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#ancientworld

1 post1 participant0 posts today
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Stefan F. Wirth

The #LighthouseofAlexandria is one of the #SevenWonders of the #AncientWorld. It was built between 299 and 279 BC under #PtolemyI by #SostratusofCnidus and was #destroyed by earthquakes in the early 14th century AD. #Scientists led by construction researcher Isabelle Hairy (#CNRS) #raised 22 #blocks of it from the #seabed in 2025. It is intended to better understand the #tower's #construction.

©#StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Ref
news.artnet.com/art-world/ligh

#Pictures
© S.F. Wirth, #AIassisted, 2025

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Aethelflaed

The earliest known author was a woman called Enheduanna, a priestess with great political power, who lived in ancient Mesopotamia. Most people think of Sappho as the first female writer, but she wrote 1,000 years later. Enheduanna's work was only discovered in 1927. She wrote around 42 hymns and 3 poems.
From: The Missing Thread written by Daisy Dunn- a book about women who shaped the ancient world. I'm really enjoying this book.

kriykat

Chris Hedges: The Rule of Idiots
consortiumnews.com/2025/06/11/
Thomas Paine writes that a despotic government is a fungus that grows out of a corrupt civil society. This is what happened to past societies. It is what happened to us. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost The last days of dying…
#Politics #AmericanEmpire #AncientWorld #Books #Commentary #Germany #Nazism #TrumpAdministration #U.s. #UntilThisDayHistoricalPerspectivesOnTheNews #ChrisHedges #EdwardGibbon #EmperorCommodus #EmperorNero #EmperorPertinax #EricVoegelin #HannahArendt #QinShiHuang #RamsayMacmullen #Romanovs #SørenKierkegaard #U.s.ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcement(ice) #U.s.PresidentDonaldTrump #WalterBenjamin

Consortium News · Chris Hedges: The Rule of IdiotsThomas Paine writes that a despotic government is a fungus that grows out of a corrupt civil society. This is what happened to past societies. It is what happened to us. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost The last days of dying empires are dominated by idiots. The Roman, Mayan, French, Habsburg
kriykat

Mass Migration & the Echoes of Late Rome
consortiumnews.com/2025/04/10/
In its greed for power, domination, resources and wealth, the West, says John Wight, is headed for the same fate as Rome all those centuries ago. By John Wight Special to Consortium News The ancient world can teach us much,…
#Politics #AncientWorld #Commentary #Europe #Immigration #IncomeInequality #TrumpAdministration #U.s. #UntilThisDayHistoricalPerspectivesOnTheNews #Barbarians #BorderControl #JohnWight #PresidentDonaldTrump #Refugees #RomanEmpire

Consortium News · Mass Migration & the Echoes of Late RomeIn its greed for power, domination, resources and wealth, the West, says John Wight, is headed for the same fate as Rome all those centuries ago. By John Wight Special to Consortium News The ancient world can teach us much, if we only let it. One of its key lessons is that mass migration is
Women From History BOT
~ The history of prostitution in ancient world, Late Antiquity & the Middle Ages ~

After Constantine's conversion to Christianity in 312 CE, his biographer, Eusebius claimed that he closed both brothels and the temples to Venus and other fertility goddesses. He made the point that force was not used, but that the Roman emperor wrote to the cities with the temples and encouraged the cessation of their rituals. However, it should be noted that in the later descriptions of Constantinople, there are consistent references to the plethora of brothels in the city.

There are stories that during the reign of Theodosius I (379-395 CE), prostitutes were burned alive. In 529 CE, Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565 CE) penalized all trade in child prostitution. Some interesting literature in this period recounts the involvement of monks in prostitution. Typical stories have a monk visiting the baths or a brothel, and then being stricken with a sexual disease (Palladius, Lausiac History, 26).

In other words, without prostitution, men would treat their wives like prostitutes, vitiating the command to procreate. The medieval Augustinian monk Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) paraphrased Augustine, claiming that removing prostitution would be like removing the sewers from a palace; both would soon fill with corruption. The medieval Church legalized brothels and prostitution, and prostitutes now joined in Catholic religious festivals.

Painting : Mary Magdalene, by Frederick Sandys

#antiquity #art #arthistory #painting #history #womenfromhistory #ancientworld
#ancientworld
Women From History BOT
~ The history of prostitution in ancient world, Ancient Rome ~

Prostitution in ancient Athens was legal; one could find pornai, many of whom were slaves, in brothels, taverns, and street corners, or hire a high-class courtesan, a hetaira. Rome followed many of the same concepts as Greece in relation to prostitution. Much like hetairai at a Greek symposium, upper-level prostitutes also acted as entertainers at dinner parties in Rome. Volumna Cytheris (1st century BCE) was an actress and companion of both Mark Anthony and Brutus. Praecia (70s BCE) was a companion for several influential politicians, including Pompey. She was well-known for her influence in Roman politics.

However, many of the women working as ordinary prostitutes were slaves or ex-slaves, which meant that they were categorized as infames, those with no social standing or rights and privileges of citizens. Sex with slaves was not adultery, and there was an acceptance of sexual activity with both male and female slaves.

Prostitutes worked the streets on their own, or they could rent a room, usually above a tavern. The women who worked as waitresses in taverns were always associated with prostitution. Prostitutes had to be registered with the aediles. An aedile was a magistrate elected each year to oversee commercial activities, and the maintenance and public health of registered brothels and Roman baths. The public baths were areas where prostitutes also plied their trade. From the 30s CE, prostitutes had to pay an imperial tax. Some of the literature suggests that Roman prostitutes wore a brightly-colored toga (white was for citizen males). Speculation remains that this was a Roman government edict or simply done by choice to distinguish them from other women.

