Saturday, April 30, 2016

Aquae Urbis Romae: The Waters of the City of Rome

Aquae Urbis Romae: The Waters of the City of Rome
http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/waters/m4.jpg
Katherine Wentworth Rinne (resume)
P r o j e c t   d e s c r i p t i o n
Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome is a cartographic history of nearly 2800 years of water infrastructure and urban development in Rome. Water is a living system that includes natural features (springs, the Tiber River, etc.) and hydraulic elements (aqueducts, bridges, fountains, etc.) that are linked through topography. Learn about the structure, methodology, and pedagogical goals of the project. First time users start here.

G.I.S. Timeline Map
Follow the urban development of Rome through a unique G.I.S. timeline map that chronicles changes to the water infrastructure system from 753 BC through the sixteenth century. See how sewers, aqueducts, fountains and other hydraulic elements changed the face of Rome, as important people like Agrippa, Emperor Nero and popes Sixtus V and Clement VIII, among others, used water as an element of political control.

S e a r c h
Search the archive for specific hydrological features (including springs or streams), infrastructure features (including aqueducts, bridges, and sewers), urban features (water mills and fountains for example), patrons (such as Agrippa, Nicolas V, or Sixtus V), and designers (such as Giacomo Della Porta, Gian Lorenzo Bernini), etc.

J o u r n a l
Historic maps, treatises and images are available here, including a high-resolution "Zoomify" copy of the 1551 Bufalini Plan of Rome. More maps are on the way.

We publish refereed articles contributed by scholars and graduate students in our new occasional on-line journal "The Waters of Rome". If you are interested in contributing, please contact us.

T i m e l i n e

T y p o l o g y

T o p o g r a p h y

ICONEM's digitalized 3D model of the Temple of Bel, Palmyra, post destruction

ICONEM's digitalized 3D model of the Temple of Bel, Palmyra, post destruction
https://d35krx4ujqgbcr.cloudfront.net/avatars/77e89a8925aa4f069f762e441687c23e/f00fdd48135a4ab89b4efdd7ba61e569.jpeg
In partnership with the DGAM, the ICONEM’s team was the first one to be in Palmyra since Daesh’s departure. New phase of the major project « Syrian Heritage », this mission has been an opportunity to give a clear picture of the damages suffered by the « pearl of the desert », and more specifically by the Temple of Bel as it has been left behind by Daesh fighters, using photogrammetry. 

The digitalized 3D model allows us to observe the existence of stone blocs remaining almost intact, meaning that there might be some hope for a partial reconstruction. Some other blocs however have been dynamited. 

ICONEM’s support in Palmyra has been found essential in order to document the appearance and state of the site right after it’s liberation, which is going to be helpful to the scientific community. Dedicated in 32 AD and consecrated to the protective divinity of Palmyra, the Mesopotamian god Bel, the Temple of Bel was before its destruction one of the best preserved antique temples of Syria.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Help crowd source the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Abydos Tomb cards Cemetery O, P, and Y archives

3 Egyptian Archaeology Projects: Egyptian archaeological crowd-sourcing
This application enables the transcription of archive cards from the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Abydos Tomb cards Cemetery O, P, and Y archives. Images will be drawn from the EES Flickr feed and redisplayed in the browser window. The EES would like the following information to be transcribed for them to create a searchable archive for their records.
These fields are:
  • Excavator's or finder's name
  • Date of discovery
  • Record number
  • Descriptive data
  • Whether the card maybe a reverse
The object cards have been scanned by EES volunteers.

This project is on behalf of:

This application is on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Society.
EES logo

MicroPasts: Crowd-sourcing

Help us gather high quality research data about our human history

You can assist existing research projects with tasks that need human intelligence, such as the accurate location of artefact findspots or photographed scenes, the identification of subject matter in historic archives, the masking of photos meant for 3D modelling, or the transcription of letters and catalogues. Other tasks might require on-location contributions by members of the public, such as submitting your own photographs of particular archaeological sites or objects. By contributing to a MicroPasts project you will:
  • Have a direct impact on research in archaeology, history and heritage
  • Help with tasks that computers cannot do
  • Develop skills that interest you
  • Produce results that will be open and freely usable
To start contributing, just choose one of our Featured Projects below or visit our full list of ongoing Projects.

