The Ancient World, ITA-LEB
The modern world may look very different from the world that existed in the time of ancient civilizations, but our modern-day life continues to show the influence of cultures, traditions, ideas, and innovations from hundreds of years ago. Learn more about important historical civilizations, sites, people, and events.
The Ancient World Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Italy, in Roman antiquity, the Italian Peninsula from the Apennines in the north to the “boot” in the south. In......
Ixtlilxóchitl was an Aztec chieftain, the chief of Texcoco who supported the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés......
Jabneh, ancient city of Palestine (now Israel) lying about 15 miles (24 km) south of Tel Aviv–Yafo and 4 miles......
Jarmo, prehistoric archaeological site located east of Kirkūk, in northeastern Iraq. The site is important for......
Siege of Jerusalem, (70 ce), Roman military blockade of Jerusalem during the First Jewish Revolt. The fall of the......
First Jewish Revolt, (ad 66–70), Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in Judaea. The First Jewish Revolt was the......
Jezreel, (May God Give Seed), ancient city of Palestine, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel under King Ahab,......
Jingdi was the posthumous name (shi) of the fifth emperor of the Han dynasty, during whose reign (157–141 bc) an......
Jordanes was a historian notable for his valuable work on the Germanic tribes. Jordanes was a Goth who, although......
Jovian was a Roman emperor from 363 to 364. Jovian took part in the expedition of the emperor Julian against Sāsānian......
Jugurtha was the king of Numidia from 118 to 105, who struggled to free his North African kingdom from Roman rule.......
Julia Domna was the second wife of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (reigned 193–211) and a powerful figure......
Julia Maesa was the sister-in-law of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and an influential power in the government......
Julia Mamaea was the mother of the Roman emperor Severus Alexander and the dominant power in his regime. Mamaea......
Julian was a Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, nephew of Constantine the Great, and a noted scholar and military......
Julio-Claudian dynasty, (ad 14–68), the four successors of Augustus, the first Roman emperor: Tiberius (reigned......
jus Latii, in the Roman Republic and the Empire, certain rights and privileges, amounting to qualified citizenship,......
Jōmon culture, earliest major culture of prehistoric Japan, characterized by pottery decorated with cord-pattern......
Kachemak culture, a culture found around the Kachemak Bay of the southern Kenai Peninsula in central southern Alaska.......
Kadesh, ancient city on the Orontes (Al-ʿĀṣī) River in western Syria. The site is located about 15 miles (24 km)......
Battle of Kadesh, (1275 bc), major battle between the Egyptians under Ramses II and the Hittites under Muwatallis,......
Kadesh-barnea, city of ancient Palestine. Its precise location is unknown, but it was situated in the country of......
Kahun, ancient Egyptian town, its site lying in modern Al-Fayyūm muḥāfaẓah (governorate). It was erected for the......
Kalibangan, ancient site of the Indus valley civilization, in northern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The......
Kaminaljuyú, historical centre of the highland Maya, located near modern Guatemala City, Guatemala. The site was......
Kamose was the last king of the 17th dynasty (c. 1630–1540 bce; see ancient Egypt: The Second Intermediate period)......
Kanapoi, site of paleoanthropological excavations in northern Kenya southwest of Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf), best......
Kaqchikel, Mayan people of the midwestern highlands of Guatemala, closely related linguistically and culturally......
Karatepe, site of a Late Hittite fortress city, located in the piedmont country of the Taurus Mountains in south-central......
Karkar, ancient fortress on the Orontes River, northwest of Ḥamāh, in western Syria. It was the site of two ancient......
Karmah, archaeological site, northern Sudan. It is located near the town of Karmah al-Nuzul, about 30 miles (50......
Karīm Shahīr, ancient mound located near the archaeological site of Jarmo in the hills of northeastern Iraq. Karīm......
Kassite, member of an ancient people known primarily for establishing the second, or middle, Babylonian dynasty;......
Kathiawar Peninsula, peninsula in southwestern Gujarat state, west-central India. It is bounded by the Little Rann......
