Sekhemkhet
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

The Horus Sekhemkhet Djoserti was a king of the 3rd Egyptian Dynasty.
Seqenenre Taa
Authors: Dodson Aidan
Published: December 2012

Seqenenre Taa (possibly actually to be read “Djehuty‐aa”) was the penultimate king of the 17th Egyptian Dynasty, ruling in the south of Egypt while the north was in the hands of the Hyksos.
Seth
Authors: Cruz‐Uribe Eugene
Published: December 2012

One of the oldest and most misunderstood deities from ancient Egypt is the god Seth.
Sokar
Authors: Ikram Salima
Published: December 2012

Sokar, one of Egypt's many falcon deities, was depicted in a variety of ways: as a sitting falcon; as a falcon‐headed mummiform man; a falcon‐headed man, often standing triumphantly upon serpents; and as a tumulus surmounted by a falcon's head, which is sometimes set into a
henu
barque, whose prow is maybe adorned with the head of an antelope or bull, with an
int
‐fish, and falcons or swallows crowning the hull. He originated in the Memphite region and probably was a god of craftsmen, primarily metalworkers and thus was associated with Ptah. However, he was soon also associated with the Memphite necropoleis and funerary matters, as well as being a chthonic god throughout Egypt.
Sports and games, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Piccione Peter A.
Published: December 2012

In ancient Egypt, athletic and non‐athletic games were popular pastimes of adults and children.
Stoneworking, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Stocks Denys A.
Published: December 2012

How
did
Pharaonic stoneworkers shape and hollow stone vessels and sarcophagi, fashion and fit stone blocks into pyramids and temples, cut granite obelisks and incise deep hieroglyphs into them, create stone statuary, and drill the hardest semi‐precious stones in Egypt?
Thebes, West
Authors: Weeks Kent R.
Published: December 2012

Thebes is one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world, with thousands of tombs, temples, shrines, dwellings, work stations, and other remains that span over a hundred thousand years of human activity.
Thoth
Authors: Kraemer Bryan
Published: December 2012

Thoth is an Ancient Egyptian god associated with writing, literacy, science, magic, and medicine.
Treaties, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Shaw Garry J.
Published: December 2012

There is a lack of preserved evidence for treaties in ancient Egypt; those that are known generally date to the New Kingdom, a period of increased international relations and territorial expansion.
Valley of the Kings
Authors: Ryan Donald P.
Published: December 2012

The Valley of the Kings (Arabic: Wadi Biban al‐Moluk, “Valley of Gates of the Kings”), is the site of the cemetery for the majority of Egypt's New Kingdom' rulers, located in the Theban mountains of southern Egypt.
Wadjyt, Wadjet
Authors: Cody Madeleine E.
Published: December 2012

This ancient Egyptian goddess is the patron deity of Per‐Wadjyt (“House of Wadjyt”), later the Greek Buto, now modern Tell el‐Farain in the northwestern Delta, a site identified with the semi‐mythical towns of Pe and Dep. Her name may mean “The Green or Fresh One,” or “She of the Papyrus,” the heraldic plant of Lower Egypt.
Warfare, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Heagren Brett H.
Published: December 2012

Warfare played a significant role in Pharaonic Egypt. It was responsible for both the initial unification of the state and ensuring its longevity against a spectrum of domestic and foreign threats.
Weights and measures, Pharaonic Egypt
Authors: Pommerening Tanja
Published: December 2012

Political and economic centralism in Pharaonic Egypt necessitated a system of standardized weights and measures.
Agri Decumates
Authors: Wells Peter S.
Published: December 2012

The term
agri decumates
was used by Tacitus in
Germania
29.4 to designate the territory east of the upper Rhine, south of the Taunus hills, west of the modern town of Welzheim, and north of the Swiss border; most of it was in the modern state of Baden‐Württemberg. The meaning of the term is unclear and has been the cause of much debate. Tacitus implies that the land was sparsely populated before being settled by emigrants from Gaul and that it became incorporated into the expanding empire.
Antonine Wall
Authors: Breeze David J.
Published: December 2012

