TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Michelle Brown: What is a butt tuba and why is it in medieval art?
A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban...
TED Talks
William Noel: Revealing the lost codex of Archimedes
How do you read a two-thousand-year-old manuscript that has been erased, cut up, written on and painted over? With a powerful particle accelerator, of course! Ancient books curator William Noel tells the fascinating story behind the...
TED Talks
TED: How I'm discovering the secrets of ancient texts | Gregory Heyworth
Gregory Heyworth is a textual scientist; he and his lab work on new ways to read ancient manuscripts and maps using spectral imaging technology. In this fascinating talk, watch as Heyworth shines a light on lost history, deciphering...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The hidden treasures of Timbuktu | Elizabeth Cox
On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure...
Curated Video
Library of Congress
Home to millions of books and manuscripts, the Library of Congress is a hub of culture and knowledge, pioneering digital accessibility while safeguarding America's rich history.
Curated Video
Arab-Greek Bilingualism
Historian Maria Mavroudi (UC Berkeley) reveals how a careful study of Arab-Greek bilingualism can shed important light on a wealth of societal values, including the very foundations of their systems of knowledge.
Religion for Breakfast
The Book of Enoch Explained
In this episode we examine the topic: The Book of Enoch Explained
Religion for Breakfast
Was the Gospel of John Changed to Suppress Mary Magdalene?
Mary Magdalene has a ton of conspiracy theories swirling around her. Most are pure speculation. But a recent study by a Duke University New Testament PhD student, Elizabeth Schrader, argues that the copiers of the Gospel of John may have...
Curated Video
Greece, Patmos Island
According to a legend in Greek mythology, the island's original name was "Letois", after the goddess and huntress of deer Artemis, daughter of Leto. It was believed that Patmos came into existence thanks to her divine intervention. The...
Institute for New Economic Thinking
02 On Writing Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes
In late 2015, JW Mason and Arjun Jayadev went to speak with Axel Leijonhuvud, in retirement in Pismo Beach, to ask about his work and the intellectual paths not taken after 1968. Over a couple of days with him and his wife Earlene, they...
Bino and Fino
On To Timbuktu
Bino can’t find one of his books because he can’t remember where he left it. Mama Mama teaches the children to treasure their books.
AFP News Agency
CLEAN : Medieval manuscripts sow discord between Denmark and Iceland
Iceland is requesting the return of medieval manuscripts from Denmark but the University of Copenhagen does not want to give them up as the manuscripts are considered to be the most important collection of ancient Scandinavian...
Sky News
Camilla visits Jane Austen House
CLEAN: Interior shots of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, shown around during a visit to Jane Austen House on 5 April 2022 in Alton, England
Curated Video
Sotheby's auctions poems, doodles and manuscripts created by John Lennon
Whimsical drawings, poems and short stories from two humorous books John Lennon produced in the 1960s fetched skyrocketing prices at auction Wednesday (4 JUNE 2014), including $209,000 (USD) for a nine-page parody of Sherlock Holmes.
The...
Curated Video
Race to restore valuable historical books and digitise them for online
At the start of the 20th century, an urgent call went out across the Middle East from Arab leaders in Jerusalem: send us your books so that we may protect them for generations to come.
Now, 90 years later, the al-Aqsa mosque library is...
Bridgeman Arts
Ancient Islamic Maps
Al-Istakhri, a native of Iran, traveled throughout his country and visited a number of central, south, and west Asian lands and, possibly, North Africa, Sicily, and Andalusia. He compiled the Book of the Routes of States (Kitab Masalik...
Bridgeman Arts
The Wonders of the Creation and the Curiosities of Existence by Zakariya 'Ibn Al-Qazwini - Part 1
The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence was compiled in 1270 by Zakariya Qazwini, a judge living in Wasit in Iraq. It remained popular reading for centuries. It is an illustrated compendium, which describes the many marvels...
Bridgeman Arts
The Wonders of the Creation and the Curiosities of Existence by Zakariya 'Ibn Al-Qazwini - Part 2
The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence was compiled in 1270 by Zakariya Qazwini, a judge living in Wasit in Iraq. It remained popular reading for centuries. It is an illustrated compendium, which describes the many marvels...
Curated Video
The Vatican's Apostolic Library is reopening to scholars following a three-year, $11.5 million renovation to install climate-controlled rooms for its precious manuscripts and state-of-the-art security measures to prevent theft and loss.
HEADLINE: Vatican library reopens after 3-year restoration
CAPTION: The Vatican's Apostolic Library is reopening to scholars following a three-year, $11.5 million renovation to install climate-controlled rooms for its precious...
Sky News
What may be the world's oldest fragments of the Koran have been found by the University of Birmingham. Radiocarbon dating found the manuscript to be at least 1,370 years old, making it among the earliest in existence.
CLEAN: Interior interview with Susan Worrall the Head of Special Collections at University of Birmingham. on July 22, 2015 in Birmingham, England.
Bridgeman Arts
The Seven Wise Princesses in Safavid Adoption
The Seven Wise Princesses: A Medieval Persian Epic is a prose translation of Sufi poet Nizami's twelfth-century classic, ""Haft Paykar"". An lengthy text (nearly one hundred pages) suitable for preteens and up with advanced reading...
Curated Video
Jackie Collins' jewelry, memorabilia, more to be auctioned in Los Angeles
SHOTLIST:RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLYASSOCIATED PRESSLos Angeles, 11 May 20171. Wide shot portraits and furniture in auction2. Close-up portrait of Jackie Collins3. Close-up portrait of Jackie Collins4. Close-up pear-shaped...
Curated Video
Medieval documents on saint displayed outside of Italy for first time
A collection of 13th and 14th century manuscripts about the life of St. Francis of Assisi is now on display at the United Nations in New York, the first time the documents are seen outside of Italy in more than 700 years.
The highlight...