Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World

be read. Hence the word templum does not correspond to the modern concept of a temple, though it does have a religious connotati ...

ies had to be built beyond the consecrated space. During the reign of the emperor Constantine (r. 306–37 c.e.), Christians began ...

two rivers come together, Chavín is strategically located at the gathering point of natural forces and was visited and celebrate ...

Corruption in the ancient world oft en centered on the ruling classes. A common feature of government in the an- cient world was ...

Napata, where a great religious complex had been built. Th e chief temple was dedicated to Egypt’s chief god, Amun, who was also ...

with mutilation. In year 17 of the reign of Ramses III a gang was being shortchanged by a greedy offi cial who used under- sized ...

in front of witnesses. In this way it would be immediately clear if someone had gained unauthorized access. Livestock could be b ...

A government that had intended to end corruption be- came one of the most corrupt of all. Th is was the government of the Qin Dy ...

Korea, Australia, and the Pacifi c Islands, with most records appearing as inscriptions on public monuments such as megaliths an ...

he thought to be luxury, which he considered trivial, since he and his class had it in abundance. Th e last great chance for Ger ...

told Periander’s messengers that she refused to answer be- cause she was cold—clothes had been buried with her at her funeral bu ...

leader, he tried to rule with compassion, pardoning many of his enemies. Some of these pardoned enemies murdered him in 44 b.c.e ...

ing themselves at the public’s expense. Even so, even aft er the general public had lost faith in government leaders, there were ...

reprehensible; it would have been the murder of the spirits of an entire people. Th e scandal thereaft er became even more inten ...

[2.183] A word more and I have done. One thing was in my power, fellow citizens: to do you no wrong. But to be free from accusat ...

FURTHER READING Anthony T. Edwards, Hesiod’s Ascra (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004). Bettany Hug ...

harden metals. Copper workers discovered that by combining copper with tin, they could create bronze, a much harder and more use ...

produce a sharp edge. Later ancestral species and modern humans found ways to work harder stone into tools through abrasion or f ...

expertise that was the privileged knowledge of certain clans, who knew the techniques of locating ore, building smelters, produc ...

and regulations of the community are adhered to. When- ever there are problems that might lead to a serious crisis, the gods com ...