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TheCollector
How Did Nubia Shape Ancient Egypt? The ancient Egyptians were known for disliking, or even despising, foreigners. In art and texts,...
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The ancient Egyptians were known for disliking, or even despising, foreigners. In art and texts, they often depicted their closest neighbors—the Libyans, Asiatics/Canaanites, and the Nubians. Of those, they perhaps had the most complex relationship with the Nubians. The Egyptians...
TheCollector
Was Virgil’s Aeneid For or Against Emperor Augustus? The Aeneid was written at the end of the 1st century BCE, in the aftermath of numerous civil wars,...
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The Aeneid was written at the end of the 1st century BCE, in the aftermath of numerous civil wars, the fall of the Roman Republic, and the emergence of Augustus as the principal power in Rome. In this landscape, Augustus, the adoptive son of Caesar, strove to present himself as...
TheCollector
British Museum Curator Jill Cook on the Artistic Renaissance of the Ice Age In a discussion with TheCollector, Jill Cook, Keeper of the Department of Britain, Europe, and...
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In a discussion with TheCollector, Jill Cook, Keeper of the Department of Britain, Europe, and Prehistory at the British Museum, tells us about her latest book, “Ice Age Art Now” by British Museum Press. The conversation explored the concept and nature of Ice Age art, its...
TheCollector
Here’s Why John the Baptist Was Called the Greatest Prophet John was Jesus’s relative—perhaps a second cousin—born about six months before Jesus. With the...
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John was Jesus’s relative—perhaps a second cousin—born about six months before Jesus. With the exception of Mary, John could be considered the most important witness to Jesus’s identity as the Messiah of Israel, as recorded in the Four Gospels. His baptism of Jesus defined how he...
TheCollector
6 Monastic Marvels of Medieval Europe Monasteries helped shape medieval Europe in ways that often go unnoticed today. Beyond their...
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Monasteries helped shape medieval Europe in ways that often go unnoticed today. Beyond their religious role, they influenced learning, politics, and art across the continent. Of the thousands built between the 5th and 15th centuries, more than 500 still stand; some in truly...
TheCollector
What Happened to Anne Boleyn’s Iconic “B” Necklace? The tale of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s fiercest queen, is as captivating as it is shocking. Despite...
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The tale of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s fiercest queen, is as captivating as it is shocking. Despite Henry’s efforts to erase her from history as if she were Nefertiti instead of a woman in the modern era, Anne’s legacy persists — she was, after all, mother to the monarch who ruled...
TheCollector
Fascinating Medieval Creatures (From Krakens to Dragons) Folk beliefs in the Middle Ages included a variety of fantastical creatures pulled from a hodgepodge...
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Folk beliefs in the Middle Ages included a variety of fantastical creatures pulled from a hodgepodge of local customs, ancient tales, Judeo-Christian teachings, and limited understanding of zoology. The sea monsters and demons that feature in these stories range from the famous...
TheCollector
How Did the Public React to Henry Fuseli’s “The Nightmare”? The public reacted to Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare immediately after it was exhibited at the Royal...
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The public reacted to Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare immediately after it was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1782. It rattled audiences, spurring artists to copy the painting into prints and satires for a wider distribution of the image. As the image spread, so did its...
Flashbak
All 41 Plates From Evelyn Waugh’s Victorian Blood Book, Durenstein! Among the papers left behind by the English writer Evelyn Waugh (8 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) is...
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Among the papers left behind by the English writer Evelyn Waugh (8 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) is a so-called Victorian Blood Book. This large rectangular decoupage scrapbook of 41 plates bound and wrapped in marble endpapers is remarkable, strange and unsettling, with echoes...
TheCollector
11 Essential Movies to Watch to Understand Film Noir Film noir is a genre of stylish American crime movies that emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, pushing...
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Film noir is a genre of stylish American crime movies that emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, pushing boundaries as they explored the darker side of humanity. These films feature some of Hollywood’s biggest Golden Age actors in labyrinthine plots that take them through the darkened...
TheCollector
How Bellerophon and Pegasus Took Down the Fire Breathing Chimera The heroic tale of Bellerophon and Pegasus is an inspiring story of perseverance and triumph in the...
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The heroic tale of Bellerophon and Pegasus is an inspiring story of perseverance and triumph in the face of insurmountable challenges. Despite facing misfortune initially, Bellerophon refused to let fate dictate his destiny. He accomplished the seemingly impossible by defeating...
