Ancient History Magazine

Ancient History looks at every aspect of the ancient world: you'll find articles covering politics, society, literature, language, religion, economics, and art - all in one magazine! Like its big brother, Ancient Warfare, Ancient History Magazine is a bi-monthly, 60-page magazine that relies on a thematic approach: each issue is centered around one specific subject. From ancient Egyptian trade and Roman family life to the lost city of Pompeii, there's sure to be something for everyone - all presented in a well-researched but accessible, fun manner.

Ancient History Magazine

EDITORIAL – ORACLES, AUGURS, AND ANCESTORS

PRELIMINARIES

4000-year-old corridor and arch baffle archaeologists

Coal used as fuel 1000 years earlier than previously thought

Tomb Raiders Damage Thracian Burial Mound

Unique ‘step pyramid’ found in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists discover a possible Iron Age settlement in the Baltic Sea

A CAUTIONARY TALE • Publishing unprovenanced papyri is a waste of time, money, and intellect. After all, it is relatively easy to make a false papyrus. The socalled Gospel of Jesus’ Wife is a major scandal.

LIPSTICK AND LINGERIE • Ancient history is full of women who are called beautiful. In mythology, Helen is called the most beautiful woman in the world. According to tradition, the hetaira Phryne enraptured the sculptors Apelles and Praxiteles, modelling for the Aphrodite of Knidos. However, we know little about what was considered beautiful in ancient Greece. We do know, however, what women could do make themselves appear more beautiful.

THE WOMAN KING HATSHEPSUT • The reign of the original ‘woman king,’ Maatkare Hatshepsut, was historically polarizing, specifically because she was a wom- an king. By coming to power, she effectively went against Egyptian tradition and institutional norms in the name of promoting her identity as pharaoh. As a result, her pharaonic monuments and imagery were destroyed in a practice of iconoclasm on the part of her successors, most likely at the hands of Amenhotep II.

Pharaonic Symbols

THE VIEW FROM ANTHROPOLOGY • One of the oldest debates in history is the question of what is the oldest profession? Priest? Prostitute? Soldier? Another contender for the title is diviner. People have been interpreting signs throughout history across a range of cultures, and it is an important area of anthropological study.

CLAIM TO FAME? • Delphi and Dodona are places that may come to mind when one thinks of divination in ancient Greece. These oracular institutions, particularly Delphi, were of great importance to the ancient Greeks (and even non-Greeks). However, there was a whole host of independent diviners in a religious marketplace offering their services.

Seers on the battlefield

THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON • The reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, was fraught with internal politics as ambitious men sought to depose him - he himself had come to rule amidst conspiracies and power struggles. To secure his reign, Esarhaddon turned to divination, as did those who conspired against him.

LOOKING UP • Nowadays, augury – watching the skies and the birds in them hoping to discern some divine knowledge – is dismissed as simple superstition. However, the ancient augurs may have been on to something.

ENQUIRING OF THE GODS • The oldest written records from China are records of divination. Inscribed on the bones of oxen and the shells of turtles, three thousand years later they provide a window into the cosmos of the first Chinese states. Since their discovery over a century ago, thousands have been uncovered. By providing a written record of enquiries put to the gods and ancestors by the Shang kings, they provide an insight into Shang belief systems, the relationship between religion and the state, and...