bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ahiqar
Authors: Lindenberger James M.
Published: December 2012

The wisdom text known as the “Words of Ahiqar” is the oldest known Aramaic literary work. The earliest exemplar is a fragmentary papyrus of fourteen columns (perhaps originally twenty‐one). Found in 1907 in the ruins of a Jewish settlement on Elephantine Island in Upper Egypt, the papyrus is a copy dating from the late fifth centurybce. The text was probably composed a century or more earlier.
Amurru
Authors: Marquez Rowe Ignacio
Published: December 2012

Amurru was the Akkadian name for the west, namely the region west of the Euphrates as far as the Mediterranean coast, roughly coincident with modern Syria.
Apocalypses
Authors: Collins John J.
Published: December 2012

An apocalypse is a genre of revelatory literature, in which mysteries are revealed to a human recipient by an otherworldly figure. The mysteries may concern the course of history or otherworldly realms, but they typically focus on a divine intervention at the end of history or on the judgment of the dead.
Artisans, ancient Near East
Authors: Payne Elizabeth E.
Published: December 2012

In the ancient Near East, the term “artisan” (Akkadian:ummiānu) applied to a broad range of professions requiring a mastery of specialized skills and included not only those who converted raw materials into finished goods, but also those who specialized in scholarly trades.
Assyria
Authors: Frahm Eckart
Published: December 2012

Assyria is the Greek name of a powerful and long‐lasting ancient Near Eastern state whose core area lay on the Tigris River in upper Mesopotamia.
Atrahasis
Authors: Foster Benjamin R.
Published: December 2012

Atrahasis
is a mythological narrative poem in Akkadian that sets forth the creation of the human race, the flood, and the beginnings of human birth, procreation, marriage, and death. It proposes that when laboring gods went on strike against their taskmasters, human beings were created to do the work instead.
Babylon
Authors: Leick Gwendolyn
Published: December 2012

The ruins of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon lie 90 km south of Baghdad, on the Euphrates River. The extensive archaeological site comprises several tells, reflecting the great size of the city, which in the first millenniumbcewas surrounded by a wall, 20 km long. Large‐scale excavations began in 1899 on behalf of the Deutsche Orient‐Gesellschaft (German Oriental Society).
Byblos
Authors: Snell Daniel C.
Published: December 2012

Byblos is a city in Lebanon, 30 km south of Beirut, now called Jubeil. The oldest trade depot on the coast, the city was called Byblos in classical sources, presumably because it was the source where the Greeks acquired papyrus and papyrus rolls.
Diplomacy, ancient Near East
Authors: Meier Samuel A.
Published: December 2012

Written documentation attests to formal embassies between political powers in the ancient Near East in the latter half of the third millenniumbce, but the first extensive evidence for embassy protocol derives from Mesopotamia in the early second millenniumbce.
Dumuzi (Tammuz)
Authors: Scurlock JoAnn
Published: December 2012

According to Sumerian mythology, Dumuzi was a shepherd who became the first king by virtue of his love match with the goddess Inanna.
Education, ancient Near East
Authors: Podany Amanda H.
Published: December 2012

Throughout ancient Near Eastern history, apprentice scribes must have received their education in schools, where they learned the writing and reading skills they needed for their future professions. Curiously, though, most of the archaeological and textual evidence for scribal education comes from the Old Babylonian era of the early second millennium
BCE
. Although no structures can be certainly identified as schools, at many sites archaeologists have found exercise tablets written by students. Round, bun‐shaped tablets often feature a few lines of a teacher's handwriting on one side, copied on the other in the large, awkward script of a young student. Some of the more advanced writing exercises feature stories about life at school.
Enuma Elish
Authors: Foster Benjamin R.
Published: December 2012

Enuma Elish
is a Babylonian narrative poem in seven tablets, of which about 1,090 lines are preserved (Foster 2005: 436–86; Lambert 2008: 37–59; Akkadian text, Talon 2005).
Eunuchs, ancient Near East
Authors: Melville Sarah C.
Published: December 2012

During the second and first millennia
BCE
, eunuchs served in various official capacities at royal courts in the Near East, including those of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and Urartians. Because sources are fragmentary and spread over a wide area and time, the extent to which eunuchs permeated society and the administrative hierarchy remains highly controversial.
Diet, ancient Near East
Authors: Allred Lance
Published: December 2012

Cereals, particularly barley and emmer, comprised much of the Mesopotamian diet.
Fortifications, ancient Near East
Authors: McClellan Thomas L.
Published: December 2012

The main components of fortifications in the Ancient Near East are curtain walls, city gates, towers, and dry moats.
Hattusa
Authors: Beckman Gary
Published: December 2012

Blessed with an excellent defensive position and abundant springs, the site of Boǧazköy (Boǧazkale), situated about 90 miles (145 km) east of contemporary Ankara, is the location of the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa.
Historiography, ancient Near East
Authors: Devecchi Elena
Published: December 2012

Ancient Near Eastern civilizations had no words forhistory, nor were therehistorianscomparable to a Herodotus or a Thucydides with their methods and perspectives. Nonetheless, they wrote about the past in many genres of texts that are regarded by modern scholars as historiographic compositions. These are attested from the second half of the third millennium until the demise of cuneiform culture in the late first millenniumbceand were inscribed on a number of media, such as clay tablets, cones, cylinders, prisms, bricks, stone slabs, stelae, statues, and rock reliefs.
Honey, ancient Near East
Authors: Allred Lance
Published: December 2012

