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The rise and fall of great empires (4000 BC—500 AD)

Human/Physical Geography, Cultural and Intellectual Life, Movement of People and Goods, Technology, Power

 

                General/ All Sub-headings:

 

ROME:

 

History of the Roman Empire in web history book by Frank E. Smitha (Book One: The Ancient World), with chapters “THE RISE OF ANCIENT ROME” to “REMNANTS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE” and "CHRISTIAN EMPERORS, PERSIA, AND THE FALL OF ROME":

http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/index.html

 

"WHY ROME FELL" -- College professor's lecture webpage gives an excellent overview of social problems that contributed to the end of the Roman Empire:

http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/14romefell.html

 

"THE FALL OF ROME" -- Resource webpage explains background and internal and external forces which resulted in the fall of Rome:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/uc_dorrington1.htm

 

"LATE ANTIQUITY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: The Collapse of the Roman Empire -- Military Aspects." Analysis by Canadian University Professor Hugh Elton, suggests that poor leadership may have been the biggest cause for the empire's collapse:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.unipissing.ca/department/history/muhlberger/orb/milex.htm

 

"THE FALL OF ROME" -- Read several credible theories and decide which theory seems most believable to you:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.acs.ohio%2Dstate.edu/history/isthmia/teg/Hist111H/issues/rome1.html

 

The Ancient World Web:  Website "Daily Life" Topic Index has numerous external links to internet resources for daily life information throughout mankind's ancient history and among many civilizations and cultures, e.g., Greece, Rome, India, Egypt, and China, etc.:

                http://julen.net/ancient/Daily_Life/

 

The Ancient World Web - General Resources:  Website "General Resources" Topic Index has numerous external links to general information about mankind's ancient history among many diverse civilizations and cultures, e.g., the Canaanite Phoenicians, ancient Ireland, Korea, Africa, Turkey, the Near East, Byzantium, Andean cultures, etc.:

http://julen.net/ancient/General_Resources/

 

The Ancient World Web - "History":  Website "History" Topic Index has numerous external links to information about mankind's ancient history among many diverse civilizations and cultures, e.g., ancient Ireland, Morocco, Egypt, Nubia, the Aztecs of Mexico (AD 1360-1520), China, etc.:

                http://julen.net/ancient/History/

 

WWL-Virtual Library: History:  Comprehensive internet network providing links to vast web resources on world history, alphabetically by country or region, by era or epoch (time period) from ancient times to the Twentieth Century, and by historical topics (e.g., "Islam," "Slavery"). Central Catalogue located at the University of Kansas: 

                http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/

 

British Museum's "Compass" on-line collection -- images and explanations of 5000 objects from early civilizations to today, click on "Search" and type in terms, such as "Roman empire," "Egyptian kings, etc.:

                http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/

  

From the Norwegian National Library, The Schøyen Collection:  "222 Manuscripts Spanning 5000 Years."  (Excerpts are shown, with descriptive information) Click on "History", and sub-headings:

Sumerian History, Babylonian History, Assyrian History, Greek & Byzantine History, Roman History:

http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/

 

History For Kids:  Site geared to middle-schoolers, with information on Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Islam, etc.:

                http://www.historyforkids.org/

 

Oriental Institute Museum - University of Chicago:  Collection of archaeological items from the Ancient Near East (area now covering Iran to Egypt) (search by region or subjects such as "Daily Life, "Kings," "Industry," "Boats," etc.):

                http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OI_Museum_Highlights.html

 

The National Geographic Society's website pages about Ancient Egypt, including the tomb of King Tutankhamen:

                http://www.nationalgeographic.com/egypt/

 

National Geographic News article about Egyptian Pharoah Ramses II (1270-1213 BC): Nile Monuments and Temples:

                http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0221_abusimbel.html

 

Egyptian Papyrus Texts covering several centuries forward from the Second Century BC (during Roman Empire in Egypt) - Information and images of these texts, written in Demotic Egyptian, Greek and Latin, showing concerns of ordinary citizens appealing to government officials for help with various problems, tax collectors, and priests of the temple, as well as information concerning the "recycling" of some of these papyrus texts, which were used to encase mummies (click on Images of the "Tebtunis Papyri" to see actual texts; "Contents" and "History" for descriptions and information):

                http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/APIS/

 

Minoa (Island of Crete near what is now Greece)(2000 BC - 1500 BC)

                Knossos- Palace of Minos - the "Labyrinth"; trading city, center of sea trading empire.