 

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Archaeology in Syria Network

[First posted on AWOL  201 June 2014, updated 28 April 2016]

Archaeology in Syria Network

Archaeology in Syria NETWORK is created for disseminating accumulated multidisciplinary knowledge
تم إنشاء شبكة “أركيولوجي إن سيريا” لنشر المعرفة المتراكمة متعددة التخصصات
The main goal for creating “Archaeology in Syria” NETWORK is to connect those who are involved or interested in disseminating accumulated multidisciplinary knowledge through continuous archaeological excavation and research in the Near East in general and Syria in particular.
الهدف الرئيسي لإنشاء شبكة “أركيولوجي إن سيريا” هو الربط بين المشاركين أو المهتمين في نشر المعرفة المتراكمة المتعددة الإختصاصات من خلال أعمال التنقيب والأبحاث الأثرية المستمرة في الشرق الأدنى بشكل عام وسوريا بشكل خاص
Contact us info@ainsyria.net للتواصل مع

Wissen in Bewegung. Institution – Iteration – Transfer (Episteme in Bewegung. Beiträge zur einer transdisziplinären Wissensgeschichte, Bd. 1)

Wissen in Bewegung. Institution – Iteration – Transfer (Episteme in Bewegung. Beiträge zur einer transdisziplinären Wissensgeschichte, Bd. 1)
Buchumschlag
Buchumschlag

Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Anita Traninger (Hg.)— 2015

Institutionen geraten normalerweise gerade nicht in den Blick, wenn es um Prozesse des Wissenswandels geht. Vielmehr ist es eine weithin geteilte Überzeugung, dass Wandel wenn, dann stets nur außerhalb dieser Kreativitätsblockierer stattfindet. Nun ist aber gerade dort, wo vermeintlich rigide und stur am Überkommenen festgehalten wird, stets auch Wandel feststellbar. Ganz offensichtlich bringen also Praktiken, die auf Wiederholung gepolt sind und so institutionelle Zusammenhänge stabilisieren sollen, zugleich auch Veränderung hervor. Dieses Zusammenspiel von Wiederholung und Veränderung wird in diesem Sammelband mit dem Begriff der ‚Iteration‘ gefasst. Die Autorinnen und Autoren zeigen anhand einer breiten Palette historischer Fallbeispiele, welche Varianten des Wechselspiels von Wiederholung und Wandel zu beobachten sind und welche Befunde sich daraus für eine transdisziplinäre Wissensgeschichte ergeben. Der Band eröffnet die Reihe „Episteme in Bewegung. Beiträge zu einer transdisziplinären Wissensgeschichte“, in der die Ergebnisse der Zusammenarbeit im Sonderforschungsbereich 980, der an der Freien Universität Berlin angesiedelt ist, präsentiert werden.
TitelWissen in Bewegung. Institution – Iteration – Transfer
VerfasserEva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Anita Traninger (Hg.)
MitwirkendeBeteiligte Disziplinen: Ägyptologie, Assyriologie, Germanistik, Iranistik, Islamwissenschaft, Judaistik, Kirchengeschichte, Klass. Philologie, Koreanistik, Kunstgeschichte, Medizin-, Rechts-, Religionsgeschichte, Romanische Philologie u.v.m.
VerlagHarrassowitz
Datum2015
Quelle/n
Erschienen inEpisteme in Bewegung. Beiträge zur einer transdisziplinären Wissensgeschichte, Bd. 1
ArtText

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Altertumswissenschaften in a Digital Age: Egyptology, Papyrology and beyond

Altertumswissenschaften in a Digital Age: Egyptology, Papyrology and beyond
Edited by Monica Berti and Franziska Naether

Proceedings of a conference and workshop in Leipzig, November 4-6, 2015
Dokumente und Dateien

Hinweis

Bitte nutzen Sie beim Zitieren immer folgende Url:
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-201500
1. Chapter 1 = Research Area 1: How to Structure and Organize Data?
Workflow
1.1. Felix Schäfer (DAI Berlin, IANUS): Ein länges Leben für Deine Daten!

1.2. Simon Schweitzer (Berlin): The Text Encoding Software of the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae

1.3. Frank Feder (Göttingen): Cataloguing and editing Coptic Biblical texts in an online database system

1.4. Tom Gheldof (Leuven): Trismegistos: identifying and aggregating metadata of Ancient World texts

1.5. Monica Berti, Franziska Naether, Julia Jushaninowa, Giuseppe G.A. Celano,
Polina Yordanova (Leipzig/Sofia/New York): The Digital Rosetta Stone: textual alignment and linguistic annotation

1.6. Camilla Di Biase-Dyson, Stefan Beyer, Nina Wagenknecht (Göttingen/Leipzig):
Annotating figurative language: Another perspective for digital Altertumswissenschaften

1.7. Jochen Tiepmar (Leipzig): Release of the MySQL based implementation of the CTS protocol

1.8. Simon Schweitzer (Berlin), Simone Gerhards (Mainz): Auf dem Weg zu einem TEI-Austauschformat für ägyptisch-koptische Texte

