What do you do when the rains keep coming and floods sweep across your country? As the waters rise and cover your fields and towns, what do you use to save your home? Do you write a fancy new computer program, download the newest anti-flooding app on your phone or design complicated modern robots to deal with it? Well, people in the United Kingdom are facing this very problem and you might be surprised to learn they aren’t turning to modern technology. Instead, they’re looking back to one of antiquity’s greatest scientists and inventors, Archimedes, and to his giant water screws.
KIDS’ BLOG! Archimedes’ Ancient Screw Saves 21st Century Britain From Flooding
Posted in Blog, Engineering, Kids Blog, Kids: Engineering, Kids: Meteorology, Kids: Natural Disasters, Kids: Public Life, Kids: Science and Tech, Meteorology, Natural Disasters, Public Life, Science and Technology
Tagged ancient engineering, ancient farming, ancient history, ancient irrigation, AntiquityNOW, Archimedes, Archimedes Screws, Egypt, flooding, Greece, United Kingdom
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Salmon Kilawin (Filipino Ceviche)
As winter makes its last stand and readies itself to give way to a much needed spring, you may be in the mood for a dish that reminds you of a warmer, tropical climate. This week we’re bringing you a recipe that will make you feel as if you’re sitting on a beach, sipping a cool drink and taking in the island breezes. Kilawin is a traditional Filipino seafood dish full of healthy, light and delicious flavors. It is prepared similarly to ceviche and so is often referred to as the Filipino Ceviche. Continue reading
St. Patrick’s Day, Leprechauns and Human Folly
Image courtesy of jpmpinmontreal on Flickr.
So it’s the wearin’ of the green time again. In the United States (which in the 18th century took a religious holiday and turned it into a green phenomenon) it’s when everyone claims Irish ancestry for the day. Just look around and see all things Irish today: green bagels, green beer, green cupcakes and even a green Chicago River. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Holidays, Literature, Public Life, Recreation, Religion
Tagged ancient history, AntiquityNOW, faeries, green, Ireland, leprechauns, St. Patrick, St. Patrick's Day
2014 Inaugural LegacyQuest Festival Entries Are In!
The LegacyQuest Children’s International Film and Video Festival entries have been received and the contest is now closed. What a selection of projects! We are pleased by the ingenuity and content of these student efforts and thank the teachers who so diligently worked with their classes to submit such high caliber films and videos! Continue reading
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Ancient Irish Oatcakes
Monday, March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day and regardless of nationality many people will don their greenest outfit and celebrate with a pint of green beer. Some may even enjoy a meal of corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, a traditional Irish feast. However, if you want to celebrate in a truly authentic Irish way, throw out the green beer, ignore those potatoes and have some ancient Irish food. The fact is, although the potato is often associated with Ireland, it is actually Peruvian and only came to Ireland in the early 1600s. And green food coloring in your beer won’t bring you any closer to the heart of the Irish. Enjoy some oatcakes with butter and a tall glass of milk and you’ll be sitting down to a meal the Irish have eaten for thousands of years. Continue reading
The Disneyfication of Pocahontas and the True Story of Uleleh
The story of Pocahontas has all the elements of a good drama: danger, the threat of great cruelty, bravery, a hint of romance and prevailing mercy. Who doesn’t like to imagine a beautiful young Native American princess shielding a handsome English soldier just as a warrior’s club is raised to deliver a deadly blow? Continue reading
Posted in Art, Blog, Celebrities, Culture, Human Rights, Public Life, Recreation
Tagged ancient history, AntiquityNOW, Disney, Hernando DeSoto, John Smith, Juan Ortiz, native american, Pocahontas, Uleleh
AntiquityNOW Celebrates International Women’s Day
*Click here to see a slideshow of remarkable women throughout history featuring music by the 12th century female composer Hildegard von Bingen.
Posted in Blog, Culture, Holidays, Public Life
Tagged ancient history, ancient women, AntiquityNOW, Hatshepsut, International Women's Day, Mae Jemison
Nanotechnology and the Ancient Romans: A Breakthrough 1,600 Years in the Making
Lycurgus Cup
The jade-green chalice with its delicately etched image of King Lycurgus entangled in grapevines is a stunning example of Roman glassmaking. But only upon closer examination can the observer appreciate the true innovation of these Roman artists—their use of nanotechnology. Continue reading
Posted in Art, Blog, Culture, Engineering, Science and Technology, Science Fiction
Tagged ancient history, AntiquityNOW, British Museum, dichroic glass, Dionysus, Lycurgus Cup, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, Roman
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Stay Warm With Fasolada, a Lenten Bean Soup Courtesy of Ancient Greek Farmers
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a time of preparation leading up to Easter observed by Christians around the world. It lasts for approximately six weeks and is marked by self-denial and abstaining from various foods. Meat is traditionally forbidden during this time. Fasolada, or Greek bean soup, is served during Lent because it is meatless but full of protein and nutrition. While this dish is perfect for the Lenten season, it is often enjoyed year-round and has a rich and ancient history. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Bon Appetit Wednesday, Culinary, Culture, Public Life, Religion
Tagged Ancient Greece, ancient history, ancient recipes, AntiquityNOW, Ash Wednesday, beans, Bon Appetit Wednesday, fasolada, Lent
Music, Color, Costumes and Beads—It’s Mardi Gras Time!
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 1936.
Did you know that Mardi Gras has ancient roots? Come back with us to those bygone times and explore the festivities that have led to the sights and sounds of today’s modern-day celebration in New Orleans.
First, the vocabulary surrounding Mardi Gras and Carnival bears some explanation. The period between January 6, or the Epiphany (ending the twelve days of Christmastide) to Ash Wednesday is the Carnival season, which is based on Christian rituals. It precedes Lent, a roughly six-week period of sacrifice and prayer prior to Easter Sunday. Mardi Gras technically is the last day of the Carnival and is held on Fat Tuesday (although the Mardi Gras season is an accepted term often heard). In fact, the word “carnival” is thought to be from the “Medieval Latin word carnelevarium, meaning to take away or remove meat.”[1] Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Holidays, Public Life, Recreation, Religion
Tagged ancient history, AntiquityNOW, Bacchus, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Lent, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Roman mythology
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