All posts filed under: Behind the Scenes

Destruction in Syria & Iraq

Ancient History Encyclopedia is shocked, saddened, and deeply disturbed by the indiscriminate damage done to ancient artifacts at the Mosul Museum, Assyrian architecture at Nineveh and Nimrud, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hatra by the Islamic State / ISIS / ISIL. The protection and preservation of ancient artifacts and sites is one of AHE’s chief causes, and the destruction of these unique cultural items is a irretrievable loss to the entire world. AHE strongly condemns these senseless and brazen acts of extreme vandalism and denounces too the destruction of religious sites and places of worship in Iraq and Syria. The protection of the world’s shared cultural heritage is a most noble cause, and it is our hope that it becomes one of yours in light of recent events. AHE additionally condemns the crimes against humanity carried out by the Islamic State and the Assad Regime. The mass displacement of the Syrian people, the extreme persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and the use of barrel bombs on civilian targets appal and horrify us. …

Looking for Youtube Channel Presenters

We are excited to announce that Ancient History Encyclopedia (http://www.ancient.eu) is teaming up with Past Preservers (http://pastpreservers.com) to create a Youtube channel of online history broadcasting, and we’re looking for presenters! Are you interested in becoming a presenter in the medium of the future? Do you have a passion for history and you want to inspire the digital generation to learn more about history? Then please get in touch! We’re looking for one male and one female presenter who are dynamic, passionate and excited about digital broadcasting. Our film crew is located on the US East Coast (NYC area), so geographical proximity is a must. Recent studies show that online broadcasting (not TV) is where tomorrow’s audience goes for information and entertainment. This is a unique opportunity to get involved in what could become the number one channel in the future of online historical broadcasting! If this sounds like something you would like to be part of, please email a copy of your CV (resume), two recent pictures and a short video clip telling us a little …

Looking back at 2014

This last year was quite a ride for the team at Ancient History Encyclopedia. Like every company, we had highs and lows, but in the end everything worked out just fine and we’re in a much stronger position than when we started. Our biggest achievement is probably that this year, we became the world’s biggest ancient history website (more about that below). Even after five years, I’m still impressed by what we’ve achieved with almost no money! I personally want to thank our team of volunteer editors and authors, who made this all possible. Our core team has invested countless hours of their free time into making this project possible. Our many authors from across the globe (all volunteers) have provided us with excellent content, both writing and photography, to give to the world for free. Also, a big thanks to our partners and of course our audience, who have always supported us, given great feedback, and kept coming back. Thank you all!

Visit our Online Shop!

We’ve set up an online shop! It’s that time of the year when greeting cards are in order. If you’re tired of sending reindeer or Santa cards, our shop on Etsy is just for you. We’ve selected four of our best photos on Ancient History Encyclopedia and turned them into postcards. They’re not only beautiful photos, but the cards are also of highest quality, with a satin finish. Go and have a look!

AHE vs Top 10 Museums: 3rd place!

National Geographic maintains a list of what they consider to be the Top 10 Museums of the World. While that list is of course debatable, all of the museums on that list are very impressive heavyweights when it comes to museums. We wondered: How does Ancient History Encyclopedia compare to those museums when it comes to internet traffic to their websites? The surprising finding: We’re estimated to have more internet visitors than all but two of the world’s top ten museums! More than the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris, both of which have very prestigious and substantial websites. Only the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York get more traffic than us. WOW! This is mindblowing! Clearly, our readers (yes, that’s you) like what we’re doing, and support us by coming back and recommending us to their friends. We thank you very much for all your support… without it, our little group of less than 10 volunteers would never have achieved this in only five years.

Fifty Thousand!!!

This week, Ancient History Encyclopedia has for the first time in its history surpassed 50,000 visits in a single day. This is a huge milestone, of which we’re of course extremely proud. In the last two years, we went from around 150,000 visits a month to over 1,000,000 visits and 1.8 million pageviews per month. We strongly believe in creating unique and in-depth content and giving it to the world for free. Millions of students, teachers, and history enthusiasts have visited our site this year. It’s our mission to give the world what is otherwise only found in expensive textbooks, and it seems like it’s working. We thank you all for your continued support! If you want to help us with our mission, we’re always looking for more article submissions and donations (it costs us about $75 in books to create a definition). You can also simply subscribe to our newsletter, or share our page on social media.

We’re on Instagram!

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) is now on Instagram. With over 300K social media followers, AHE has a robust and significant social media presence, and our numbers will only continue to grow. Instagram is good addition to our existing social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Instagram will provide AHE a new, visually-driven audience, and we feel strongly that we will reach people who are open to new perspectives. Instagram’s sleek design allows captivating visuals to take center stage. Each image or video fills the screen with nothing to clutter the experience; moreover, as Instagram is a visual medium and social media platform, it’s redefining how the world sees and contemplates photography. Instagram is a fast, attractive, and enjoyable way for AHE to share its passion for “all things ancient” with its fellow Instagrammers. On Instagram, AHE will be surrounded by exquisite content in a creative and inspiring environment. Please be sure to follow our Instagram account and like our images! We look forward to interacting with you …

Ancient History Encyclopedia & Chickasaw.tv Partnership

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 20, 2014 Ancient History Encyclopedia Announces Partnership with Chickasaw.tv New collaboration expands online educational resources about the ancient world LONDON — Ancient History Encyclopedia, a nonprofit, digital humanities website focused on ancient history, today announced that they have begun a strategic content sharing agreement with the Chickasaw Nation Video Network. The collaborative agreement will make digital content on Chickasaw.tv, the official video network of the Chickasaw Nation, available to Ancient History Encyclopedia readers. Chickasaw.tv is the first video network to provide Ancient History Encyclopedia with educational multimedia content about the ancient Native American civilizations of North America and the history of the Chickasaw people. This collaboration coincides with the recent addition of videos to the Ancient History Encyclopedia website, and Chickasaw.tv’s contribution has played a significant role in unveiling this new feature. Since launching in 2009, over 7 million people have visited the Ancient History Encyclopedia website. The content on Ancient History Encyclopedia has made it a trusted research and homework tool for students worldwide and is progressively being integrated into educator …

AHE’s Memorandum of Understanding with EAGLE Portal

Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the EAGLE Portal, which will entail active collaboration and content exchange between the two organizations. EAGLE, the Europeana network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy, is a best-practice network (BPN), co-funded through the ICT-Policy Support Programme of the European Commission, which aims to create a new online archive for ancient epigraphy in Europe. As a part of the multilingual, prestigious Europeana Network, EAGLE will link and connect — using Linked Open Data (LOD) — thousands of inscriptions, photos of inscriptions, and related contextual items from European museums, libraries, archives, and multimedia collections into a single, readily-searchable platform from millions of digitized items. The project will make the vast majority of surviving inscriptions from the Greco-Roman world available for study or enjoyment. Additionally, EAGLE intends to build tools which can make the user experience dynamic and engaging.

AHE Partners with Theneeds.com for Content Curation

Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) is partnering with Theneeds.com in order to connect with a virtual audience keen on accessing curated media pertaining to the ancient world via the web and mobile devices. Launched in 2013, Theneeds is the fastest growing content discovery platform. Theneeds offers users a place to discover, vote on and share the best news, articles, videos, social posts, and more, tailored to their specific interests. Based in San Francisco, CA, Theneeds brings users a personalized web and iPhone app experience, and its underlying technology constantly learns from user’s activity to get smarter and more relevant over time.