1.9. Nicola Reggiani (Heidelberg/Parma): The Corpus of Greek Medical Papyri and Digital Papyrology: new perspectives from an ongoing project

1.10. Marc Brose, Josephine Hensel, Gunnar Sperveslage, (Leipzig/Berlin): Von Champollion bis Erman – Lexikographiegeschichte im Digitalen Zeitalter, Projekt “Altägyptische Wörterbücher im Verbund”

1.11. Lucia Vannini (London): Virtual reunification of papyrus fragments

1.12. Matthias Schulz (Leipzig): What remains behind – on the virtual reconstruction of dismembered manuscripts

2. Chapter 2 = Research Area 2: Which Fields of Research are
Relevant? Established and Emerging Use Cases

2.1. Anne Herzberg (Berlin): Prosopographia Memphitica. Individuelle Identitäten und Kollektive Biographien einer Residenzstadt des Neuen Reiches

2.2. Felicitas Weber (Swansea): The Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project: Second Millennium BCE

2.3. Holger Essler, Vincenzo Damiani (Würzburg): Anagnosis – automatisierte Buchstabenverknüpfung von Transkript und Papyrusabbildung

2.4. So Miyagawa (Göttingen/Kyoto): An Intuitive Unicode Input Method for Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing: Applying the Input Technology of the Japanese Writing System

2.5. Mark-Jan Nederhof (St. Andrews): OCR of hand-written transcriptions of hieroglyphic text

2.6. Svenja A. Gülden, Kyra van der Moezel (Mainz): „Altägyptische Kursivschriften“ in a digital age

2.7. Claudia Maderna-Sieben, Fabian Wespi, Jannik Korte (Heidelberg):
Deciphering Demotic Digitally 
2.8. Christopher Waß (München): Demotisch, Hieratisch und SQL: Ein Beispiel für die Anwendung von DH in der Ägyptologie

3. Chapter 3 = Research Area 3: How to Train Next Generations?
Teaching

3.1. Julia Jushaninowa (Leipzig): E-learning Kurs “Verarbeitung digitaler Daten in der Ägyptologie”

4. Chapter 4 = Research Area 4: How to Impact Society? Citizen
Science and Public Engagement


4.1. Usama Gad (Heidelberg/Cairo): The Digital Challenges and Chances: The Case of Papyri and Papyrology in Egypt

4.2. Aris Legowski (Bonn): The Project is completed! What now? The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead – A Digital Textzeugenarchiv

5. Chapter 5: Additional Papers

5.1. Rita Lucarelli, Images of Eternity in 3D. The visualization of ancient Egyptian coffins through photogrammetry

5.2. Van der Perre, Athena (Brussels): From Execration Texts to Quarry Inscriptions. Combining IR, UV and 3D-Imaging for the Documentation of Hieratic Inscriptions

6. Chapter 6: Workshops

6.1. Protocol of Workshop 1 by Franziska Naether and Felix Schäfer: Disruptive
Technologies: Feature on 3D in Egyptian Archaeology (Chair: Felix Schäfer)
with short presentations

6.2. Hassan Aglan (Luxor): 3D tombs modeling by simple tools

6.3. Rebekka Pabst (Mainz): Neue Bilder, neue Möglichkeiten. Chancen für die Ägyptologie durch das 3D-Design

6.4. Protocol of Workshop 2 by Monica Berti, Franziska Naether and Svenja A.
Gülden: Annotated Corpora: Trends and Challenges (Chair : Svenja A. Gülden)

6.5. Minutes of the Final Discussion with suggestions and decisions for the field by
Monica Berti and Franziska Naether

7. Poster Presentations

7.1. Isabelle Marthot (Universität Basel): Papyri of the University of Basel (together
with Sabine Huebner and Graham Claytor)

7.2. Isabelle Marthot (Universität Basel): University of Minnesota Project: Ancient
Lives, a crowd-sourced Citizen Science project

7.3. Uta Siffert (Universität Wien): Project Meketre: From Object to Icon (together
with Lubica Hudakova, Peter Jánosy and Claus Jurman)

7.4. Charlotte Schubert et al.: “Digital Classics Online” Journal

8. Photos of the Venue by Monica Berti, Julia Jushaninowa and
Franiska Naether



If you want to know more: Links

Check out what people tweeted and posted about and during the conference by
searching after the hashtag “#DHEgypt15” on Twitter (https://twitter.com/) and
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/).

