Category: The Mediterranean
Vesontio (Besançon)
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the Late Period

During the long reign of Psamtik I (ca. 664-610 BCE) Egypt became an independent kingdom again. He defended this independence against both the former oppressors of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the last pharaoh of the Nubian Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, Tantamani. The latter was forced on the defensive and finally brought to…
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the Third Intermediate Period
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the New Kingdom (part 3)
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the New Kingdom (part 2)
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the New Kingdom (part 1)

The history of the New Kingdom of Egypt starts with the first pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Ahmose I (ca. 1549-1524 BCE). During his reign and that of his son Amenhotep I (ca. 1525-1506 BCE) a process of standardisation was launched for the recently reunited country. Legislation, administration, the calendar…
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period

For Egypt, the Middle Kingdom was a new era of prosperity. Under the pharaohs of the Eleventh Dynasty Thebes (Waset) officially became the royal residence, but the first pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty decided to found a new capital elsewhere in Egypt. Deities that had originally been worshipped in the…
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period
A brief history of Ancient Egypt: the early years
The Gallo-Roman mausoleum of Faverolles
Crete: Rethymnon
Crete: Fodele
Crete: Phaistos

Comparing the palace complexes of Knossos and Phaistos is like comparing day and night. Visiting Phaistos is a completely different experience. Phaistos is about half as famous as Knossos, it is much smaller, does not draw huge crowds and little to no restoration work has been carried out here. The…
Crete: Knossos
Crete: Chania
Crete: Heraklion
Crete: Gortys
Crete: Minoan civilisation and its successors

Crete, like most islands in the Mediterranean, has always been a crossroads of civilisations. It has been inhabited since at least 6000 BCE, when migrants from Anatolia in present-day Turkey crossed the sea and settled on the island. Some 3000 years later, Crete was part of an extensive naval trade…