A noble's estate, like this one at Tell el Amarna, far more than a family dwelling. It was built around workshops, stables, shrines and banquet rooms. Servants were constantly busy—baking bread in the kitchens, bottling beer in the household brewery, storing grain in silos. There were scribes, vintners, was carpenters and herdsmen. The whole establishment was managed with the Egyptian passion for order, Although the household was run by the noble's steward, there is evidence that his wife also had a free hand—-"You should not supervise . . . your wife in her house," one father admonished his son.

 

The nobleman who controlled the land that the peasant worked often lived in considerable luxury. If he was a high-ranking official, his town or country house—made of the sun-baked brick the Egyptians used for all domestic architecture, from hovels to palaces—was usually set in a landscaped garden enclosed ...

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Modern man knows of many ancient and wonderful civilizations, some of them of misty origin and impressive accomplishments. What sets Egypt apart from the others? For one thing, Egypt was one of the earliest of the ancient lands to weave the threads of civilization into a truly impressive culture. More to the point, it sustained its achievements unabated for more than two and a half millennia—a span of accomplishment with few equals in the saga of humanity.

 

Nature favoured Egypt. The early civilizations of Mesopotamia stood on an open plain, and they spent much of their vitality in defending themselves from one another. Palestine, farther west, was largely unprotected, a prey to invaders. In Egypt it was different. Desert barriers bordered the Valley of the Nile and discouraged invasion; the people lived in relative security. The scattered tribes that shared the river merged into villages instead of fighting among ...

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The researchers say gravitational microlensing is useful for detecting planets orbiting in a star's habitable zone (Source: ESO/M. Kornmesser)

Stuart Gary
ABC

A new study suggests each star in the Milky Way galaxy is most likely orbited by a planet - and there's a good chance that planet is closer in size to Earth, than to Jupiter.

The findings, which appear in the journal Nature, mean extrasolar planets (exoplanets) are far more numerous than previously thought, increasing the possibility of life existing beyond Earth.

"Planets orbiting stars in our galaxy is the rule, rather than the exception," write the team of researchers led by Dr Arnaud Cassan of the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris.

Cassan and colleagues analysed data collected between 2002 and 2007 using gravitational microlensing to search for planets. This technique measures light from a distant star that is bent and amplified by the gravity of ...

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Located at the heart of the largest megalithic area in western France, the Morbihan, and more particularly its coastal area, concentrates a large number of monuments, which are exceptional by their scale and variety. This implies the presence of a particularly dense and dynamic population, sufficiently prosperous to build such monuments.

There are almost 500 megalithic sites in Morbihan, but they are unevenly distributed over the area:

The main concentrations lies along the coast between the Blavet estuary and the Rhuys peninsula (including the Morbihan Gulf, the Quiberon peninsula and the Isle of Groix), in particular between the Etel and Auray river estuaries

Another large group of monuments is located on the Landes de Lanvaux, a line of hills between the Claie and Arz valleys, from the Blavet river in the West to the Oust river in the East.
Northern Morbihan has fewer monuments, but they are evenly distributed.
The ...

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Welcome to the David Rumsey Map Collection Database and Blog. The Map Database has many viewers and the Blog has numerous categories.

The historical map collection has over 29,000 maps and images online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.

Popular collection categories include antique atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall & case, children's, and manuscript maps. Search examples are United States map, Geology maps, California map, Afghanistan map, America map, New York City map, Chicago map, and U.S. Civil War maps. Browse  map categories: What, Where, Who, When. The collection can be used to study history, genealogy, art, explorations, local and family history. Learn more

Watch 360 degree QTVR of the Collection Space
Browse Lists of the Collection ...

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An ancient 14th Century quadrant used to tell the time is expected to raise more than $300,000 when it is auctioned in London.

Brought to Light Having Spent Over 20 Years in a Shed in Queensland, Australia

Bonhams is delighted to be selling one of the only known 14th century instruments, an exceedingly rare equal hour horary quadrant marked with the badge of King Richard II, at its Fine Clocks and Scientific Instruments Sale on 13 December 2011. Dated 1396, this extraordinary British time-telling mathematical instrument, which has come to light following its discovery in a shed in Queensland, Australia, has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £150,000 – 200,000. It is the second earliest dated British scientific instrument in existence, the earliest being the Chaucer astrolabe, dated 1326, housed in the British Museum.

This quadrant is the earliest of a similar group of three other quadrants dated 1398 ...

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Prehistoric labyrinth petroglyph, Pansaimol, Goa, India

Have a history that can be traced back over 4000 years. The earliest examples, found carved on rocks, all have the same design - the classical labyrinth symbol...

Labyrinthos is the resource centre for mazes and labyrinths...

The labyrinth in its many shapes and forms has, throughout the ages, been recognized and used as an archetypal symbol of healing, rebirth, re-generation and transformation. The spider-web labyrinth design is based on the sand drawings of the Tchokwe people of northeast Angola. These drawings (sona) are linked through dots in the sand and show the skill of a visionary/sangoma.

According to Credo Mutwa, African labyrinths have existed for eons in Africa and are an integral part of every tribe in some shape or form. Apart from divination, the labyrinth is also used as an initiation tool into Umlando, the Great Knowledge.

The African Labyrinth

Every culture uses the path as an initiation; the sanusis and sangomas have to walk through several gates to reach the center where they perform certain procedures before they can exit. In some traditions one has to follow the path encountering seven dangers to ...

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Irene Klotz
Reuters

The most Earth-like planet ever discovered is circling a star 600 light years away, a key finding in an ongoing quest to learn if life exists beyond Earth, say scientists.

The planet, called Kepler-22b, joins a list of more than 500 planets found to orbit stars beyond our solar system. It is the smallest and the best positioned to have liquid water on its surface - among the ingredients necessary for life on Earth.

"We are homing in on the true Earth-sized, habitable planets," says San Jose State University astronomer Natalie Batalha, deputy science team lead for NASA's Kepler Space Telescope that discovered the star.

The telescope, which was launched three years ago, is staring at about 150,000 stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra, looking for faint and periodic dimming as any circling planets pass by, relative to Kepler's line of sight.

Results will ...

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David Abulafia

Description

Situated at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Mediterranean Sea has been for millenia the place where religions, economies, and political systems met, clashed, influenced and absorbed one another. David Abulafia offers a fresh perspective by focusing on the sea itself: its practical importance for transport and sustenance; its dynamic role in the rise and fall of empires; and the remarkable cast of characters--sailors, merchants, migrants, pirates, pilgrims--who have crossed and recrossed it.

Ranging from prehistory to the 21st century, The Great Sea is above all the history of human interaction across a region that has brought together many of the great civilizations of antiquity as well as the rival empires of medieval and modern times. Interweaving major political and naval developments with the ebb and flow of trade, Abulafia explores how commercial competition in the Mediterranean created both rivalries and partnerships, with merchants acting ...

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