Katna, ancient Syrian city, Syria. It prospered especially during the 2nd millennium bc and was frequently named......
Kavadh I was the king of the Sāsānian empire of Persia. He reigned from 488–496 and again from 498/499–531. He......
Kawa, ancient Egyptian colony in Cush (Kush; modern Sudan) on the east bank of the Nile River, 4 to 5 miles (6......
Ferdinand Keller was a Swiss archaeologist and prehistorian who conducted the first systematic excavation of prehistoric......
William Kelso is an American archaeologist who directed the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, an organized effort......
Kent’s Cavern, large limestone cave near Torquay, Devonshire, England, that yielded some of the earliest evidence......
Dame Kathleen Kenyon was an English archaeologist who excavated Jericho to its Stone Age foundation and showed......
Khafre was a king of the 4th dynasty of ancient Egypt who ruled c. 2472–c. 2448 bce and built the second of the......
Khasekhemwy was the last ruler of Egypt in the 2nd dynasty (c. 2730–c. 2590 bce), who reigned c. 2610–c. 2593 and......
Khosrow I was a Persian king who ruled the Sāsānian empire from 531 to 579 and was remembered as a great reformer......
Khosrow II was a late Sāsānian king of Persia (reigned 590–628), under whom the empire achieved its greatest expansion.......
Khufu was the second king of the 4th dynasty (c. 2543–c. 2436 bce) of Egypt and builder of the Great Pyramid at......
Alfred V. Kidder was the foremost American archaeologist of his day involved in the study of the southwestern United......
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized......
Scotland, now part of the United Kingdom, was ruled for hundreds of years by various monarchs. James I, who in......
Spain’s constitution declares it a constitutional monarchy. From 1833 until 1939 Spain almost continually had a......
Valley of the Kings, long narrow defile just west of the Nile River in Upper Egypt. It was part of the ancient......
Kingu, in Mesopotamian mythology, the consort of Tiamat. The creation epic Enuma elish tells how Tiamat, determined......
King’s Highway, ancient thoroughfare that connected Syria and the Gulf of Aqaba by way of what is now Jordan. Mentioned......
Kiriath-sepher, ancient town of Palestine, located near Hebron in the West Bank. According to the Bible, the town......
Kish, ancient Mesopotamian city-state located east of Babylon in what is now south-central Iraq. According to ancient......
Kizzuwadna, Hurrian kingdom of southeastern Anatolia near the Gulf of Iskenderun in present-day Turkey. Kizzuwadna......
Klasies, site of paleoanthropological excavations carried out since the late 1960s within a complex of South African......
Kneset ha-Gedola, (“Men of the Great Assembly”), assembly of Jewish religious leaders who, after returning (539......
Robert Koldewey was a German architect and archaeologist who revealed the semilegendary Babylon of the Bible as......
Koobi Fora, a region of paleoanthropological sites in northern Kenya near Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf). The Koobi......
Koro Toro, site of paleoanthropological excavations in central Chad, best known for a fossilized fragment of a......
Kot Diji, archaeological site located near an ancient flood channel of the Indus River in Pakistan, 15 miles (25......
Kotosh, pre-Columbian site, near the modern city of Huánuco in present-day central highland Peru, known for its......
Kromdraai, South African paleoanthropological site best known for its fossils of Paranthropus robustus. Kromdraai......
Kurgan culture, . By about 2300 bc the Kurgans arrived in the Aegean and Adriatic regions. The Kurgans buried their......
Kültepe, ancient mound covering the Bronze Age city of Kanesh, in central Turkey. Kültepe was known to archaeologists......
Abū al-Misk Kāfūr was an Ethiopian slave who, as vizier under the Ikshīdid dynasty, was the de facto ruler of Egypt......
kēryx, inviolable ancient Greek messenger. In Homer’s time the kēryx was simply a trusted attendant or retainer......
K’iche’, Mayan people living in the midwestern highlands of Guatemala. The K’iche’ had an advanced civilization......