Institutional Homepages in Leipzig:
Digital Humanities: http://www.dh.uni-leipzig.de/wo/dhegypt15/

Egyptology: http://aegyptologisches-institut.uni-leipzig.de


Julia Jushaninowa’s Blog Report about the conference: http://www.dh.uni-leipzig.de/wo/news-announcements/

ISAW Papers 11 (2016): The moon phase anomaly in the Antikythera Mechanism

The moon phase anomaly in the Antikythera Mechanism
Christián C. Carman and Marcelo Di Cocco
ISAW Papers 11 (2016)

Abstract: The Antikythera Mechanism is a mechanical astronomical instrument that was discovered in an ancient shipwreck at the beginning of the twentieth century, made about the second century B.C. It had several pointers showing the positions of the moon and sun in the zodiac, the approximate date according to a lunisolar calendar, several subsidiary dials showing calendrical phenomena, and also predictions of eclipses. The mechanism also had a display of the Moon’s phases: a small ball, half pale and half dark, rotating with the lunar synodic period and so showing the phases of the moon. The remains of the moon phase display include a fragmentary contrate gear. According to the reconstruction offered by Michael Wright, this gear is now pointing unintentionally in the wrong direction. In this paper we offer for the first time a detailed description of the remains of the moon phase mechanism. Based on this evidence, we argue that the extant contrate gear direction is the originally intended one, and we offer a conjectural explanation for its direction as an essential part of a representation of Aristarchus’s hypothesis that half moon phase is observably displaced from exact quadrature.

Library of Congress Subjects: Antikythera mechanism (Ancient calculator); Astronomy, Greek.
Contents

    Introduction
    Section 1: the moon phase mechanism
    Section 2: the direction of the contrate gear
    Section 3: non-uniform motion of the moon phase ball
    Acknowledgements
    References
    Notes


Monday, April 25, 2016

Reading, Writing, Romans: The blog of the Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLI)

Reading, Writing, Romans: The blog of the Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLI
The Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLI) is a three-way collaboration between Warwick University, Oxford University and the Ashmolean Museum, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Our Aims
We love Latin inscriptions. Really. And we want other people to love them too. Using the fantastic collection from the Ashmolean Museum, we’ve set ourselves some challenges, all of which we have to meet before September 2016:
  1. To research and catalogue all the Latin inscriptions in the Ashmolean Museum. The last person to do this was Richard Chandler when he wrote Marmora Oxoniensia in 1763. That gives us plenty to do.
  2. To set up new displays of Latin inscriptions in the Ashmolean. These will be on themes like death and burial, the Roman army, slaves and freed-people, literacy in the Roman Empire and the lives of Roman women. For us, inscriptions are about people, not just letter shapes or carving techniques.
  3. To produce teaching resources that can be downloaded from the Ashmolean Education Department for use in Primary and Secondary schools, and to devise new museum visits for students who are interested in the lives of the Romans.
The AshLI Team
  • Professor Alison Cooley, is Principal Investigator for the project and Head of Warwick University’s Department of Classics and Ancient History. Alison is a specialist in Latin inscriptions, and is taking on the challenge of writing the new catalogue.
  • Dr Abigail Baker is an archaeologist and museologist, based at Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents (CSAD). She’s responsible for bringing AshLI’s work to the public through education projects, museum displays and social media. She also works on the EpiDoc based online catalogue – making the Ashmolean’s inscriptions accessible for free online.
Other members of the team are Dr Paul Roberts, the Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum, Dr Charles Crowther from Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, and Stephanie Lane, who is studying material from the project as part of her PhD on Roman Literacy.
AshLI’s access to the Ashmolean’s inscriptions is masterminded by the Antiquities’ Collections Manager Helen Hovey. We’ve also had the specialist help of Ben Altshuler and Sarah Norodom for RTI capture of our more challenging stones.
Former members of the team still keep in touch. Dr Jane Masséglia (who used to work on education and public communication for the project) is now a lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Leicester. Dr Hannah Cornwell (who used to work on the project’s online database, digital images and podcasts) is now a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies.

Diyala Archaeological Database (DiyArDa) Update

April 18, 2016 Diyala Release Letter



Summary of Changes:
1. Published 1,769 new object images to the Diyala site.
2. Adjusted find information displays in various ways.
3. Added Floor information display capabilities to the screens and to the database.
 

Describing Egypt

Describing Egypt
This is an ambitious self initiated project aiming - with a nod and a wink to the old Description de l'Égypte - to Describe Egypt one location at a time but this time around we do it through Egyptian Eyes. We are in love with this country and its long and diverse history and we want to share our heritage with the whole world through the latest available technology, we chose 360º VR immersive experience to be our medium, that way we allow you to walk through locations that is difficult to access due to it being closed by authorities for preservation or due to the fact that you cannot come and visit it yourself, whatever your reasons are we bring it right to your screen.

