“In the beginning”...bringing the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments online

<br />A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Written more than 2,000 years ago on pieces of parchment and papyrus, they were preserved by the hot, dry desert climate and the darkness of the caves in which they were hidden. The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQV_rW8PAMsYUzSrByeHQrhJIlvWTftGmvQWTri0MsefRzMqf3dTvf1Qxs_1SL8zu6pnPj6q1GAvDz6VOwHi6GEq0meOfQ0lfE1gq2BqYIccBpEnNxOY-bXcsrvLFV76IE_R9NJ7pk8ec/s1600/10+COMMANDMENTS+-+photo+credit+Shai+Halevi,+courtesy+of+Israel+Antiquities+Authority.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQV_rW8PAMsYUzSrByeHQrhJIlvWTftGmvQWTri0MsefRzMqf3dTvf1Qxs_1SL8zu6pnPj6q1GAvDz6VOwHi6GEq0meOfQ0lfE1gq2BqYIccBpEnNxOY-bXcsrvLFV76IE_R9NJ7pk8ec/s640/10+COMMANDMENTS+-+photo+credit+Shai+Halevi,+courtesy+of+Israel+Antiquities+Authority.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Today, we’re helping put more of these ancient treasures online. The Israel Antiquities Authority is launching the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, an online collection of some 5,000 images of scroll fragments, at a quality never seen before. The texts include one of the earliest known copies of the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments; part of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world; and hundreds more 2,000-year-old texts, shedding light on the time when Jesus lived and preached, and on the history of Judaism.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.ca/2012/12/in-beginningbringing-scrolls-of-genesis.html" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Google</a></b><br />

“In the beginning”...bringing the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments online

A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known bibl...

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The Geese Book – medieval manuscript now available online

<br />One of the most interesting manuscripts of the late Middle Ages is now available online – The Geese Book, a lavishly and whimsically illuminated, two-volume liturgical book, can now be accessed through a project from the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.<br /><br />The Geese Book was produced in Nuremberg, Germany between 1503 and 1510, and gives the complete liturgy compiled for the parish of St. Lorenz, which was used until the Reformation was introduced in the city in 1525.<br /><br />The volumes are renowned for their high quality decorative illumination including fanciful pictures, provocative and satirical imagery of animals, dragons, and wild people. The work takes its name from an enigmatic illustration showing a choir of geese singing from a large chant manuscript with a wolf as their choirmaster. A fox, who has joined the choir, extends his paw menacingly in the direction of one of the geese.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/11/28/the-geese-book-medieval-manuscript-now-available-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b><br />

The Geese Book – medieval manuscript now available online

One of the most interesting manuscripts of the late Middle Ages is now available online – The Geese Book, a lavishly and whimsically illumin...

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Newberry library project makes historical documents and images accessible for the classroom

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZSHIlRKRugCHR9YB_yfI_i89M6C0kPLF5EZzWNbUonRJGbqYN0ThIbO6BFeVmRHFs3pMHjE79YLekOmmNyUHLWOrNJPrLXR7WanQvcShlu-XlM5d7jsmOfX0gYE52pvOvFRVB0B_5Ig/s1600/crusades.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZSHIlRKRugCHR9YB_yfI_i89M6C0kPLF5EZzWNbUonRJGbqYN0ThIbO6BFeVmRHFs3pMHjE79YLekOmmNyUHLWOrNJPrLXR7WanQvcShlu-XlM5d7jsmOfX0gYE52pvOvFRVB0B_5Ig/s320/crusades.jpeg" width="311" /></a></div>I squinted at the calligraphic handwriting. (I don't read much Latin or Middle French, and in this script, it's challenging just to make out the letters.) And I marveled at the content: God stands next to Adam in the Garden of Eden in all the regalia of a 15th-century monarch. The serpent assumes the head and torso of a woman when it tempts Eve to eat the apple. Queen Tomyris wears a placid expression as, with one hand, she points a bloody knife toward King Cyrus' decapitated corpse and, with the other, she holds his severed head over a vat filled with the blood of his soldiers. Medieval theologians are astonishing.<br /><br /> Then, I stepped back and asked, how might this manuscript help a teacher bring medieval Europe to life for his or her students? What does a manuscript provide that a textbook does not? What would be gained and what would be lost if we had this page digitally reproduced, that is, professionally photographed and displayed on a website? The texture, the smell would be gone. But those colors and the startling scenes would still be stunning on screen. Does the Internet's much-touted ability to overcome spatial barriers effectively dissolve the walls of a rare-books reading room?<br /><br /><b><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-21/site/ct-prj-0923-newberry-essay-20120921_1_digital-collections-historical-documents-book-stacks" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from the Chicago Tribune</a></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://dcc.newberry.org/" target="_blank">Click here to visit the Digital Collections from the Classroom website</a></b>

Newberry library project makes historical documents and images accessible for the classroom

I squinted at the calligraphic handwriting. (I don't read much Latin or Middle French, and in this script, it's challenging just to ...

