Africa

  • Caesarion- The Poison of What If

    The son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII Philopater is one of the most tantalizing what ifs in history. If he inherited a fraction of the good qualities from his famous parents, he would have been a force to reckon with in the ancient world and a thorn in Augustus Caesar's side. However, his potential remains a question mark because to paraphrase George R R Martin, when you play the game of thrones, you win or die.Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar was born to Cleopatra VII Philopater du [...]

  • Egyptian Goddess Hathor

    She was one of the most important Ancient Egyptian goddess. She was known as “the Great One of Many Names”. Her name means “mansion of Horus”. Her parents were Neith and Khnum or Ra. She is at times the mother, daughter and wife of Ra and, like Isis, is at times described as the mother of Horus, and associated with Bast. She was not exclusively worshipped by women and unlike the other gods and goddesses she had both male and female priests. Also, she was worshiped by royalty and common people alike in whose tombs she is depicted as “Mistress of the West” welcoming the dead into the next life.…

  • Anansi the spider god

    The Ashanti people of Ghana began the Anansesem (spider tales) about the presence of a spider god and gradually those stories spread across Ghana and then all around West Africa. Anansi is depicted in many different ways. Sometimes he looks like an ordinary spider, sometimes he is a spider wearing clothes or with a human face and sometimes he looks much more like a human with spider elements, such as eight legs. West Africans originally considered Anansi to be the creator of the world. He often acted as a go-between for humans in their dealings with the sky god Nyame, and he supposedly persuaded Nyame to give both rain and…

  • Hatshepsut- His Majesty, Herself

    Long before the time of Cleopatra, there was another woman who ruled with absolute power along the Nile. Unfortunately, because of reasons unknown, her legacy was hidden until the 19th century. Hatshepsut was born at the beginning of the New Kingdom around 1504 BCE. Although women were granted a higher status in Egypt than in other ancient civilizations, the idea of a female Pharaoh was unheard of so Hatshepsut was not trained to rule. Her father, Ahmose I, was a great military leader and brought home a Nubian chieftain on the prow of his ship as a warning to his enemies. Since the throne of Egypt could not pass to…

  • The Shardana

    In honor of “Talk Like a Pirate Day” I have decided to write a story about the Shardana, a race of ancient pirates. In order to talk like them you would have to learn a long dead language, I am afraid.The Shardana, or the Sherden, didn't exactly leave behind anything for us to definitively talk about who they were or what they are about. The first possible reference to them was in a letter from an Egyptian mayor, a guy named Rib-Hadda, to the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, wherein he refere [...]