But we don't want to only show you pretty pictures, we want to tell you the stories from these locations, stories of their owners and their life and death, follow the progression of art, culture and architecture across Egypt's long, rich and diverse history.

We are currently focusing on the Ancient Egyptian Tombs of The 30 Dynasties reign which spans across 3000 years (2859 years to be exact from 3200 BC to 341 BC) we take Examples from the three Major kingdoms, the Old kingdom [3200 BC - 2780 BC] in Memphis (currently a suburb of cairo) 3rd to 6th dynasties , the Middle Kingdom [2134 BC - 1778 BC] in Abydos ( currently El Minya) 11th and 12th dynasties and the New Kingdom [1570 BC - 1080 BC] in Thebes (Luxor) 18th to 20th dynasties.

We started working on and off on this project in 2012, it was originally 360fied.com but due to differences between the partners visions we have agreed to separate the paths and started all over again.
you can check out the fantastic work of our previous partner and very good friend Mr. Mohamed Attef here and here.
The Describing Egypt project is currently done in collaboration between Motion Designer, Compositor and Photographer Salma ElDardiry and software Developer and Tech master Karim Mansour.

We are working with a great set of advisors and collaborators who includes Dr. Thierry Benderitter of www.osirisnet.net, the good poeple of The Theban Mapping Project , Hani D. Elmasri of Disney imagineering and Prof. Dr. Abdel Ghaffar Shedid Founder and head of the Art History Department, Faculty of Fine Arts.

Conflict Urbanism Aleppo

Conflict Urbanism Aleppo
Conflict Urbanism: Aleppo is a project in two stages.

First, we have built an open-source, interactive, data-rich map of the city of Aleppo, at the neighborhood scale. Users can navigate the city, with the aid of high resolution satellite imagery from before and during the current civil war, and explore geo-located data about cultural sites and urban damage. We will add data as it becomes available; currently we are grateful for datasets from from Human Rights Watch, the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), and the Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU) at the U.S. Department of State.

Second, the map is a platform into which additional data of all sorts can be integrated. It is an invitation to students and invited collaborators to record and narrate urban damage in Aleppo — at the cultural, infrastructural, or neighborhood scale — and to present that research in case studies which will be added to the website over time.

We invite ideas and propositions, and hope to build on the data that we have compiled here to develop further research on and engagement with the situation in Aleppo. It is a call for inquiry and a call to action.

Since 2012, the people of Aleppo — one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world — have been exposed to catastrophic violence. Many thousands have been injured, died, or fled. Our project focuses on their city and what has been done to it and what might happen to it in the future.

HODOI ELEKTRONIKAI: Du texte à l'hypertexte

[First posted in AWOL 28 June 2014, updated 25 April 2016]

HODOI ELEKTRONIKAI: Du texte à l'hypertexte

Auteur :

ACHILLES TATIUS AELIUS ARISTIDES ALBINUS (OS) DE SMYRNE ALEXANDRE D'APHRODISIAS ANDOCIDE ANONYME APPIEN D'ALEXANDRIE APOLLODORE (Ps.) d'Athènes
APOLLONIOS ARATUS ARISTOPHANE ARISTOTE ARRIEN ATHÉNÉE BARNABÉ BASILE DE CÉSARÉE CALLIMAQUE CALLISTRATE CÉBÈS CHARITON D'APHRODISE CLÉMENT D'ALEXANDRIE DÉMOSTHÈNE DENYS d'HALICARNASSE DINARQUE DIOGÈNE LAËRCE DIODORE DION CASSIUS DION CHRYSOSTOME ÉLIEN ÉPHREM LE SYRIEN ESCHINE ESCHYLE ÉSOPE EURIPIDE EUSÈBE DE CÉSARÉE ÉVAGRE le SCOLASTIQUE FLAVIUS JOSÈPHE PS.-FLAVIUS JOSÈPHE GALIEN GRÈGOIRE DE NAZIANZE GRÈGOIRE DE NYSSE HÉLIODORE HÉRMES TRISMÉGISTE HÉRODIEN HÉRODOTE HÉSIODE HIPPOCRATE de Cos HOMÈRE
ISOCRATE
ISÉE
JEAN CHRYSOSTOME
JULIEN l'APOSTAT
JUSTIN
LONGUS
LUCIEN
LYCOPHRON
LYSIAS
MARC AURELE
MAXIME DE TYR
MUSÉE le grammairien
NONNUS DE PANOPOLIS
ORACULA SIBYLLINA
ORIGÈNE
PAUSANIAS
PHILON
PHILOSTRATE
PHOTIUS Ier de Constantinople
PINDARE
PLATON
PLOTIN
PLUTARQUE
POLYBE
PORPHYRE
PROCLUS
PROCOPE
Ps.-LONGIN
QUINTUS DE SMYRNE
SEPTANTE (LA)
SEXTUS EMPIRICUS
SOCRATE LE SCOLASTIQUE
SOPHOCLE
STRABON
SYNESIUS DE CYRÈNE
TATIEN
THÉODORET DE CYR
THÉOGNIS DE MÉGARE
THÉOPHILE D'ANTIOCHE
THÉOPHRASTE
THUCYDIDE
TRYPHIODORE
XÉNOPHON
XÉNOPHON D'ÉPHÈSE
ZOSIMUS