Honey in Mesopotamia was used most commonly in religious contexts, where it was served to the statue of a god.
Houses, housing, household formation, ancient Near East
Authors: McClellan Thomas L.
Published: December 2012

The first permanent structures in the world constructed for domestic residence date about twelve thousand years ago in the Neolithic period of the Near East.
Isin
Authors: Michalowski Piotr
Published: December 2012

The name of a city in central Babylonia, today Išān (al)‐Bahrīyāt, sacred to the goddess Nin‐isina/Gula, patron of medical practitioners.
Israel and Judah
Authors: Maeir Aren M.
Published: December 2012

Israel and Judah are ethnonyms that also denote two closely related polities located in the southern Levant, which flourished during the Iron Age (ca. 1200–586
BCE
); they were situated for the most part in the central hill zones of present‐day Israel and Palestine.
Kanesh
Authors: Beckman Gary
Published: December 2012

The mound of Kültepe near modern Kayseri, in central Turkey, contains the ruins of the ancient Middle Bronze Age city of Kanesh, while the adjacent fields are the site of its contemporary trading colony (kārum, lit. “quay, merchant quarter”).
King lists, Mesopotamian
Authors: Michalowski Piotr
Published: December 2012

Mesopotamian king lists (KL) exhibit a variety of formats, but their close relationship to texts that have been labeled as “chronicles” makes it difficult to define them as a completely independent form; they have been analyzed together as “chronographic texts”.
Lapis lazuli
Authors: Brown Stuart C.
Published: December 2012

Lapis lazuli (more technically, lazurite) was among the most prized of semi‐precious stones in ancient west Asia (Sumerian: NA4. ZA.GIN; Akkadian: uqnu) and there is much historical and archaeological evidence attesting to the high esteem in which it was held.
Libraries, ancient Near East
Authors: Clancier Philippe
Published: December 2012

In the ancient Near East, libraries are attested for the second half of the second millennium and the entire first millennium
BCE
, until the cuneiform script went out of use in the first century
CE
. Libraries have been unearthed throughout the ancient Near East, in Mesopotamia (both in Assyria and Babylonia), in Anatolia (at Hattuša), and in Syria (for example, at Emar and Ugarit).
Magic, ancient Near East
Authors: Scurlock JoAnn
Published: December 2012

Interaction between human beings and spirits in the ancient Near East was readily divisible into two unequal parts.
Markets, ancient Near East
Authors: Monroe Christopher M.
Published: December 2012

While cuneiform records preserve Sumerian and Akkadian words for “marketplace” (Sumerian, K I ‐ L A M and G A N ‐ B A; Akkadian,mahīrum), archaeological evidence for corresponding structures or urban areas is lacking in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
Mittani
Authors: Wilhelm Gernot
Published: December 2012

Mittani was a country in Upper Mesopotamia that emerged in the sixteenth century
BCE
and flourished as an imperial power for two centuries, until its defeat and partition by Hatti and Assyria in the late fourteenth century.
Nuzi
Authors: Maidman Maynard Paul
Published: December 2012

Modern Yorghan Tepe is located 13 km (8 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, in northern Iraq.
Obsidian
Authors: Sagona Antonio
Published: December 2012

Obsidian (volcanic glass) was highly prized in Antiquity for the making of tools.
Ordeals, ancient Near East
Authors: Wells Bruce
Published: December 2012

The only ancient Near Eastern ordeal for which there is clear evidence is the river ordeal, despite the claim that some texts describe a drinking ordeal (Frymer‐Kensky 1981).
Palaces, ancient Near East
Authors: Warburton David A.
Published: December 2012

The palaces of the ancient Near East were centers of power, uniting architecture and art with religion, administration, and commerce. Palaces emerged as a specific type of architecture in the mid‐third millenniumBCEin Iraq and Syria, being found thereafter in virtually every part of the Near East, with numerous variations.
Persepolis
Authors: Schwinghammer Gundula
Published: December 2012

Persepolis, the Persian royal residence and city (t. Taḫt‐i Ğamšīd, Old Persian: p‐a‐r‐s‐a, Elamite:AŠBa‐ir‐ša, Babylonia:KURPar‐sa, Aramaic: p‐r‐s, Greek: Πέρσαι, Περσέπολις, Latin: Persepolis), is situated at the northeast edge of the Marv Dašt plain in the province of Fārs in Iran.
Queens, ancient Near East
Authors: Melville Sarah C.
Published: December 2012

In the ancient Near East queens and queen mothers sometimes wielded great power, but rarely as rulers in their own right.
Seals, ancient Near East
Authors: Garrison Mark B.
Published: December 2012

Seals existed in two distinct forms in ancient western Asia: the stamp and the cylinder.
Sex and sexuality, ancient Near East
Authors: Assante Julia A.
Published: December 2012

Until recently, the study of sex and sexuality in the ancient Near East was dominated by nineteenth‐century anthropological assumptions.
Slavery, ancient Near East
Authors: Snell Daniel C.
Published: December 2012

Slavery was the ownership of people, and that is known throughout ancient Near Eastern history, at least as early as the Early Dynastic III period, around 2500
BCE
, where unnamed persons were bought to work in the great households. Though slaves were always a factor in Mesopotamian society, they were never very numerous and always constituted a perquisite of the rulers and other rich people and were not a major source of agricultural or manufacturing productivity.
Syria (pre‐Roman)
Authors: Chavalas Mark W.
Published: December 2012

Syria did not exist as a distinct geographical, cultural, or political entity until at least the Achaemenid period.
Temples, Ancient Near East
Authors: Warburton David A.
Published: December 2012

