Anatolia
Carthage
Egypt
Germ. Inf.
Greece
Judaea
Mesopotamia
Persia
Rome
Other

Frequently Asked Questions


An olive tree near Agrigento. Photo Jona Lendering.
  • Why are there so few references to modern literature? Because we discovered that too many students started to use this website as an alternative for visiting the library. We are aware that students have presented texts from this website as if they were their own writings. To prevent this honorless behavior, these text have been added to the databases used by anti-plagiarism software. (If you are a teacher, go here or here.)
  • How do I quote an article on the world web web? Rules vary; but if you want to be on the safe side, mention the author, the title and URL of the page, and -this is important- the date on which you saw the page. After all, webpages are bound to change.
  • What do BCE and CE stand for? "Before common era" and "Common era". I think the expressions "anno Domini" and "before Christ" should only be used in a Christian context, which the internet is not.
  • Why are you doing this? Because "real" scholars (those employed by universities) write for their colleagues and often ignore the larger audience. As a tax-payer, I fail to understand why I must pay for a scholar publishing a book about "Subsistence Farming in Roman Cappadocia", while there is no accessible, scholarly  synthesis about an important subject like Egypt between 600 and 300 BCE. Being some kind of scholar myself, I can understand my colleagues, but I think they are ignoring their main responsibility.
  • What are your credentials? I have been studying ancient history, have worked at several excavations, and have two MA's on two Dutch universities, plus an MRSC, and used to work for the Amsterdam Free University (more...). Now, I have a school of my own.
  • Can I support this site? No. I prefer to write my articles myself. Now I only have to blame myself for mistakes. Financial support is not necessary either: I simply hate the administrative mess. (But if you pay a lot, I am not above hiring an accountant.)
  • Your account is not in line with the sacred book of my religion, can you change it? No. On these pages, I am a historian and the sacred truths of religion are, on this place, beyond my scope. This does not mean that I am not religious (go here to see what I think it ought to be about), but religion and scholarship must be separated.
  • Why are some pages colored? Pink pages were written to present photos and blue pages are summaries of information that needs to be converted into an article. These pages are in fact some sort of card tray, on which I can write down things I must not forget.
Stele of a god. Museum of Gaziantep, Turkey. Photo Marco Prins.
Anatolia
Carthage
Egypt
Germ. Inf.
Greece
Judaea
Mesopotamia
Persia
Rome
Other