Sunday, April 24, 2016

New in Classica Digitalia

New in Classica Digitalia

Redes culturais nos primórdios da Europa: 2400 anos da fundação da Academia de Platão

Redes culturais nos primórdios da Europa: 2400 anos da fundação da Academia de Platão
Redes culturais nos primórdios da Europa: 2400 anos da fundação da Academia de PlatãoSoares, Carmen, ed. lit.; Casadesús Bordoy, Francesc, ed. lit.; Fialho, Maria do Céu, ed. lit.
Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra
ISBN: 978-989-26-1176-1
Table of Contents

Friday, April 22, 2016

World Digital Library (WDL)

World Digital Library (WDL)
Image result for world digital library
The World Digital Library (WDL) is a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, carried out with the support of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world. The WDL makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.
The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
  • Promote international and intercultural understanding;
  • Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
  • Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
  • Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.

8000 BCE - 499 CE | + View all 238 items

For example:

Commentaries by Domizio Calderini on Works by Juvenal, Statius, Ovid, and Propertius
Under the influence of Italian humanism and of his book-collector tutor János Vitéz, the Archbishop of Esztergom, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1443–1490), developed a passion for books and learning. Elected king of Hungary in 1458 at the age of 14, Matthias won great acclaim for his battles against the Ottoman Turks and his patronage of learning and science. He created the Bibliotheca Corviniana, in its day one of Europe’s finest libraries. After his death, and especially after the conquest of Buda by the Turks in 1541, the library ...
Dialogues of the Gods
This manuscript contains ten of the dialogues of Lucianus, a second-century rhetorician and satirist who wrote in Greek, in the Latin version of Livio Guidolotto (also seen as Guidalotto or Guidalotti). Livio, a classical scholar from Urbino, was the apostolic assistant of Pope Leo X, and he dedicated his translation to the pope in an introductory epistle of 1518 ("Romae, Idibus maii MDXVIII"; folio 150v). The latest possible date for the manuscript thus is 1521, the year Leo died. The emblem of Giovanni de' Medici, with the beam accompanied by ...
“De Materia Medica” by Dioscorides
This book exemplifies the transfer of knowledge across the centuries. During the first century, the Greek doctor and apothecary Dioscorides, who is considered the father of pharmacology, wrote a very important document on botany and pharmaceuticals. In the 10th century, during the times of ʻAbd al-Rahman III (891−961), caliph of Cordova, the work was translated into Arabic. In 1518 at the Escuela de Traductores de Toledo (the School of Translators of Toledo), Antonio de Nebrija made the first translation of the work in Spain into Latin. In 1555 in ...
Contributed by National Library of Spain 
On the Sphere and the Cylinder; On the Measurement of the Circle; On Conoids and Spheroids; On Spirals; On the Equilibrium of Planes; On the Quadrature of the Parabola; The Sand Reckoner
In the middle of the 15th century, a number of manuscripts by the third-century BC Greek mathematician Archimedes began to circulate in the humanistic centers in the courts of Italy. Piero della Francesca (circa 1416–92), the Renaissance artist best known for the frescos he painted for the Vatican and for the chapels in Arezzo, transcribed a copy of a Latin translation of Archimedes’s geometry (a compilation of seven surviving treatises) and illustrated it with more than 200 drawings representing the  mathematical theorems in the texts. This manuscript, long ...
Bucolics, Georgics, and the Aeneid