Temples are unique, being architectural forms and social institutions dedicated to the gods, reflecting the spirit – and interrelations – of the various ancient Near Eastern civilizations.
Treaties, ancient Near East
Authors: Devecchi Elena
Published: December 2012

Ancient Near Eastern treaties, like modern treaties, were contractual agreements between two political entities, in most cases between two kings.
Ugaritic Language
Authors: Hawley Robert
Published: December 2012

“Ugaritic” is the name used by modern scholars to refer to the vernacular and literary language of the ancient city of Ugarit the ruins of which are located on the tell of Ras Shamra on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, some 10 km north of the modern port city of Latakia.
Uruk
Authors: Nissen Hans J.
Published: December 2012

Uruk (modern: al‐Warka'; Sumerian: unu(g)
ki
; OT: ‘rk; Greek: 'Oρχóη) is a city in southern Iraq, identified by W. K.
Abantes
Authors: Priestley Jessica
Published: December 2012

Abantes is the name used by Homer and Hesiod for the inhabitants of Euboea (Il. 2.536–9; Hes. fr. 204.52–3 West, cf. Hes. fr. 296) and by later writers referring to the early Euboeans.
Achaians
Authors: Eder Birgitta
Published: December 2012

The name of the Achaians appears to refer to the population of the region Achaia from Archaic times onwards, when we can trace the development of a regional identity in the northwestern Peloponnese.
Aiolians
Authors: Draycott Catherine M. , Greaves Alan M.
Published: December 2012

“Aiolians” refers to a sub‐group of Greeks inhabiting cities along the coast of western Anatolia north of Ionia, who spoke a dialect broadly called “Aiolic” and claimed common origins.
Agios Kosmas in Attica
Authors: Hilditch Jill
Published: December 2012

Agios Kosmas is an Early Bronze Age site in Attica, which lies on a promontory that extends into the Saronic Gulf.
Aigeira
Authors: Eder Birgitta , Ladstätter Georg
Published: December 2012

Aigeira is located in the foothills of eastern Achaia on the southern shore of the Corinthian Gulf.
Alashiya
Authors: Kolotourou Katerina
Published: December 2012

Alashiya is the name peoples of the eastern Mediterranean in the second millenniumBCEmay have ascribed to the island of Cyprus.
Alkmaionidai
Authors: Haarer Peter
Published: December 2012

The Alkmaionidai were a leading Genos competing for political power in Athens from the late seventh to the late fifth centuriesBCE. The most well‐known members are Kleisthenes, Perikles, and Alkibiades.
Aphaia in Aigina
Authors: Frederiksen Rune
Published: December 2012

Extra‐urban sanctuary to the polis of Aigina dedicated to the goddess Aphaia in the island of Aigina in the Saronic Gulf.
Archanes
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

Archanes was set in a small, fertile valley 15 km south of Knossos.
Calauria and the Calaurian amphictyony
Authors: Constantakopoulou Christy
Published: December 2012

The island of Calauria, modern Poros, in the Saronic Gulf was the center of an amphictyony.
Cape Gelidonya shipwreck
Authors: Bachhuber Christoph
Published: December 2012

The excavation of the underwater site of Cape Gelidonya was the first shipwreck excavation undertaken with regular, precise methodology.
Chronology, Bronze and Iron Age
Authors: Kotsonas Antonis
Published: December 2012

Traditionally, the formulation of the relative chronology of the Bronze and Iron Age depends chiefly on studies of the development of ceramic styles and of correlations among different ceramic types found in stratified deposits.
Kroton
Authors: Shepherd Gillian
Published: December 2012

Achaians led by Myskellos of Rhype founded Kroton in southern Italy in 733
BCE
(Strabo 6.1.12; 6.2.4: synchronization with Syracuse in Sicily) or 710/708 (Eusebius
Chronicle
; Dion. Hal.
Rom
.
Ant
. 2.59).
Cypriot Archaeology
Authors: Georgiou Artemis
Published: December 2012

Cyprus was visited by pilgrims and traveling scholars during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on their way to the Holy Lands.
Dhimini in Thessaly
Authors: Galanakis Yannis
Published: December 2012

A major prehistoric site in Thessaly, about 3.5 km to the west of modern Volos, on a low hill (16masl,1ha). Dhimini is the type‐site for Late Neolithic II (4800–4500
BCE
).
Diktaean Cave in Crete
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

A cave near the village of Psychro on the north slope of Mount Dikte, at an altitude of 1,025 m. According to many ancient authors this is where ZEUS was born and brought up.
Dreros
Authors: Kotsonas Antonis
Published: December 2012

Dreros is a small, inland city of east‐central Crete, occupying a double acropolis and the connecting saddle.
Gordion
Authors: Draycott Catherine M.
Published: December 2012

In ancient Greek literary sources, Gordion is the seat of a legendary dynasty of Phrygian kings, the most famous of which were its founder, Gordios, and Midas.
Gournia in Crete
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The site, located on a low hill close to the north end of the Isthmus of Ierapetra, is strategically placed for access to important land and maritime routes.
Ionian migration
Authors: Thomas Carol G.
Published: December 2012

Traditional accounts of the Ionian migration report the movement of mainland Greeks to the central coastal area of Asia Minor, when peace returned after convulsions following the Trojan War (Thuc. 1.12.4).
Isthmia
Authors: Gebhard Elizabeth R.
Published: December 2012