TheCollector
Why Was the Islamic Golden Age a Turning Point in History? The Islamic Golden Age, spanning the 8th to the 14th centuries, was a rare historical period where...
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The Islamic Golden Age, spanning the 8th to the 14th centuries, was a rare historical period where developments in arts, culture and science coalesced, leading to a series of seismic academic breakthroughs. Islamic scholars advanced older knowledge or created their own...
TheCollector
9 Must-Visit World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands From medieval storms like the St. Lucia’s Flood in 1287 and the catastrophic All Saints’ Flood of...
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From medieval storms like the St. Lucia’s Flood in 1287 and the catastrophic All Saints’ Flood of 1570 to the brutal Siege of Haarlem during the Eighty Years’ War and the 1953 North Sea Flood that reshaped flood policy, the Netherlands has repeatedly faced existential threats....
TheCollector
How the Scythian Empire Ruled the Near East for Just 28 Years In the early 1st millennium BCE, the Scythians burst onto the ancient Near Eastern geopolitical...
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In the early 1st millennium BCE, the Scythians burst onto the ancient Near Eastern geopolitical scene in a frenzy of violence. The upstart Indo-European nomads upended the early Iron Age system that had developed in the region. By the late 7th century BCE, they made themselves...
History Today Feed
A Royal Skeleton in the Chapel A Royal Skeleton in the Chapel JamesHoare Thu, 06/12/2025 - 07:00
2 months ago
Flashbak
Ralph Eugene Meatyard : Masks And Dolls American photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard said that masks erased the differences between people.  ...
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American photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard said that masks erased the differences between people.     One day in 1958 or ’59, professional optician and “dedicated amateur” photographer Ralph Eugene Meatyard (May 15, 1925 – May 7, 1972) bought a few dozen masks in a branch of...
TheCollector
Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom, War, and Weaving Athena was one of the most beloved and complex gods in the Greek pantheon. She was an arbiter of...
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Athena was one of the most beloved and complex gods in the Greek pantheon. She was an arbiter of justice and the goddess of war, a patron of peaceful crafts and protector of the state. To modern audiences, she is best known as the goddess of wisdom, yet this association was not...
TheCollector
8 Inventions to Thank the Aztec, Maya, & Inca For Columbus may have sailed in pursuit of gold, but what he and his successors found was a new world...
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Columbus may have sailed in pursuit of gold, but what he and his successors found was a new world full of never-before-seen plants, animals, and even technology. From unique foods to mind-boggling tools and skills, civilizations in Meso- and South America wowed newcomers with...
TheCollector
How Aeneas of Troy Set the Stage for Rome’s Rise Aeneas of Troy is a figure from ancient Greek mythology. However, he found fame for his involvement...
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Aeneas of Troy is a figure from ancient Greek mythology. However, he found fame for his involvement in the foundation of Rome thanks to an epic written about him by the Roman poet Virgil in the 1st century BCE. There are many misconceptions about what the sources say about...
TheCollector
10 Must-See Ancient Treasures From the Ashmolean Museum Oxford University’s Ashmolean Museum is one of the world’s oldest public museums, replacing private...
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Oxford University’s Ashmolean Museum is one of the world’s oldest public museums, replacing private cabinets of curiosity with organized displays designed to educate the public. It opened its doors in 1683 and is still open to the public for free today. The core of the original...
Classical Wisdom
How Calypso Helped Odysseus... Homer's Women: Podcast with Emily Hauser
2 months ago
TheCollector
What Do We Actually Know about Hieronymus Bosch? Unlike some artists, Hieronymus Bosch was famous in his own time and inspired a generation of...
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Unlike some artists, Hieronymus Bosch was famous in his own time and inspired a generation of artists with his groundbreaking style and unusual subject matter. Even in his pieces that seem more straightforward and less fantastical, Bosch often wove in nuanced layers of meaning,...
TheCollector
Was Belisarius Byzantium’s Greatest General? Belisarius arrived in Constantinople around 520, serving in the military and joining Emperor...
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Belisarius arrived in Constantinople around 520, serving in the military and joining Emperor Justinian’s personal bodyguard. By 526, he had achieved a senior rank but had already commanded troops in battles for Emperor Justin. Upon Justin’s death, the new Emperor Justinian I gave...
