Ancient History, I am obsessed with it, are you?

I am amazed at the art from all over the world thousands of years ago as well as the similarities between so many ancient cultures (and those that are radically different!). Art is a mirror of the time period and tells us a lot about each culture.

As I mentioned above, I am in love with anything Ancient Egypt. I love any documentary about the lives of any historical figure that I can find info on...especially weird facts that a lot of people don't know. For instance, did you know that the 19 yr old wife of King Tutankamun (King Tut) was Ankhesenamun (his half sister) and when he died she virtually disappeared from history? They think she possibly married her advisor Aye...making him the next Pharoah and that some even believe that Aye forced her to marry him to take the throne? An artifact was found that depicted a letter that she sent to a leader of a neighboring kingdom begging him to send her one of his sons to marry because she is refusing to marry a slave. Archeologists believe she was talking about Aye..Mysteriously the son that was sent to marry Ankesanamun was murdered when he crossed the border. No proof of any of that exists but there are hints of it in ancient texts and tomb writings. I also love facts and stories about the ancient Gladiators in Rome....some were slaves and forced to fight and some were volunteers and paid to fight. Possibly to pay debts that they owed. My favorite Egyptian pharoah was actually Hatchepsut who married her half brother Thutmose II who died leaving her regent until her stepson became of age. She was famous because she had temples built that showed her wearing mens clothes and a false beard to legitimize her rule and eventually claimed the throne for herself. She ruled over a successful kingdom for over 20 yrs until her death and was mysteriously erased from history by who most people believe was her stepson Thutmose III. Resentment for her taking his place on the throne?? hmmm. Her name was actually chiseled off of temple walls! I could go on and on about mysterious and fascinating facts about historical figures. I am really looking forward to hearing which ones move you and why.

Yes, I did know all of that. I have been a student of Ancient Egypt since I was in seventh grade. And I absolutely love Hatshepsut. I even named one of my cats after her. She is one of my three favorite women in history, the other two being Sappho and Joan of Arc. Have you read 'Lost Queen of Egypt', by Lucile Morrison? I read it many years ago. And my sister actually found me a copy of it for one of my birthdays. She looked high and low to find the book, as it is out of print. I could ramble on about Egypt, but I won't, at least for now. My current favorite ancient historical figure is Prince Jonathan. "Who is he?" you may ask. He was born around 1000 BC, and was the Crown Prince of Israel. He was also David's best friend, and he abdicated the throne to David because he believed it was the best thing for Israel at the time, and because he believed it was God's will. I really admire him because he possessed all the qualities which I think are important: Courage, Honour, Integrity, Loyalty and Love. I have just begun to explore his character, but sadly there does not seem to be a lot of information about him. I actually challenged my Pastor to give a sermon about Jonathan. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Thank you all for your comments! Thank you Cynaemon, I will be checking out this book as well as doing some research on Sappho, never heard of her. Thank you tons! Diane

I live in Wales UK, and I'm particularly interested in Ancient Britain. I love learning about the history of countries all over the world too though, in order to learn more about different places and cultures. I have to admit that I don't really know a lot about ancient history right now, but I definitely hope to research more soon, listen to podcasts and audiobooks, and watch a variety of documentaries :)

Hi, Karen, thanks for your answer. I did a lot of research on Anasazi Art last year for my NaNoWriMo story. Ancient art is really interesting.

The Vikings are an endless source of fascination for me. Having ancestors from Great Britain and Scandinavia before that has added a personal element - is it possible any are of Viking descent? I think there’s a lot of misconceptions regarding the Vikings. Being a Viking was not so much a culture or ethnicity as it was an occupation. While the Vikings originated from Scandinavia not all Scandinavians were Vikings. The Vikings were prolific ship builders and sea farers. They did not wear helmets with horns. And not all of them engaged in pillaging and raiding. Many left their homeland to farm peacefully and rarely picked up a sword, if ever. While I enjoy the movies that portray them as dangerous and violent conquering marauders I think it is very important to remember that not all were like this. There is much more to them than the stereotypical image we are most familiar with.