The Sanctuary of Poseidon is located on the Isthmus of Corinth, 10 miles (16 km) east of the city, on an ancient road linking Corinth and the sea.
Karphi
Authors: Kotsonas Antonis
Published: December 2012

Karphi, a rocky knoll which rises to 1,147 m above sea level, is located inland in east‐central Crete and commands a view over a considerable area.
Keros
Authors: Hilditch Jill
Published: December 2012

Keros lies at the heart of the Cyclades within a small group of islands known as the Small Cyclades (Mikres Kyklades).
Kydonia, Crete
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The Minoan town of Kydonia lies beneath the city of Chania in western Crete.
Kythera
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The island of Kythera lies opposite the eastern tip of the Peloponnese, on the crossroads of maritime communication between Crete and the Peloponnese, and between the Aegean and the central Mediterranean.
Lāwāgetās
Authors: Bendall Lisa M.
Published: December 2012

Lāwāgetās
is an official title used in the Linear B bureaucracies of the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age Aegean, probably denoting the second in power after the ruler, the
wanax
.
Linear B
Authors: Bendall Lisa M.
Published: December 2012

Linear B is a script used to write Greek by the Mycenaean palace bureaucracies of the Late Bronze Age.
Midea
Authors: Galanakis Yannis
Published: December 2012

A major prehistoric settlement in the Argolid (northeast Peloponnese), about 13 km southeast of Mycenae and 3 km southeast of Dendra, Midea stands on the summit and the northern and northwestern slopes of the prominent Palaiokastro hill (266 masl), which offers an excellent view of the Argive Plain and the Bay of Argos.
Minoan society and culture
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The society and culture of Bronze Age Crete were identified by Sir Arthur Evans after his legendary early twentieth‐century excavations at Knossos.
Minos
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The legendary king of Crete who, according to tradition, lived three generations before the Trojan War.
Molione
Authors: Georgiou Artemis
Published: December 2012

Also known as Aktorione, the Molione are mythical twins mentioned in Greek literature and depicted in the art of the Late Geometric period (ca. 760–700BCE).
Oinomaos of Elis
Authors: Priestley Jessica
Published: December 2012

Oinomaos, mythological king of Pisa three generations before the Trojan War, was famed for establishing a chariot‐race in which suitors of his daughter, Hippodameia, competed (against himself) to win her as a wife; eventually, Pelops succeeded, assisted by Oinomaos' charioteer Myrtilos, who engineered a fatal chariot crash.
Palaces, Minoan/Mycenaean
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

The term “palace” usually designates the seat of a political authority.
Palaikastro in Crete
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

An important archaeological site at the northeast end of Crete, east of Siteia and north of Zakros, Palaikastro lies in the coastal plain of Roussolakkos.
Phalanthos of Sparta
Authors: Davies Philip
Published: December 2012

Phalanthos of Sparta was the legendary founder of Taras.
Pithekoussai
Authors: Shepherd Gillian
Published: December 2012

Pithekoussai, on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, was founded some time before 750BCE.
Poliochni
Authors: Hilditch Jill
Published: December 2012

Poliochni, a large Bronze Age settlement, lies on a small hill on the eastern coast of Lemnos and was inhabited continuously from the late fourth to the early second millennium
BCE
.
Rheneia
Authors: Frederiksen Rune
Published: December 2012

Cycladic island in the Aegean Sea, less than 1 km west of Delos (Plin.HN4.67), with apolisof the same name.
Saliagos
Authors: Hilditch Jill
Published: December 2012

The Neolithic settlement of Saliagos is located on a small islet between Greater Paros and Antiparos (ancient Oliaros).
Sikyon
Authors: Frederiksen Rune
Published: December 2012

City in the region of Achaia in the Peloponnese situated on – and after 301 Bce, near – the coast of the Corinthian Gulf, bordering Corinth (east), Pellene (west), and Phleious (south).
Symposium
Authors: Haarer Peter
Published: December 2012

The symposium was a social occasion at which a select group of men met and conversed with each other using wine in moderation as a social lubricant (symposionmeans literally “drinking together”).
Tarsos
Authors: Draycott Catherine M.
Published: December 2012

Tarsos was a city of
CILICIA
, on the Cydnus (mod. Tarsos) River at the western edge of the Cilician Plain, about 15 km northeast of Mersin.
Thebes in
B
oiotia
Authors: Fappas Ioannis , Galanakis Yannis
Published: December 2012

Thebes is a major site in southern Boiotia and one of the most important cities of the ancient Greek world.
Troad
Authors: Bachhuber Christoph
Published: December 2012

The Troad was never a political or independent entity beyond reference to Homer.
Vergina
Authors: Kotsonas Antonis
Published: December 2012

Vergina lies on the northern slopes of the Pierian mountains in Macedonia and overlooks a large plain crossed by the Haliakmon River.
Zakros in Crete
Authors: Christakis Kostis S.
Published: December 2012

Zakros is situated in a bay sheltered from the strong northerlies, at the easternmost end of Crete.
Agathias
Authors: Kouroumali Maria
Published: December 2012

Agathias (ca. 532–582
CE
) was born in Myrina, Asia Minor. He studied law in Alexandria and spent most of his life in Constantinople, where he practiced as a lawyer (
scholasticus
).
Architecture, Byzantine
Authors: Rodley Lyn
Published: December 2012

The architecture of the Byzantine Empire at its outset was essentially that of the Late Roman Empire from which it emerged in the early fourth century
CE
.
Ariadne, empress
Authors: Haarer F. K.
Published: December 2012