TheCollector
7 Must-See Paintings by Edvard Munch The most famous of all Norwegian painters, Edvard Munch, is well-known for his dark and often...
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The most famous of all Norwegian painters, Edvard Munch, is well-known for his dark and often disturbing Expressionist works painted in screaming bold colors. He was a nervous man with poor health, prone to sudden disturbances and exaggerated emotional responses. Illness, both...
History Today Feed
‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review ‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review JamesHoare Wed, 06/11/2025 - 07:00
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Trying to Understand...
Politics Without Purpose. And its consequences.
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TheCollector
The Qin: How One Dynasty United Ancient China Few dynasties have had the cultural or historical impact that the Qin Dynasty had. China has a rich,...
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Few dynasties have had the cultural or historical impact that the Qin Dynasty had. China has a rich, varied, and sometimes complex history—but it all had to start somewhere. The Qin Dynasty was ancient China’s first imperial dynasty, and its legacy meant that China would be ruled...
TheCollector
Christianization of the Viking World: Why Did the Vikings Convert? One of the main causes of the end of the Viking era was the Vikings’ conversion to Christianity....
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One of the main causes of the end of the Viking era was the Vikings’ conversion to Christianity. This changed their political relationship with their neighbors, making raids more difficult, and made them less distinct from the rest of Europe. While there are stories of Christian...
TheCollector
Who Were the Cyclopes? The One-Eyed Giants of Greek Myth The one-eyed Cyclops is one of the most recognizable monsters in Greek mythology, but there is more...
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The one-eyed Cyclops is one of the most recognizable monsters in Greek mythology, but there is more to the story of the Cyclops than meets the eye. Homer depicted them as familiar, uncivilized brutes, while Hesiod described them as equals to the Titans and praised them as the...
TheCollector
The Incredible Life & Military Campaigns of the Assyrian King Sargon II Sargon II ascended the Assyrian throne in 722 BCE and reigned until 705 BCE. Little is known about...
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Sargon II ascended the Assyrian throne in 722 BCE and reigned until 705 BCE. Little is known about him before his contentious rise to power. Throughout his tenure as king, Sargon II entangled himself in political disputes, which often led to war, and in most cases, he emerged...
Flashbak
When Sly Stone Traded His New Album For Cocaine Sly Stone (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025) was frontman for the brilliant Sly and the Family Stone...
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Sly Stone (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025) was frontman for the brilliant Sly and the Family Stone (formerly Sly and the Stoners). The audacious and playful musician behind such infectious funk-rock-soul hits as the often-sampled hit Everyday People (1969), the gospel-influenced...
TheCollector
New British Museum Book Celebrates Hiroshige’s Lasting Legacy A new exhibition and publication bring to life the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), one of...
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A new exhibition and publication bring to life the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), one of Japan’s most popular and prolific artists. Hiroshige: artist of the open road presents a rarely seen range of prints, paintings, books, and sketches. It is the first-ever exhibition...
TheCollector
New British Museum Book Celebrates Hiroshige’s Lasting Legacy A new exhibition and publication bring to life the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), one of...
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A new exhibition and publication bring to life the work of Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), one of Japan’s most popular and prolific artists. Hiroshige: artist of the open road presents a rarely seen range of prints, paintings, books, and sketches. It is the first-ever exhibition...
TheCollector
How Many People Are Related to Genghis Khan? The Genetic Legacy May Surprise You The question of Genghis Khan’s genetic history arose in the 2000s, when academics began looking into...
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The question of Genghis Khan’s genetic history arose in the 2000s, when academics began looking into how many descendants belonged to the fearsome leader. Researchers have tracked Khan’s Y chromosome and discovered a dizzying number of relations, tracing Genghis Khan’s genetic...
History Today Feed
Renaissance Florence’s Missing Bronzes Renaissance Florence’s Missing Bronzes JamesHoare Tue, 06/10/2025 - 08:18
2 months ago
TheCollector
Battle of Manzikert: Byzantine Empire vs Seljuk Empire Continuous Seljuk raids and sieges in Anatolia in the 11th century CE culminated in a war between...
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Continuous Seljuk raids and sieges in Anatolia in the 11th century CE culminated in a war between these nomadic newcomers and the Byzantine, or Eastern Roman, Empire. When the Seljuk sultan, Alp Arslan, and the Byzantine emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes, met on the fields of...