This 15th-century manuscript, known as the Riccardiana Virgil, includes the texts of the three extant works of the great Roman poet Virgil,the Bucolics, the Georgics, and the Aeneid, and contains 88 miniature paintings in the lower margin of many of the vellum leaves. The miniatures, 86 in the Aeneid and one each in the Bucolics and the Georgics, are attributed to Florentine artist Apollonio di Giovanni and his workshop. Those illustrating the story of Aeneas reflect the influence of Benozzo Gozzoli, who in 1459 completed a suite of frescos ...
Bashkioi Copy of “Slaveno-Bulgarian History”
This handwritten copy of Paisiĭ Khilendarski’s Istoriia slavianobolgarskaia (Slaveno-Bulgarian history) was made in 1841 by the priest Vasilii Manuilov. In addition to the main text, the manuscript contains accounts of two miracles of the Holy Mother. First published in 1762, Paisiĭ’s history encouraged the Bulgarians, who had been under Ottoman rule for centuries, to discover their national consciousness and to embrace the Bulgarian language. The work was so influential that it was copied by hand and excerpted many times without Paisiĭ being identified as the author or his ...
Geography
Claudius Ptolemaeus (circa 100–circa 170), known as Ptolemy, was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of Greek descent who lived and worked in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. In his Geography, Ptolemy gathered all the geographic knowledge possessed by the Greco-Roman world. He used a system of grid lines to plot the latitude and longitude of some 8,000 places on a map that encompassed the known world at the height of the Roman Empire. Ptolemy’s work was lost to Europe in the Middle Ages, but around 1300 Byzantine ...
The Four Books on Medicine by Octavius Horatianus and the Three Books by Abū Al-Qāsim, Distinguished Among All Surgeons
This volume printed at the Argentorati shop in Strasbourg (present-day France) in February 1532 includes two works, the first of which is the Latin translation by Theodorus Priscianus (flourished around 400) of his own therapeutic compendium, the Euporista (Easily obtained remedies), originally written in Greek. The second work is the Latin translation of a section of the well-known Arabic medical work by Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi (also known by his Latinized name Albucasis, circa 936–1013), Al-Taṣrīf li man ‘ajiza al-ta’līf (The arrangement of [medical knowledge ...
Contributed by Qatar National Library 
A Clear Explanation of Averroes’ Introduction to the Commentary on Aristotle’s “Analytica Posterior”
This work is a commentary on Ibn Rushd’s prologue to his commentary on Aristotles’s Analytica Posterior (Posterior analytics) by the Italian philosopher and physician Giovanni Bernardino Longo (1528–99), published in Naples in 1551. Muhammad ibn Ahmed ibn Rushd (1126–98), known in the West by the Latinized version of his name, Averroes, was an intellectual luminary of the Islamic world. Although he wrote extensively on the religious sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and philosophy, his reputation in the West rests primarily on his commentaries on Aristotle. He belonged ...
Contributed by Qatar National Library 
Of Medical Substances
The precious codex known as the Dioscurides Neapolitanus contains the work of Pedanius Dioscorides, the Greek physician who was born at Anazarbus near Tarsus in Cilicia (present-day Turkey) and lived in the first century AD during the reign of the Emperor Nero. Dioscorides wrote the treatise Perì üles iatrichès, commonly known in Latin as De materia medica (Of medical substances), in five books. It is considered the most important medical manual and pharmacopeia of ancient Greece and Rome and was highly regarded in the Middle Ages in both the Western ...
Contributed by National Library of Naples 