Ariadne (born before 457
CE
, died 515), elder daughter of the emperor Leo I and married to two successive emperors, Zeno and Anastasios, played a remarkably significant role in late Roman imperial politics, though her importance is now often understated.
Army, Byzantium
Authors: Rance Philip
Published: December 2012

The army was the largest employer and most expensive element in state expenditure in the East Roman or Byzantine Empire.
Avars
Authors: Rance Philip
Published: December 2012

The Avars were a nomadic tribal confederation that arrived north of the Caucasus in the late 550sCEand rapidly established a powerful hegemony centered on the Carpathian basin (ca. 567‐ca. 805).
Building materials and techniques, Byzantine
Authors: Rodley Lyn
Published: December 2012

Byzantine construction materials and techniques of the fourth to sixth centuries
CE
continue Roman traditions.
Bulgaria and Bulgars
Authors: Sophoulis Panos
Published: December 2012

The Bulgars were a confederation of several groups of steppe‐nomads who in the late seventh centuryCEfounded a state in the northern Balkans, in the former Byzantine provinces of Scythia and Moesia II.
Byzantine rite
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

Byzantine rite refers to the liturgical services used in the Great Church of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
Byzantium
Authors: Loverance Rowena
Published: December 2012

Byzantium is defined as the continuation of the Roman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean, ruled from Constantinople, the city refounded by the emperor Constantine I in 330CEon the site of the Greek colony of Byzantion.
Byzantium, political structure
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The political structure of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth and sixth centuries
CE
was essentially that which had been set in place by the reforms associated with the emperors Diocletian and Constantine in the late third and early fourth centuries.
Catechumenate, Byzantine
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

Early on in the life of the Christian Church (though how early is not clear), there developed the catechumenate for those who wished to join the Christian community.
Childhood, Byzantine
Authors: Hennessy Cecily
Published: December 2012

Childhood is the span of life from birth to adolescence or adulthood. Legally, people in Byzantium were considered minors until the age of twenty‐five, although young people could assume responsible roles in life at an early age.
Choricius
Authors: Haarer F. K.
Published: December 2012

Choricius, prolific sixth‐centuryCErhetor, succeeded his teacher, Procopius, as head of the so‐called “school of Gaza” (seeGaza (Hellenistic to Late Antiquity)).
Chosroes II
Authors: Rance Philip
Published: December 2012

Chosroes II (590–628CE), called “Parvīz” (“the Victorious”), was the last Sasanian shah to exercise effective power; his reign is characterized by bewildering reversals of fortune.
Church institutions
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

By the end of the second century
CE
, as Christianity began to spread among the populations of the cities in the Mediterranean world, there was emerging the notion that the local church consisted of the Christians of a city, led by their Bishop.
Constantine V
Authors: Olster David
Published: December 2012

Constantine V (b. 718, crowned 720, r. 741–75) was one of Byzantium's greatest military leaders and most controversial rulers, and an ardent iconoclast.
Cosmetics, Byzantine
Authors: Parani Maria G.
Published: December 2012

Whether to hide natural defects, to restore one's physical appearance after an illness or, simply, to make one atractive to others, cosmetics were employed in Late Antiquity and early Byzantium, as they had been in Roman times.
Demetrios (saint)
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

Demetrios was one of the military saints of Byzantium. We know little about the historical Demetrios.
Games, Byzantine
Authors: Loverance Rowena
Published: December 2012

Games were popular in Byzantium. Children's games are known through texts, archaeology, and mosaic representations.
Ghassanids
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

The Ghassanids migrated from South Arabia to Syria in the late fifth century
CE
and in the early sixth century became Byzantium's principal Arab allies.
Glass, Byzantine
Authors: Nesbitt Claire
Published: December 2012

Byzantine glass‐making developed from existing Roman technology, which realized the decorative and architectural uses of glass and understood its physical properties.
Government, theories of, Byzantine
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The theories of government that characterized the writings of Byzantine courtiers, panegyrists, and polemicists in the period from the fourth to the seventh centuriesCE(and that were bequeathed to later generations of Byzantine thinkers) were primarily derived from the world of Greek philosophy and – in a Christianized form – the political philosophies of the Hellenistic monarchies, with some influence on the part of Ciceronian concepts of the “ideal state.”
Hair, hairstyling, Byzantine
Authors: Parani Maria G.
Published: December 2012

In Late Antiquity (and thus also in early Byzantium), hair, beyond being an important element of an individual's physical appeal, also functioned as a signifier of identity, its styling being determined not only by fashion, but also by age, social position, religious attitudes, and ethnic origins.
Hellenism, Byzantine
Authors: Zeller Peter
Published: December 2012

Both “Hellenism” and “Byzantine” are modern terms. Although they can be traced back to ancient sources, they were not normally used in today's sense until modern times.
Isaurian emperors
Authors: Haarer F. K.
Published: December 2012

In 447CE, Theodosius II (408–50) was the first emperor to exploit the military prowess of the Isaurians for the benefit of the empire when he entrusted the defense of Constantinople against Attila to an Isaurian, Flavius Zeno.
Jacobites
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

“Jacobites,” after Jacob Baradaios, was the name given by their opponents to those Christians in Syria who rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451) as betraying the Christological teaching of Cyril of Alexandria.
John Klimax, of Sinai
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

John Klimax of Sinai (also known as John Klimakos/Climacus, John of the Ladder, or John Scholasticus), theologian and saint, lived from before 579 to ca. 650
CE
.
John of Antioch
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