TheCollector
What Is Kant’s Theory of Knowledge? One of Kant’s most distinctive contributions to philosophy is his theory of knowledge. This article...
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One of Kant’s most distinctive contributions to philosophy is his theory of knowledge. This article begins with a discussion of relevant theoretical context before addressing certain difficulties with summarizing Kant’s philosophy. The idea of transcendental idealism is then...
TheCollector
James II vs. William of Orange (Williamite War in Ireland) The Glorious Revolution of 1688 that brought Prince William of Orange to the throne of England at...
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The Glorious Revolution of 1688 that brought Prince William of Orange to the throne of England at the expense of King James II soon caused Ireland to be dragged into a European war as part of a contest involving Britain, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire....
TheCollector
Heidegger’s Being and Time: Understanding Dasein and Temporality Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time transformed philosophy in the 20th century by attempting something...
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Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time transformed philosophy in the 20th century by attempting something huge: trying to understand what it means to exist. Or, as Heidegger puts it, to be Dasein. He asks: how do our experiences in the past and present, our hopes and fears for the...
Flashbak
Before And After: Polaroids then Magic from Richard Avedon, In the American West “Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament;...
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“Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own. ” – Richard Avedon, photographer of In The American West     During the making his opus In The American West (1979 –...
TheCollector
How Caravaggio’s Dramatic Use of Light Revolutionized Baroque Art Caravaggio’s dramatic chiaroscuro technique revolutionized Baroque painting. His use of light and...
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Caravaggio’s dramatic chiaroscuro technique revolutionized Baroque painting. His use of light and shadow as an expressive technique inspired countless artists and transformed the history of art. Instead of mathematical precision, the famous artist aimed for emotional impact....
Classical Wisdom
Macedonia Before Alexander the Great Were the Macedonians Greek?
2 months ago
TheCollector
How Did People Survive the Little Ice Age? Human resilience shines during the Little Ice Age, a period of intense cooling from the 14th to 19th...
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Human resilience shines during the Little Ice Age, a period of intense cooling from the 14th to 19th centuries. Europe, Alaska, and the North Atlantic battled severely low temperatures. While the exact cause is unclear, theories range from volcanic activity to changes in Earth’s...
History Today Feed
‘The Alienation Effect’ by Owen Hatherley review ‘The Alienation Effect’ by Owen Hatherley review JamesHoare Mon, 06/09/2025 - 09:05
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TheCollector
The Myth of Morgan le Fey: The Witch of Arthurian Legend Morgan le Fey, or Morgan le Fay, is a character who appears in many versions of the Arthurian...
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Morgan le Fey, or Morgan le Fay, is a character who appears in many versions of the Arthurian legends and is a popular character in modern retellings. She is famous as an evil sorceress who schemed against King Arthur throughout his life. In reality, she was more complicated than...
TheCollector
What Was Athena the Goddess Of? Her 3 Domains Athena is one of the most famous deities from Greek antiquity. Born in full armor, springing forth...
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Athena is one of the most famous deities from Greek antiquity. Born in full armor, springing forth from the head of her father Zeus, the virgin goddess was her father’s favorite daughter. She was also a favorite among the Greek people as the patron of not just Athens but also...
TheCollector
The Valley of the Kings: Ancient Egypt’s Royal Necropolis Egypt is known the world over for its archaeological wonders—impressive tombs that froze dynasties...
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Egypt is known the world over for its archaeological wonders—impressive tombs that froze dynasties in time, complete with massive treasures and wonders of history. The Valley of the Kings is one of the most incredible locations in the country, home to dozens of tombs that...
TheCollector
The Antikythera Mechanism: An Ancient Greek Planetarium Since its discovery in 1901 off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, the Antikythera...
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Since its discovery in 1901 off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, the Antikythera Mechanism has fascinated scholars in many fields. Studies of the inscriptions on the mechanism and reconstructions of its gears have established that it was an astronomical calculator....
Classical Wisdom
Weekly Wisdom Quiz Money, Myth, and Madness
2 months ago
TheCollector
How to Gain Power as a Medieval Woman For medieval women, carving out a place of power was exceedingly difficult. For hundreds of years,...
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For medieval women, carving out a place of power was exceedingly difficult. For hundreds of years, medieval women and their stories were overlooked and forgotten. However, a select few managed to gain power for themselves in the form of influence or money. These extraordinary...