La Chapelle-aux-Saints, cave site near the village of La Chapelle-aux-Saints in central France where the bones......
La Ferrassie, paleoanthropological site in the Dordogne region of France where Neanderthal fossils were found in......
La Tène, (French: The Shallows), archaeological site at the eastern end of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, the name......
La Venta, ancient Olmec settlement, located near the border of modern Tabasco and Veracruz states, on the gulf......
Labarnas I was an early king of the Hittite Old Kingdom in Anatolia (reigned c. 1680–c. 1650 bc). Though perhaps......
Lacandón, Mayan Indians living primarily near the Mexico-Guatemala border in the Mexican state of Chiapas, though......
Laches was a rich Athenian aristocrat who played a leading part in the first phase of the Peloponnesian War. Laches......
lacquerwork, certain metallic and wood objects to which coloured and frequently opaque varnishes called lacquer......
Gaius Laelius Sapiens, the Younger , the Younger was a Roman soldier and politician known chiefly as an orator......
Gaius Laelius was a Roman general and politician who contributed to Roman victory during the Second Punic War (218–201)......
Laetoli, site of paleoanthropological excavations in northern Tanzania about 40 km (25 miles) from Olduvai Gorge,......
Lagar Velho, site near Leiria, central Portugal, where the buried skeleton of a four-year-old child, dating to......
Lahmu and Lahamu, in Mesopotamian mythology, twin deities, the first gods to be born from the chaos that was created......
Lake Mungo, dried-up lake and archaeological site in west-central New South Wales, Australia, located in and around......
Lamashtu, in Mesopotamian religion, the most terrible of all female demons, daughter of the sky god Anu (Sumerian:......
Rodolfo Amadeo Lanciani was an Italian archaeologist, topographer, and authority on ancient Rome who discovered......
Laodicea, the ancient name of several cities of western Asia, mostly founded or rebuilt in the 3rd century bce......
Lapita culture, cultural complex of what were presumably the original human settlers of Melanesia, much of Polynesia,......
Larco Museum, museum in Lima, Peru, displaying art and artifacts of ancient Peruvian history. Founded in 1926 by......
Larsa, one of the ancient capital cities of Babylonia, located about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Uruk (Erech;......
Édouard Lartet was a French geologist, archaeologist, and a principal founder of paleontology. He is credited chiefly......
Latin, the ancient people of Latium...
Charles Lavigerie was a cardinal and archbishop of Algiers and Carthage (now Tunis, Tunisia) whose dream to convert......
Sir Austen Henry Layard was an English archaeologist whose excavations greatly increased knowledge of the ancient......
LBK culture, Neolithic culture that expanded over large areas of Europe north and west of the Danube River (from......
Le Moustier, paleoanthropological and archaeological site in the Dordogne region of southwestern France that has......
Germany is a federal multiparty republic with two legislative houses. Its government is headed by the chancellor......
Louis Leakey was a Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist, a member of the distinguished Leakey family of scholars......
Mary Douglas Leakey was an English-born archaeologist and paleoanthropologist, a member of the distinguished Leakey......
Richard Leakey was a Kenyan anthropologist, conservationist, and political figure. A member of the distinguished......
How did Lebanon achieve independence? Lebanon became a republic in 1926 and proclaimed its independence in 1943.......
- Introduction
- Mediterranean, Arid, Temperate
- Economy, Trade, Agriculture
- Trade, Agriculture, Manufacturing
- Politics, Sectarianism, Conflict
- Health, Welfare, Infrastructure
- Art, Music, Poetry
- Phoenicians, Ottoman, Civil War
- Phoenicia, Colonial, Commerce
- Trade, Agriculture, Manufacturing
- Assyrian, Babylonian, Phoenicia
- Medieval, Crusades, Phoenicians
- French Mandate, Mediterranean, Phoenicians
- Civil War, Sectarianism, Reconstruction
- Civil War, Sectarianism, Conflict
- Civil War, Mediterranean, Democracy
- Factional Wrangling, Hezbollah, Politics
- Debt Crisis, Economy, Politics