Illustration :Greek hetaira and her client, approx.430 BCE. The fact that she is on the couch with him is telling, as wives were not allowed into the symposium.

#antiquity #art #arthistory #painting #history #womenfromhistory #ancientworld
#ancientworld
Women From History BOT
~ The history of prostitution in ancient world, Ancient Judaism ~

Prostitution in ancient Israel was not deemed a sin. The legislation in the Law of Moses that was directed to marriage and divorce utilized the concept of women as property. Women were the property of their fathers, then handed over in a marriage contract to a husband. Adultery was related to these unions; adultery meant the violation of another man’s property. Prostitutes were not under contract in a legal marriage, so sex with a prostitute was not in violation of the social codes, but they were at the bottom of the social ladder.

Surprisingly, the Jewish Scriptures relate stories of prostitutes in what is termed a literary type as "the righteous harlot." These are stories of usually Canaanite women (non-Jews), who nevertheless believe in the God of Israel. When Joshua sent spies into Jericho, the madam of the brothel, Rahab, hid them because she knew that God would give the victory to the Israelites. Judah’s Canaanite daughter-in-law, Tamar, disguised herself as a harlot by the side of the road, to seduce Judah so that his line would not die out.

The Hebrew word for 'prostitute' was zonah, but we also find the word kedeshah, which means "set apart" or "consecrated". It usually appears in descriptions of non-Jewish women who served as servants in the fertility temples. With the connection to fertility deities, the Prophets of Israel utilized marriage and sexual metaphors to condemn the great sin of idolatry in the land. God was presented as the bridegroom and Israel the bride, who then committed adultery by turning to other gods. In the book of the Prophet Hosea (8th century BCE), he was ordered to marry Gomer, a prostitute as symbolic of the sins of Israel.

Painting ; The Harlot of Jericho and the Two Spies, by James Tisso

#antiquity #art #arthistory #painting #history #womenfromhistory #ancientworld
#ancientworld
Women From History BOT
~ The history of prostitution in ancient world, Ancient Egypt ~

We know very little about prostitution in ancient Egypt. What we do have are pictures of female entertainers at banquets (dancers and singers), but no indication of their status. In terms of the attractions of make-up, we have numerous examples: variations in wigs, face and eye make-up, sheer linen dresses that emphasized the delights of the body, and tattoos.

Compared to their neighbors, women in ancient Egypt had far more legal rights and could work in various trades. There was no marriage ceremony in Egypt; couples simply moved in together. However, monogamy was expected and encouraged.

Illustration : painting from the Tomb of Nebamun (c. 1350 BCE), with women making music and women dancing

#antiquity #art #arthistory #painting #history #womenfromhistory #ancientworld
#ancientworld
Women From History BOT
~ The history of prostitution in ancient world, introduction ~

Prostitution in the ancient world usually referred to a classification of women who offered their sexual services outside the parameters of law codes for ancient society. The word 'prostitute' derives from the Latin prostituere ("to expose publicly"). This was a reference to the way in which Roman prostitutes advertised so as not to be confused with matrons.

The dominating religious theme of all ancient societies was that of fertility; of crops, herds, and people. The divine powers who ruled the universe occurred in male and female pairs, and so could be approached for the benefits of fertility for humans. This was particularly relevant to the creation and worship of the various mother goddesses in the region: Inanna (Sumer), Ishtar (Mesopotamia), Hathor and Isis (Egypt), Cybele (Anatolia), Astarte (Canaan), Demeter (Greece), Aphrodite (Greece), and Venus (Rome). All these goddesses ruled human sexuality, the erotic uses of the body, birth, and children.

Scholars debate the ways in which worship of these fertility deities was instituted, in a concept known as sacred prostitution or temple prostitution. There are references to this in the ancient cultures of Sumer and Mesopotamia, and the ideas spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin.

In ancient Sumer, the king performed an annual religious ritual known as hieros gamos, or sacred marriage. This marriage assured fertility for the community. Hymns from the period refer to the king "running races" on the same day which reflected his virility. What remains debatable is whether these religious rituals were literal or symbolic.

Illustration : A late Roman-Republican banquet scene in a fresco from Herculaneum

#antiquity #art #arthistory #painting #history #womenfromhistory #ancientworld
#ancientworld
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Phillip B. Ströbel

📢🎧 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧📢

Journey back to the Iron Age! 🤯 Discover the secrets of the Heuneburg 🏰, Germany's "oldest city north of the Alps"! ⛰️🇩🇪

Tune in to explore the rise and fall of this fascinating urban center! 🎧➡️
Here: t.uzh.ch/1Nv
Or on Spotify: creators.spotify.com/pod/show/

Our AI hosts talk about:

- Rich burials with gold & wagons! ✨💀⚰️
- A HUGE 100-hectare settlement! 🏘️🏘️🏘️
- Mediterranean-inspired mudbrick walls! 🧱🤔
- Craft production & trade from far away lands 🏺➡️🇪🇺
- Fortifications, fires & mystery! 🔥🛡️❓
- A powerful elite ruling the land 💪👑

This episode challenges EVERYTHING you thought you knew about Iron Age Europe! 🤯

#Heuneburg#IronAge#Archaeology
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