John of Antioch compiled a chronicle, theChronological History, which discusses events from Creation to the elimination of the emperor Phokas in 610CE.
Joshua Stylites
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

Joshua Stylites (also Joshua the Stylite, or Pseudo‐Joshua the Stylite), a resident of Edessa who may date to the sixth centuryCE, possibly later, wrote a narrative of the events in and around Edessa in the years 494/7–506/7, including the war between the Romans and Persians, usually known as theChronicle of Joshua the Stylite.
Justinian I
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The emperor Justinian succeeded his elderly uncle Justin.
Kavad, of Persia
Authors: Rance Philip
Published: December 2012

Kavad I (ca. 449–531
CE
) became Sasanian shah during a period of acute military and dynastic weakness.
Lakhmids
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

An Arab tribe that tradition states to have been of Yemeni origin, by the fourth century
CE
the Lakhmids lived across northern Syria and Iraq.
Lazika
Authors: Colvin Ian
Published: December 2012

Lazika, the Late Antique successor to ancient kolchis, was the kingdom of the Laz, a south Caucasian people living north of the Phasis River on the east coast of the black sea.
Legal literature, Byzantine
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The early Byzantine period of the fourth to seventh centuries witnessed a decline in both the quantity and quality of legal literature, although not necessarily in legal science.
Legislation, Byzantine
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

With the concentration of political power in the hands of emperors, the late Roman and early Byzantine period of the fourth to the sixth centuriesCEestablished the person of the emperor as the one and only legitimate source of law, and thus the one and only source of legislation.
Literature and poetry, Byzantine
Authors: Demoen Kristoffel
Published: December 2012

Byzantine (i.e., medieval Greek) literature is in many respects a continuation of the literature from the Second Sophistic and Late Antiquity.
Scribes, Byzantine
Authors: Gaul Niels
Published: December 2012

Codicological and paleographical analyses of the surviving manuscript evidence help us understand the social, political, and economic context of writing, book production, reading, and literacy in Late Antiquity and Byzantium.
Marcellinus Comes
Authors: Croke Brian
Published: December 2012

Marcellinus (ca. 480–ca. 540CE) bears the honorary title of “count” (comes), stemming from his years as an official of the emperor Justinian (527–565), though during the reign of his uncle Justin (518–527).
Markets, Byzantine
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

Byzantium inherited concepts of commercial space from the Greek and Roman worlds.
Marriage, Byzantine
Authors: Caseau Béatrice
Published: December 2012

During the Byzantine period, marriage became the unique legally recognized union between a man and a woman, with laws changed in order to accommodate Christian principles and other societal concerns.
Medicine, Byzantine
Authors: Stathakopoulos Dionysios
Published: December 2012

Early Byzantine medicine (fifth to seventh‐centuries
CE
) is not renowned for its original contributions to the theory and practice of medicine, but rather for preserving and commenting on the Hippocratic and Galenic heritage.
Menander Protector
Authors: Croke Brian
Published: December 2012

Menander (ca. 550–ca. 605
CE
), historian and occasional poet, bore the honorary title of “protector,” bestowed either for his role in the emperor's service or for the history he wrote continuing that of Agathias from 558 to the death of the emperor Tiberios II in 582.
Metalwork, Byzantine
Authors: Loverance Rowena
Published: December 2012

Late Antique and Byzantine metalwork, other than silver, is a relatively recent field of study.
Michael I–III (Byzantine emperors)
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

Michael I, II, and III were Byzantine emperors of the ninth centuryCEduring the period sometimes called the “Byzantine Revival,” when the state's political fortunes improved; there was also renewed interest in texts from Classical antiquity.
Mines, mining, Greek and Roman
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

The earliest mining activities began in the Neolithic (9000
BCE
onwards) and were small‐scale affairs, generally confined to tapping flint for tool‐making.
Monotheletism
Authors: Neil Bronwen
Published: December 2012

Monotheletism was the most significant Christological controversy of the seventh centuryCE.
Nika revolt
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The Nika revolt (so‐called after the cry of the mob –
Nika!
– ”Conquer!”) was a major riot in Constantinople that took place January 11–19, 532
CE
.
Oriens, diocese of
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

The diocese of Oriens in the eastern prefecture, administered by the
comes Orientis
at Antioch, was one of twelve dioceses created by Diocletian at the end of the third century
CE
.
Paganism, Byzantine
Authors: Riedel Meredith L. D.
Published: December 2012

In the Byzantine world, “paganism” referred mainly to Hellenistic polytheism, which varied with localities and over time.
Peter Mongos
Authors: Francisco Héctor R.
Published: December 2012

Peter Mongos (the Stammerer) was Miaphysite patriarch of Alexandria (477–490
CE
), and one of the key figures behind the ephemeral Christological agreement achieved by the Henotikon (482).
Philippikos, emperor
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

Philippikos Bardanes, from Pergamon, and possibly of Armenian origin, was emperor of Byzantium from 711 to 713
CE
, his reign ending on June 3, 713 when officers from the Opsikion Theme blinded and exiled him.
Philosophy, Byzantine
Authors: Bydén Börje
Published: December 2012

The term “Byzantine philosophy” most commonly denotes the study and teaching of philosophy in Greek from the so‐called Dark Ages of Byzantium (starting in the early seventh centuryCE) until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Plate, domestic and liturgical, Byzantine
Authors: Loverance Rowena
Published: December 2012

In Late Antiquity and early Byzantium, silver plate was made for display and domestic use, as imperial largesse, and to embellish Christian churches.
Ports, Byzantine
Authors: Riedel Meredith L. D.
Published: December 2012