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Warwickshire Manorial Records going online

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmmtgJVa0uW_O4wXxxzPx0jGkMw_IN0nCa-9YPXCv7gG0gEtYkFDOY4nG_xUPn4xESbKVF8wpNuQNnr31lkimGEtBlCOeVCsJiwrAsCDB7wVr6XOBQOk2VIsZF-bnkHuEJH9h5otZYrk/s1600/Manorial-Records-group-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmmtgJVa0uW_O4wXxxzPx0jGkMw_IN0nCa-9YPXCv7gG0gEtYkFDOY4nG_xUPn4xESbKVF8wpNuQNnr31lkimGEtBlCOeVCsJiwrAsCDB7wVr6XOBQOk2VIsZF-bnkHuEJH9h5otZYrk/s1600/Manorial-Records-group-1.jpeg" /></a></div>Fines for playing tennis, selling shoes before o’clock in the afternoon, or being an ale house haunter, are just some of the penalties in force in Warwickshire 600 years ago. Documents detailing such historical gems can be found in the Warwickshire Manorial Records which will soon be available to the public.<br /><br /> Warwickshire County Council launched the Manorial Documents Register at an event at Warwickshire County Record Office earlier this week. The register contains information about the location of court rolls, surveys, maps and documents about land boundaries from medieval times and can be accessed by anyone at <b><a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr">www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr</a></b>.<br /><br />Charges issued by 17th century court leets include:<br /><br /><ul><li>A pain (fine) on tanners and shoemakers that they offer not wares to sell before one of the clock in the afternoon </li><li>The churchwardens to search for ale house haunters and others that come not to church on Sunday on pain (fine) of 10s </li></ul><br /> Mark Ryder, Head of Localities and Community Safety said, “These records contain a rich and fascinating history about life in Warwickshire in the late middle ages. The database will signpost people to the relevant sources and will help to bring medieval history to everyone’s fingertips.<br /><br /> “In Warwickshire we are lucky to have three remaining court leets located in Alcester, Henley in Arden and Warwick who continue these ancient traditions, two leets will be at the event next Monday.” <br /><br />The project was run by the County Council’s Archives team with funding from The National Archives. In addition to the launch it is possible to book a place for a Manorial Records talk on Monday 29 October 10am-12pm at the Record Office.<br /><br />More details are available on 01926 738959 or via recordoffice@warwickshire.gov.uk. Further information about the project and the launch is available from Sam Collenette, Archives and Historic Environment Manager, Warwickshire County Council on 01926 738950.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://news.warwickshire.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Warwickshire County Council</a>

Warwickshire Manorial Records going online

Fines for playing tennis, selling shoes before o’clock in the afternoon, or being an ale house haunter, are just some of the penalties in fo...

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People of Medieval Scotland online database officially launched

<br />A new interactive online database, which will make thousands of the oldest documents in Scotland’s history available to the public, has been officially launched today during an event at the University of Glasgow.<br /><br />The People of Medieval Scotland (PoMS) project has catalogued over 21,000 individuals mentioned in 8,600 documents. The documents, written between 1093 and 1314, tell the story of Scotland’s transformation from a land of patchwork regions to an established kingdom with fixed borders and modern systems of government.<br /><br />The records are now online and fully accessible to the public through the online database, allowing academic experts and enthusiastic amateurs alike to learn more about the period. The database will also include free software which has been specially developed for use in schools. Special interactive labs will offer history students creative ways to explore the wealth of information stored within the database.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/09/05/people-of-medieval-scotland-online-database-officially-launched/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b><br />

People of Medieval Scotland online database officially launched

A new interactive online database, which will make thousands of the oldest documents in Scotland’s history available to the public, has been...

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St Andrews Cathedral in Scotland recreated online

People can now explore St Andrews Cathedral, Scotland’s largest medieval church, as it looked in the Middle Ages, through a new online portal created by the University of St Andrews.<br /><br /> Visitors will be able to create their own avatars and navigate their way around the online reconstruction, which shows the Cathedral as it was 700 years ago. They can explore the cloisters, the internal choir section, the chapter house, and the nave. There will be historic characters so visitors will be able to chat with Robert the Bruce, an Augustinian Friar and perhaps “The Old Grey Lady” a ghost reported to haunt the building. The experience is intended to give users a new perspective on Scottish history, accessible across the generations.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/06/25/st-andrews-cathedral-in-scotland-recreated-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b>

St Andrews Cathedral in Scotland recreated online

People can now explore St Andrews Cathedral, Scotland’s largest medieval church, as it looked in the Middle Ages, through a new online porta...

