Introduction and links list

BBC Gods and Monsters video

8 videos

" Welcome to the Theoi Project, a site exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art. The aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive, free reference guide to the gods (theoi), spirits (daimones), fabulous creatures (theres) and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion."

"Some Great Greek Myths"

"Une monographie scientifique de 400 pages, illustrée de près de 420 figures, vient de paraître sous le titre «La villa romaine du Prieuré à Pully et ses peintures murales». Cette publication retrace plus de 40 années de recherches sur le site archéologique exceptionnel de la villa romaine de Pully, construite entre le 1er et le 2e siècle de notre ère."

"L'équipe de Nvp3D filme depuis un an les fouilles et les objets de l'entrepôt du Musée romain d'Avenches pour en faire un documentaire,"

Time line and map of ancient wines

" Found at Babylon in 1879, the Cyrus Cylinder is among the most celebrated discoveries from the ancient world, with a legacy that resounds to this day."

"Civilisation is based on the cultivation of plants, but humans rely on plants for far more than simple foodstuffs. This virtual book, written by Henry Hobhouse, the author of Seeds of Change, and Museum botanist Sandra Knapp, is an introduction to the fascinating history of cultivation and some of its impacts on today's society."

"Oats appear to have been crop weeds for a long time before being truly cultivated. There is evidence of wild Avena species contaminating barley and wheat crops in archaeological remains in the Fertile Crescent. When the established crops such as wheat and barley were disseminated into Europe and Asia from the Fertile Crescent, the weedy oats travelled with them. Oat was developed into a crop when it out-competed wheat and barley in the cloudy and wet environment of northern Europe. Domestication of the common oat was first confirmed in archaeological remains found in Central Europe dated 1000 BC."

"The Sumerian writing system was adopted and modified by other contemporaneous Mesopotamian people such as the Akkadians and the Babylonians. As a spoken language, Sumerian died out around the 18th century BCE, but continued as a "learned" written language (much like Latin was during the Middle Ages in Europe). In this way, Sumerian was used continually until the 1st century CE, making it one of the longest used writing system in history."

animation showing the development of modern Latin alphabet, from Phoenician 900 BC

"Cuneiform was a writing system used between roughly 5,300 and 1,950 years ago, so for more than 3,300 years. That makes it the longest-lasting writing system in known history-"

"Sumerian was spoken in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (part of modern Iraq) from perhaps the 4th millennium BC until about 2,000 BC, when it was replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language, though continued to be used in writing for religious, artistic and scholarly purposes until about the 1st century AD. Sumerian is not related to any other known language so is classified as a language isolate."

"Cuneiform script[nb 1] is one of the earliest known systems of writing,[1] distinguished by its "wedge-shaped" marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The name cuneiform itself simply means "wedge shaped", from the Latin cuneus "wedge" and forma "shape," and came into English usage "probably from Old French cunéiforme."[2]"

"Map of the ancient Near East during the Amarna period, showing the great powers of the period: Egypt (green), Hatti (yellow), the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (purple), Assyria (grey), and Mittani (red). Lighter areas show direct control, darker areas represent spheres of influence. The extent of the Achaean/Mycenaean civilization is shown in orange. On the map above: the territory between Medes and Iberia was called Ararat or Armenia, around the lake Van."