The Antonine Wall was the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire for about 20 years from 142
CE
. Forty Roman miles (60 km) long, it crossed northern Britain from modern Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth to Old Kilpatrick on the Clyde. For much of its length it lay on the southern edge of the Midland Valley of Scotland, which formed a great trough in front of the Wall and was probably very boggy at the time.
Augusta Treverorum (Trier)
Authors: Binsfeld Andrea
Published: December 2012

Augusta Treverorum was established as the central location of the
civitas
of the Celtic Treveri during the Augustan era. Although there were pre‐Roman settlements in the region around the Trier valley, there are none that can be interpreted as a precursor settlement to the later Roman city (Clemens and Lohr 2002; but see Gilles 1992).
Augusta Vindelicum (Augsburg)
Authors: Kiernan Philip
Published: December 2012

The city of Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicum) is situated on the west bank of the River Lech, roughly 40 km to the south of the Danube, in the former territory of four Celtic tribes, referred to collectively as the Vindelici.
Bononia (Boulogne)
Authors: Blonce Caroline
Published: December 2012

The Roman town of Bononia (Boulogne‐sur‐Mer), in Gallia Belgica, was the most important secondary agglomeration of thecivitas Morinorum. From the first centuryBCEto the fifth centuryCE, the town grew up around two sites, Bononia and Gesoriacum. At the end of the third century or the beginning of the fourth centuryCE, it became the chief city of the newcivitas Bononensium.
Carthago Nova(Cartagena)
Authors: van Dommelen Peter
Published: December 2012

Carthago Nova is the Latin translation of the Punic name Qart Hadasht (‘New Town’) which was given to the settlement founded around 227
BCE
by Hasdrubal, the son‐in‐law of Hamilcar Barca.
Emporiae (Empúries)
Authors: Kaiser Alan
Published: December 2012

Emporiae was a Greek trading colony in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalunya founded near a native Iberian settlement. The Romans colonized the area after the second Punic War, uniting the Greek, Iberian, and Roman inhabitants into one city that thrived until its mysterious and as yet unexplained decline in the late first centuryCE.
Gades/Gadir
Authors: Perez‐Juez Amalia
Published: December 2012

According to Velleius Paterculus (1.2.3), not long after the fall of Troy the fleet of Tyre founded in furthest Spain at the very limits of the world the city of Gades (Phoenician Gadir).
Isola Sacra
Authors: Prowse Tracy L.
Published: December 2012

The name Isola Sacra refers to an artificial island located approximately 20 km southwest of Rome, which was created during the construction of the
Fossa Traiana
in 103
CE
to connect the city of Rome to the coast via the Tiber river.
Londinium (London)
Authors: Rogers Adam
Published: December 2012

Londinium was the largest city in Britannia and the presumed provincial capital.
Magdalensberg (Austria)
Authors: Dolenz Heimo
Published: December 2012

The Celtic‐Roman settlement on Magdalensberg in Austria (1058 m above sea level and roughly 3 km2in size) existed for only a relatively short period during the period ca. 40BCEto 50CE.
Morgantina
Authors: Bell Malcolm
Published: December 2012

Located in east central Sicily near the town of Aidone, Morgantina was founded in the Late Bronze Age and inhabited until the first centuryCE. The foundation legend (Strabo 5.6.1; Dion. Hal.Ant. Rom. 1.12.3) held that the first settlers came from the Italian mainland. In language, material culture, and burial customs, early Morgantina was closely related to the town‐dwelling Sikels of eastern Sicily and Lipari. By ca. 600BCEimported Greek pottery reached the site, and there is extensive evidence for Greeks in the local population.
Neapolis (Naples)
Authors: Bellelli Vincenzo
Published: December 2012

Neapolis was a flourishing city in Magna Graecia.
Oceanus
Authors: Beaulieu Marie‐Claire
Published: December 2012

Oceanus was both a mythological character and a geographical reality, the Atlantic Ocean. As a mythological character, Oceanus was a Titan, the son of Ouranus and Gaia, described as a large river encircling the earth. Oceanus' offspring with Tethys were the Oceanides and all the rivers and springs of the earth, even those that flowed underground such as the Styx (Hes.
Theog
. 361, 368, 789). In some cosmogonies, Oceanus was the origin of all creatures and gods (Hom.
Il
. 14.200–1; 244–6; 301–2; Thales, DK 11, A1; 11–13;
Orph.Fr
. 15–16, 25, 107 Kern).
Rhône
Authors: Hunt Patrick
Published: December 2012