                Virtual tour of Minos' Palace at Knossos (archaeological dig site):

                http://www.lfc.edu/academics/greece/KnosTour.html

  

 

Cultural and Intellectual Life, Power:

The Ancient World Web:  Website's "Law and Philosophy" Topic Index has numerous external links to internet resources for law and philosophy information throughout mankind's ancient history and among many civilizations and cultures, e.g., Babylonian - Hammurabi's Code (complete), Greece, Rome, India, Egypt, China, Maya and Aztec law, etc.:

                http://julen.net/ancient/Law_and_Philosophy/

 

 

Cultural and Intellectual Life

 

From the Norwegian National Library, The Schøyen Collection:  222 Manuscripts Spanning 5000 Years (Excerpts are shown, with descriptive information) (click on "Literature" and choose from Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Classical Greek, Roman, and continuing through 20th Century):

http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/

 

Project Gutenberg (PG):  Comprehensive Manuscript Web Project makes available for downloading through numerous web sites approximately 10,000 Significant Books published through the ages.  Following link is to PG site at University of North Carolina (search by Title or Author):

 http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/cgi-bin/sdb/cat.cgi

 

The M.I.T. Internet Classics Archive:  441 Works of Classical Literature (mainly Greco-Roman writings) by 59 different authors, such as Homer, Virgil, Julius Caesar, Confucius, Omar Khayyam (English translations): 

                http://classics.mit.edu/

 

The Oxford Text Archive:  Oxford University (England) site with downloadable texts of original written works of literature, science, philosophy, etc.  (written or translated in English, and other languages), and spanning from antiquity through the Twentieth Century.  (Select "Browse" then "View Catalogue" by Title, Language (English, or another language if you choose), or Author, and read the work on screen or download the entire text):

                http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/

 

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:  Information and external links for Western philosophical topics and philosophers, covering the period from pre-Socratic Greece (6th Century BC) to contemporary.  Search by timeline or key words. 

http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/

                 

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts - from 129 authors in fields of Western philosophy and Twentieth Century and earlier American and English literature:

                http://www.infomotions.com/alex/

  

University website on the history of mathematics (3000 BC - 999 AD), including early Chinese arithmetic and astronomy and biographical information about famous mathematicians such as Plato (geometry) and Aristotle (deductive logic):

                http://nunic.nu.edu/~frosamon/history/math.html

 

Mathematical games and recreations, from Ancient Egypt to modern day, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Mathematical_games.html

  

                Babylonian Empire (approx. 2000 BC- 1500 BC)

Babylonian numeral system, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

                http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_numerals.html

 

Babylonian mathematics, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

                http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html

 

Ancient Egyptian Mathematics and Numerals, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Indexes/Egyptians.html

 

Indian civilization in Indus Valley (Tibet to Arabian Sea) (2500-1500 BC)

Mathematics - development of mathematical astronomy and earliest base ten number and decimal system, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Indian_mathematics.html

 

Ancient Greece:

Greek Developments in Astronomy, Mathematics and the Calendar, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Greek_astronomy.html

 

                Ancient Greece and Rome:

Perseus Classics Collection - Tufts University (scholarly) Site:  Ancient Greek and Roman Texts and Images of artworks, buildings, coins, etc., with translations and information:

(Click on "Classics" then "More about this Collection," then select "Greek and Roman Materials" and scroll down through alphabetical list, including, for example:  Euripides: Medea, Orestes and Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey)

                http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/

 

                Arab/Muslim

Center of Learning in Baghdad beginning about 800 AD with translation of Greek works, including those on Mathematics and Astronomy.  Major advances in those fields, including beginning theory of algebra by Al-Khwarizmi (AD 780-850), and continuing through about 1500 AD, from the MacArchive Math Tutor of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland:

                http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Arabic_mathematics.html

 

Collection of images from Persian books created in 11th to 17th Centuries, from the French National Library "Persian Splendours" Exhibition:

http://www.bnf.fr/web-bnf/expos/splendeurs/anglais/index.htm

  

Mayas  (Mexico to Guatemala in Central America, 2500 B.C. - 900 A.D.):  Personal Website offers information on Mayan Mathematics, Calendar, Writing, and Astronomy, with external links:

                http://www.michielb.nl/maya/astro.html

 

Christian Science Monitor - article (March 14, 2001) about destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Islamic Taliban regime:

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/03/14/fp11s1-csm.shtml

 

                 

                Human/Physical Geography, Technology, Power:

 

Cleopatra:

British Museum's "Compass" on-line collection -- images and explanations of 5000 objects from early civilizations to today.  Click on "Tours," then scroll down and click on "Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth" - This excellent exhibit places Cleopatra in historical context as the last of the Egyptian rulers in the Ptolemaic dynasty established following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC (click on images to move through exhibit):

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/

 

 

Human/Physical Geography, Movement of People and Goods, Technology, and Power

 

Scholarly Article:  "The End of Roman Britain: Assessing the Anglo-Saxon Invasions of the Fifth Century" by William Bakken (1994) on university’s e-museum website:

http://emuseum.mankato.msus.edu/prehistory/vikings/asinv.html

  

British Museum's "Compass" on-line collection -- images and explanations of 5000 objects from early civilizations to today.  Click on "Iron Age Britain" (300 BC - 43 AD)- This exhibit shows coins and archaeological objects and explains life in Britain (click on "Tours," then "Iron Age Britain" and then on "Route through the Tour" and images, to move through exhibit):

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/

 

 

Human/Physical Geography, Power, and Movement of People and Goods:

 

Historical Maps of Asia, from University of Texas at Austin:  Scroll down list and click on "Asia Minor under the Greeks and Romans."  Map shows boundaries of areas which were districts in the Roman Empire, also areas under Greek influence at the time of death of Alexander the Great:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/historical/history_asia.html

 

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August, 2003