Throughout its history the Byzantine empire relied on maritime trade, and therefore on ports and harbors as nodal points for the movement of goods, people, and armies.
Qal'at Sem'an
Authors: Rodley Lyn
Published: December 2012

Qal'at Sem'an, or Telanissos, to the northeast of Antioch In Syria, is a shrine‐church complex built where St. Symeon The Stylite The Elder (ca. 390–459
CE
) lived for thirty‐odd years atop a series of columns, each taller than the last. The site was a hilltop near the monastery to which he was attached, and pious visitors made it a place of pilgrimage that doubtless saw some architectural development during Symeon's lifetime. The main element, however, in which four, large, three‐aisled basilicas form an equal‐armed cross, is of a grandeur consistent with imperial patronage, and this is generally assigned to the emperor Zeno (474–491). The sanctuary is at the east end of the eastern basilica, where there are three apses and side chambers (
pastophoria
), so this was the location for services. The main entrance to the complex is through the western basilica, making north and south basilicas effectively transepts, and providing space for large numbers of pilgrims. At their inner ends, the four basilicas are linked by an octagon of arches spanning each nave and linking the arcade of one basilica to that of the next, thus forming an octagonal space around the saint's last (and tallest) column. It has been proposed that this space had timber roofing when built, but it is described as unroofed by a late fifthcentury source and was probably always so, leaving the column in the open air, as it was when the saint lived on it. Shortly after his death in 459, Symeon's body was removed to Antioch, but Qal'at Sem'an retained its importance as a center of pilgrimage, and by the end of the fifth century there were three large monasteries, each with considerable
pandocheia
(inns) to accommodate the pilgrims, and a large baptistery with a church attached to it. The buildings are of high‐quality limestone ashlar, with arches, doors, and windows decorated with the strong carved moldings characteristic of fifth‐century north Syrian architecture, as are the finely carved acanthus capitals.
Qasr ibn Wardan
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

An enigmatic complex situated 50 km northeast of Hama and 20 km southwest of al‐Andarin (ancient Androna) in north‐central Syria, Qasr ibn Wardan (ancient name unknown) comprises a palace, church, and a 50 × 50 m quadrangular edifice.
Rhetoric, Byzantine
Authors: Webb Ruth
Published: December 2012

Rhetoric continued to play an important part in both education and society into the sixth century and beyond.
Seals, Byzantine
Authors: Karagiorgou Olga
Published: December 2012

Sigillography, a science auxiliary to history, studies all forms of sealing implements (σφραγίδα/
sigillum
) and their impressions (σφράγισμα/
signum impressum
). The impressions are referred to conventionally as “seals,” although technically, this term should be confined to the sealing implements.
Sebeos of Armenia
Authors: Greenwood Tim
Published: December 2012

Sebeos of Armenia (ca. 600–post 661CE) is usually credited as the author of an Armenian text that offers a wide‐ranging overview of Near Eastern history between 572 and 661. In fact the longstanding identification is unproven. Nevertheless, to avoid potential confusion, the text retains this attribution. Given the biblical imagery employed in the text, and its apocalyptic expectations, it is highly likely that the author was a cleric. We do know of one Sebeos, bishop of the Bagratunik', who was active towards the middle of the seventh century, but the text increasingly focuses attention upon the rival Mamikonean princely family, describing Hamazasp Mamikonean, the leading Armenian figure in the 650s, as “a lover of reading and learning.” This short eulogy, at the very end of the composition, suggests that Hamazasp may have been the author's sponsor or benefactor. It is possible that the author was none other than the anonymous bishop who defied the emperor Constans II when he visited Dvin in 653. It is otherwise hard to explain why the text contains a vivid, apparently first‐hand account of a private audience between them.
Sieges and Siegecraft,Byzantine
Authors: Sullivan Denis F.
Published: December 2012

A distinction between early “Byzantine” and late Roman siegecraft is artificial. Most methods remained similar, the major innovation being the introduction of the traction trebuchet (and perhaps the eventual demise of torsion artillery); there may have been an increasing emphasis on use of deception and treachery as opposed to full‐scale blockades and assaults. Military manuals provide theoretical sets of recommendations, and historians and other writers offer details of actual sieges, often influenced by earlier literature, but not therefore necessarily historically untrustworthy.
Simokattes, Theophylaktos
Authors: Rance Philip
Published: December 2012

Theophylaktos Simokattes (ca. 580–ca. 640CE) was the last major classicizing Greek historian of antiquity.
Sophronios, patriarch of Jerusalem
Authors: Whitby Mary
Published: December 2012

Born in Damascus, sophist and monk, pupil and friend of John Moschos, mentor of Maximus The Confessor, Sophronios (ca. 550–March 11, 638/9CE) led Chalcedonian opposition to Herakleios' monoenergist formula and was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem in 633/4.
Stoneworking, Byzantine
Authors: Rodley Lyn
Published: December 2012

From the fourth to sixth centuries
CE
, stoneworking in the Byzantine Empire continues Roman traditions: cut‐stone blocks (ashlar) were used for the walls of fine buildings, and jambs, lintels, and entablatures decorated with moldings were often of marble, better suited to carving and polishing; marble was also used for ornamental relief‐carving on buildings and sarcophagi, and for freestanding statuary.
Strategikon
of Maurice
Authors: Olster David
Published: December 2012