The Rhône is a major European river flowing mostly south through Gaul (France) after beginning eastward in the Swiss Alps.
Rome, city of: 3. Augustan
Authors: Holliday Peter J.
Published: December 2012

Since the city's appearance had not reflected its greatness and glory and was constantly plagued by floods and fires, Augustus so wholly remade it that he could justly claim that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. He also made it safe for posterity, as far as humanly possible. (Suet.Aug. 28).
Rome, city of: 6. Hadrianic and Antonine
Authors: Beckmann Martin
Published: December 2012

Rome reached its peakancientpopulation when, in the second centuryCE, it supported as many as one million inhabitants – a number twice that of even the largest rival city in the Mediterranean. This statistic is impressive in itself, but it is also important as a striking illustration of the unique nature of the city within the Roman Empire, where no other city even came close in total population. Rome's privileged position was due primarily to one factor: it was home to the emperor, who controlled activities in the city either directly or through the appointed prefects and other officials who by the Antonine period had supplanted the traditional senatorial magistrates responsible for the maintenance of the urban fabric and its inhabitants (Hammond 1959: 444–6). The emperor's influence on the population and the physical structure of the city can hardly be overestimated – nor can the extent to which the monuments of the capital are able in turn to illuminate the character of the ruler: the intense familial piety of Antoninus Pius, the restraint of Marcus Aurelius, the insanity of Commodus and, most interestingly of all, the mysterious character of Hadrian.
Rome, Seven Hills
Authors: Vout Caroline
Published: December 2012

Rome's seven hills are erosional segments of a plateau east of the River Tiber and consist mainly of volcanic tuff deposits from eruptions in the Alban Hills.
Rome, city of: 7. Severan and third century
Authors: S. Lusnia Susann
Published: December 2012

At the beginning of the Severan period, Rome was recovering from plague outbreaks during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (Cass. Dio 73[72].14.3–4) and a fire that had done extensive damage to the city's center in 192 (Cass. Dio 73[72].24); Herodian 1.14.2–6; Tucci 2008).
Sirmium
Authors: Jeremić Miroslav
Published: December 2012

Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica) is situated on the left bank of the Sava river some fifty Roman miles upstream of Singidunum (modern Belgrade). The city was founded on a narrow strip of dry land surrounded by the Sava, marshes, and swamps.
Velia
Authors: Colivicchi Fabio
Published: December 2012

Velia (or Elea) was a Greek colony, founded on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy by Phoceans who had left their city because of the Persian conquest.
Tauromenium (Taormina)
Authors: Craver Scott
Published: December 2012

Tauromenium (mod. Taormina) is a city perched high above Naxos on the east coast of Sicily, whose strategic location guaranteed its importance throughout antiquity (
see
Sicily).
Tingis
Authors: Fenwick Corisande
Published: December 2012

Tingis (mod. Tangier) was a city on the northern coast of Morocco. Probably a Carthaginian foundation, it came under Roman control in 81
BCE
and later became provincial capital of Mauretania Tingitana.
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, Romania
Authors: Alexandrescu Cristina‐Georgeta
Published: December 2012

The capital city of Roman, on a plain in the southwest corner of Haţeg region, is now partly covered by the modern village.
Valentia (Valencia)
Authors: Aranegui‐Gascó Carmen
Published: December 2012

A Latin colony called Valentia was founded (Livy
Per
. 55) in the middle of the Mediterranean coast of Hispania Citerior in 138
BCE
(
see
hispania), just before the end of the war against the Celtiberians (Viriatus was defeated in 133).
Vulci
Authors: Fuhrmann‐Schembri Elisabeth
Published: December 2012

Vulci is located along the Fiora River (the ancient Armenta) about 12 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, and was an important trade center in Southern Etruria and a member of the Etruscan League of the twelve cities.
Water supply, Greek and Roman
Authors: Nikolic Milorad
Published: December 2012

In the Mediterranean region precipitation varies greatly throughout the year. Summers are usually hot and dry, and winters are mild and damp.