Electrum Magazine - Why The Past Matters

Classics
A Tale of Two Voyages: Athens, Mytilene and the Lesbian Poleis

2 days ago

By Jess Taylor – In 428 BCE, Mytilene, the most powerful polis on the island of Lesbos, was preparing to revolt from the Athenian Empire. They were allied with the island poleis of Antissa, Pyrrha, and Eresos. A fifth island polis, Methymna, was hostile to Mytilene and refused to participate.
Artifacts of Material History
How Horses Shaped the Culture of the Early Persian Empire

2 weeks ago

By Sara Olsen – The story of Persian culture begins in the dawn of time with firm roots in the domestication of the horse. Culture evolved from nomadic to a settled agricultural tradition largely with the help of a domesticated horse. From the time of the horse, there is […]
Archaeologia
The Mušḫuššu Dragon: Chthonic Protection at the Ishtar Gate

2 months ago

Ishtar Gate mušḫuššu frieze (Photo courtesy of P. Hunt, 2016) By Cheryl Solis – Aller Anfang ist heiter; die Schwelle ist der Platz der Erwartung. “Every beginning is joyful; the threshold is the place of expectation.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, ca. 1796 Many have marveled at the Ishtar […]
Artifacts of Material History, Classics
The Library of Alexandria: Burned Books, Broken Culture

3 months ago

Robert. A. Dudley, Burning of Library of Alexandria, AD 391 (courtesy of Bridgman Images) “A room without books is like a body without a soul” – Attributed to Cicero, Letters to Atticus iv.8 By Cyrus Mohebi – Napoleon, Ptolemy I Soter, and Claudius were all rulers who controlled and conquered […]
History
The Amazigh (Berber) People of North Africa

4 months ago

The symbol or sign in Amazigh (Berber) for the Amazigh themselves – Atlas Mtns. above Marrakesh (Photo P. Hunt 2026) By Youssef Hanha – The word Amazigh is most often defined as meaning “The Free People”, which is self-referential as their name for themselves. It is likely Amazigh DNA can […]
Artifacts of Material History
The Hopewell Enigma

5 months ago

Hopewell Mounds, Ohio (Photo Sara Olsen) By Sara Olsen – As we celebrate 250 years as a nation, we must also reflect on the cultures living on the land before this nation existed. One such culture was the mysterious Hopewell. The Hopewell was a mound building culture which developed along […]
History Underfoot
Humboldt’s Altitude-Latitude Correlate and Select Applications

6 months ago

Alexander von Humboldt portrait, 1806, H.G. Weitsch, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Photo P. Hunt 2016) By Patrick Hunt – Introduction Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), the German polymath naturalist and explorer genius whose travels took him to the New World for several years, made many astute observations and discoveries about geography and […]
Food History
Marrakech Cooking School at La Maison Arabe

6 months ago

Maison La Arabe Marrakech with Amazigh (Berber) hotel pool motif (Image public domain) By P. F. Sommerfeldt – On occasion I’ve enjoyed taking cooking lessons, for example, in Lago Como, Italy, and while living in London and when I even had a conversation with Julia Child at a food show. […]
Art, Literature
Lot and His Daughters in Baroque Art

8 months ago

Hendrik Goltzius, Lot and His Daughters, 1616, Rijksmuseum By Patrick Hunt – The sordid story of Lot, errant nephew of Abraham and his opposite in nearly every way – the man of flesh as counterpoint to the man of faith – is one of the saddest Genesis expository examples in […]
Philosophy
Moral Law

9 months ago

Roman marble bust of Aristotle,2nd c. CE, Palazzo Altemps, Rome (Image in public domain) By Walter Borden, M.D. – “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” —Aristotle (Politics 1.2.1253a31-37) I. History of Justice Aristotle speaks of law and justice. Law means […]