The
Strategikon
, generally but possibly mistakenly attributed to the emperor Maurice (582–602
CE
), is one of the most extensive extant treatises on military tactics and strategies before the early modern period, and is the basis for much of what we know about the sixth‐century Roman army. The treatise was written sometime after 580 and before 610. An anonymous military engineer or general officer, the general Philippikos, the brother‐in‐law of the emperor Maurice, and the emperor Maurice himself are all plausible candidates as author.
Strategy, Byzantine
Authors: Riedel Meredith L. D.
Published: December 2012

Byzantium, as inheritor of the Roman Empire, drew on a rich military tradition but was forced to recalibrate its general strategy in the face of changed circumstances. Unlike Rome, Constantinople did not lie at the geographical heart of its empire, and its political power was not based on the strength of the legions, but rather on the cleverness of its diplomacy and the flexibility of its response to external threats. In particular, its strength arose from an invigorating combination of Christian faith, Hellenic culture, and Roman pride.
Symeon the Stylite the Younger
Authors: Hatlie Peter
Published: December 2012

Symeon the Stylite the Younger (521–598
CE
) was a renowned, influential “pillar dweller” (
stylítes
) in the tradition of his yet more famous namesake, Symeon the Stylite the Elder.
Taxation, Byzantine
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: December 2012

The basis of Byzantine taxation was the land and those who worked it.
Textiles, Byzantine
Authors: Parani Maria G.
Published: December 2012

In Late Antiquity (and thus also early Byzantium), textiles were used, first of all, for the manufacture of clothing, covering the human body both in life and in death, and household furnishings, such as bedding, cushions, tablecloths, and towels.
Theodore (saints)
Authors: Louth Andrew
Published: December 2012

Theodore is the name of two of the Byzantine military saints (other famous ones being George and Demetrios), distinguished from one another as “tiron,” the recruit, and “stratelates,” the general.
Theophanes the Confessor
Authors: Jeffreys Elizabeth
Published: December 2012

Theophanes the Confessor (ca. 760–817CE), monk and historian, is known for hisChronographia.
Theophilos of Edessa
Authors: Decker Michael J.
Published: December 2012

Theophilos was born in Edessa, northern Syria (now Sanliurfa, Turkey) ca. 695
CE
and died in 785.
Tiberios II, emperor
Authors: Olster David
Published: December 2012

Tiberios II reigned as Caesar with the deranged Justin Ii from 574 to 578
CE
and as sole emperor from 578 to 582.
Water supply,
B
yzantine
Authors: Crow James
Published: December 2012

The western hinterland of Constantinople contains some of the most remarkable monuments of ancient hydraulic engineering, as extensive as the aqueducts of Rome and longer than the aqueduct of Carthage.
World chronicle
Authors: Kouroumali Maria
Published: December 2012

The world chronicle is a form of historiography belonging to the broader category of chronicles. The Byzantines did not distinguish particularly between different types of chronicles. Chronicle writing predated the Byzantine Empire, having been born out of a wish to synchronize the history of different nations, each of which had used a different dating system, and in essence was the product of the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Hellenistic world.
Cooking, Byzantine
Authors: Kokoszko Maciej
Published: December 2012

Byzantine cuisine evolved from the traditional Mediterranean diet. No Byzantine cookery books have been preserved. Consequently, in order to reconstruct the art of cooking, it is necessary to consult lexica, medical and agricultural writings, and other works.
Malalas, John
Authors: Jeffreys Elizabeth
Published: December 2012

John Malalas is known as the author of the earliest surviving Christian world chronicle, a type of history writing considered typically Byzantine.
Adeia
Authors: Poddighe Elisabetta
Published: December 2012

The Greek term
adeia
corresponds to the concept of immunity as a special permission, such as safe conduct when passing through enemy territory, as well as to the “immunity vote” granted in Athens by the assembly (
ekklesia
) allowing discussion of a subject that otherwise could not be discussed.
Agesilaos
Authors: Lupi Marcello
Published: December 2012

Agesilaos (ca. 444–360/59bce) was a Spartan king of the house of the Eurypontids.
Agyrrhios
Authors: Moreno Alfonso
Published: December 2012

Agyrrhios of Kollytos (born ca. 450–440bce; secretary of the council, 403/2; general, 389/8) embodied the development of democratic politics in fourth‐century, post‐imperial Athens.
Alkibiades
Authors: Mann Christian
Published: December 2012

Alkibiades (ca. 450–404bce) was an Athenian politician and general. Descending from an old aristocratic family, exceptionally gifted in rhetorical and military matters, and striving ruthlessly for power, he had a major impact on the course of the Peloponnesian War during which he changed sides several times.
Alexander of Pherai
Authors: Landucci Franca
Published: December 2012

Alexander of Pherai was “tyrant” of his city andtagos(i.e., master) of Thessaly from 369 to 358BCE.
Amphissa
Authors: Rousset Denis
Published: December 2012

Amphissa, located at the foot of Mount Parnassos, is the most important city of western Lokris. Its history was determined chiefly by the passage of armies or by the influence of regional powers.
Anaxagoras
Authors: Giangiulio Maurizio
Published: December 2012

Anaxagoras, reportedly the first Presocratic philosopher to come to Athens, was born in Klazomenai in 499/8bce. The evidence for his life and work is to be found in a confused biographical sketch by Diogenes Laertius (DK 59 A 1). According to the most thorough modern treatment (Mansfeld 1990), Anaxagoras arrived in Athens in 457/6 and stayed there for twenty years, until he was charged with impiety and banished from the city (Plut.Per. 32). He retreated to Lampsakos, where he died in 428/7.