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Creating An Online Portal Into The Medieval World

Perhaps it is fitting that students and scholars interested in the medieval world have to grapple with fiefdoms in order to find information dating to the period – though that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. But the days of searching through scattered online resources will soon be history.  <br /><br />Researchers are in the process of pulling together a website bringing together scores of electronic resources on medieval subjects, including literature, history, theology, architecture, art history and philosophy. Creation of a centralized search engine for medieval materials would be a big step forward. At present, for example, those interested in studying the medieval era may have to visit dozens of different sites to search for documents related to their research topics, from King Arthur to church history to the Hundred Years’ War. And that’s assuming they know how to find those sites in the first place.<br /><br /> The new site, which is part of a larger project called the Medieval Electronic Scholarly Alliance (MESA), will allow users to search all of these sites at once – streamlining the research process and hopefully bringing to light resources a scholar may have otherwise missed. The site is scheduled to launch by the end of the year, and will initially cover Europe and the Mediterranean world from roughly 450 A.D. to 1450 A.D.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/06/14/creating-an-online-portal-into-the-medieval-world/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b>

Creating An Online Portal Into The Medieval World

Perhaps it is fitting that students and scholars interested in the medieval world have to grapple with fiefdoms in order to find information...

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New website – Getty Research Portal – offers better access to art history resources

The Getty Research Institute launched a new website last week, the Getty Research Portal, which promises to provide universal access to digitized texts in the field of art and architectural history.<br /><br /> The Getty Research Portal is a free online search gateway that aggregates descriptive metadata of digitized art history texts, with links to fully digitized copies that are free to download. Art historians, curators, students, or anyone who is culturally curious can unearth these valuable sources of research without traveling from place to place to browse the stacks of the world’s art libraries.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/06/04/new-website-getty-research-portal-offers-better-access-to-art-history-resources/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-getty-debuts-full-text-web-site-for-art-history-research-20120530,0,6730780.story" target="_blank">See also Getty launches full text website for art history research</a></b>

New website – Getty Research Portal – offers better access to art history resources

The Getty Research Institute launched a new website last week, the Getty Research Portal, which promises to provide universal access to digi...

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Interactive map of the Roman Empire now online

<br />Imagine you’re in Rome, it’s 205 CE, and you’ve got to figure out the quickest way to transport wheat to Virunum, in what’s now Austria. Your transportation choices are limited: ox cart, mule, ship or by foot, and your budget is tight. What do you do?<br /><br />Enter ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World. With it, you can survey the options that would have been available to an ancient Roman in that very predicament with the ease of getting directions via GPS.<br /><br /><br />Type in your starting point, destination, the goods you need to move, and the time of year. Voila! You can quickly see the most cost-effective way to transport the grain.<br /><br />By generating new information about the ancient Roman transport network, ORBIS demonstrates how, more than anything else, the expansion of the empire was a function of cost.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2012/05/interactive-map-of-the-roman-empire-now-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from History of the Ancient World</a></b><br /><br />

Interactive map of the Roman Empire now online

Imagine you’re in Rome, it’s 205 CE, and you’ve got to figure out the quickest way to transport wheat to Virunum, in what’s now Austria. You...

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Thousands of Irish Medieval Documents now available online

Trinity College Dublin historians have reconstructed invaluable medieval documents destroyed during the bombardment of the Four Courts in 1922. The Four Courts was the home of the Public Record Office, which was catastrophically destroyed when it was bombed in the conflict between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty forces at the start of the Irish Civil War. It was previously thought that the entire medieval archive had been destroyed, but forty years’ work by a team of researchers at Trinity has led to the reconstruction of more than 20,000 hugely important government documents produced by the medieval chancery of Ireland. From today, the Irish chancery letters are available again in a new publicly accessible and free internet resource known as CIRCLE: A Calendar of Irish Chancery Letters, c.1244–1509.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.medievalists.net/2012/05/15/thousands-of-irish-medieval-documents-now-available-online/" target="_blank">Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net</a></b>

Thousands of Irish Medieval Documents now available online

Trinity College Dublin historians have reconstructed invaluable medieval documents destroyed during the bombardment of the Four Courts in 19...

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