City of God
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) is generally considered one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. He was born in Thagaste (present-day Souq Ahras, Algeria) in Roman-ruled Africa, the son of a pagan father and a Christian mother (Saint Monica). After studying in Carthage and teaching rhetoric in his native city, he moved to Rome in 383 and to Milan in 384. Under the influence of his mother and Ambrose, bishop of Milan, he converted to Christianity in 387. He was ordained a priest in 391 and rose ...
Letters, Essays, and Sermons by Saint Gregory Nazianzus
This 18th-century manuscript is a collection of letters, essays, and sermons by Saint Gregory Nazianzus (died circa 389). The manuscript is thought to be the first Arabic translation from the original Greek and has not yet been edited or published. It is the second volume of a two-volume work. Gregory of Nazianzus, also known as Gregory the Theologian, is recognized as a Father of the Church in both the Eastern and Western traditions. He was born in Cappadocia (eastern Anatolia), where he spent much of his life. He was a ...
Letters, Pedagogical Teachings, and Sayings of Saint Anthony of Egypt
This manuscript opens with the 20 letters “to the sons who follow his [Anthony’s] gentle path…and prayers to keep us from Satan’s example.” The letters are for the most part short, many not exceeding five folios. According to an introductory note, they are addressed to both men and women. The work is in a bold but relaxed hand. Each letter or other significant section is set off in red. There are no contemporary marginal glosses, but comments and corrections (some in English) in pencil were made by ...
The History of the Roman Provinces of the Near East
This Arabic manuscript is a history of the Roman provinces of the Near East, with special reference to King Herod the Great and the dynasty he founded. The manuscript lacks numerous pages at the beginning and end. The remaining portion contains the history of Roman Palestine during the first century BC until the destruction of the temple by Roman emperor Titus in 70 AD. The author, title, and date of copying are unknown. The work has been tentatively ascribed to the 17th century. The text is unadorned except for marking ...
Annotated Edition of “The Book of Documents”
Shang shu (The book of documents), also called Shu jing (The book of history), is one of the Five Classics of the Confucian canon that greatly influenced Chinese history and culture. Translations of its title into English vary and include Classic of History, Classic of Documents, Book of History, Book of Documents, or Book of Historical Documents. There are many copies and versions of Shang shu, ascribed to Confucius, but its history is obscure. The work is a compilation of speeches by major figures and records of events in ancient ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Annotated Edition of “The Book of Rites”
Li ji (The book of rites) is one of the Five Classics of the Confucian canon, which had significant influence on Chinese history and culture. The book was rewritten and edited by the disciples of Confucius and their students after the "Burning of the Books" during the rule of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, around 213 BC. The work describes the social forms, governmental system, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC). Li literally means "rites," but it also can be used to refer ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government
Zi zhi tong jian (Comprehensive mirror to aid in government) was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, first published in 1084 in the form of a chronicle. In 1065 Emperor Yingzong (reigned 1064–67) of the Song ordered the great historian Sima Guang (1019–86) to lead a group of scholars in compiling a universal history of China. The task took 19 years to complete and the finished work was presented in 1084 to the succeeding Emperor Shenzong (reigned 1068–85). Its subject is Chinese history from 403 BC ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Illustrations
Sanguo yan yi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), written by Luo Guanzhong (circa 1330–1400), a late-Yuan and early-Ming author, is a historical novel set in the third century, in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. The part-historical, part-legendary, and part-mythical story chronicles the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who vied with each other to restore or replace the declining Han Dynasty. The novel follows literally hundreds of characters, with plots, personal and army battles, intrigues ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms with Li Zhuowu’s Critical Comments
Sanguo yan yi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), written by Luo Guanzhong (circa 1330–1400), a late-Yuan and early-Ming author, is a historical novel set in the third century, in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. The part-historical, part-legendary, and part-mythical story chronicles the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who vied with each other to restore or replace the declining Han Dynasty. The novel follows literally hundreds of characters, with plots, personal and army battles, intrigues ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
A Hundred Verses on Manifestations of Cold Damage Disorders
In one of the prefaces to his works, the author Xu Shuwei (1079–1154) describes a certain Hua Tuo, a scholar born around 140 AD during the Han dynasty, who, after seeing many people die in epidemics, famines, and wars, chose to abandon scholarship to pursue a medical career. Referring to himself, Xu Shuwei writes, “every time I think of the lack of good physicians and of patients who are resigned to die, how could someone with capability sit by and not help? Therefore I have buried my fame as ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Classified Divinations on Military Affairs
This work in 21 juan was compiled by Li Kejia of the Ming dynasty. Presented here is a Wanli edition of 1597, in six volumes. It is the earliest extant copy. The frame of the pages is 19.5 centimeters high and 13.5 centimeters wide. The borders are double-lined. Each single page has 11 columns, each with 22 characters. There is a red square seal impression of the National Central Library. Preceding the text are two prefaces, by Zhu Yuyi and Zhang Shoupeng, dated 1597. It also has an ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
New Edition with Supplemental Annotations of The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor. Su wen 
New Edition with Supplemental Annotations of The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor. Su wen
The ancient medical text Huangdi nei jing (The inner canon of the Yellow Emperor) was already listed in Yi wen zhi (Treatise on literature) of Han shu (Book of Han), the classical Chinese history completed in 111 AD. It had two texts: Su wen (Basic questions) and Ling shu (Spiritual pivot), each in nine juan. Su wen deals with the theoretical foundation of Chinese medicine and its diagnostic methods, while Ling shu discusses acupuncture therapy in great detail. The title Huangdi nei jing often refers only to the more ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Eleven Commentaries to The Art of War by Sunzi
Sunzi bing fa (The art of war by Sunzi) is the most important and popular military classic of ancient China. Its influence also spread to neighboring countries and beyond. Sun Wu, also known as Sunzi or Sun Tzu, lived in the State of Qi during the late Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC). He served the State of Wu, in the southeast coastal area, from around 512 BC and presented his military strategy in a work of 13 chapters to the king of Wu. Together with Wu Zixu (died 484 ...
Contributed by National Central Library 
Armillary Sphere
Zhang Heng (78–139 AD), a native of Xi’e, Nanyang (in present-day Henan Province), was an astronomer, mathematician, inventor, and an accomplished scholar. He began his career as an official during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220). Controversy about his views and political rivalry with other officials led him to retire and return to Nanyang, but in 138 he was recalled to serve in the capital. He died a year later. He received posthumous honors for his scholarship and creativity. Two of his representative works are Hun yi (Armillary ...
Contributed by National Central Library
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