The Exploring Ancient World Cultures Web site (which will be referred to as EAWC) is targeted toward students and teachers of ancient history and culture. The home page has many links, including an “information page,” which tells about the people who put up and maintain the site, and how to contact them. It also gives an overview of the site, and lists the eight ancient cultures it covers, specifically:
- 1.
1the Near East
- 2.
2India
- 3.
3Egypt
- 4.
4China
- 5.
5Greece
- 6.
6Rome
- 7.
7early Islam
- 8.
8medieval Europe
The home page also has an “Internet index” to aid in searching for other ancient and medieval areas of interest. The search form is easy to use, and explicit instructions, including links embedded in the text, are provided. One may search either the “EAWC Internet index,” which is more menu‐driven, or Argos (“the ancient and medieval Internet”), which allows keywords to be entered. Argos, in addition to searching ancient and medieval topics, provides links to other search engines, including Yahoo and Excite. I found the Argos engine extremely helpful in finding assorted topics that lie within its purview.
The home page also has nine boxes with tiny, and rather ambiguous, pictures for accessing the eight cultures mentioned above, and a link to the University of Evansville, which presumably did not fit into any of the other cultures. Clicking on each of the boxes for the cultures leads to an essay about the culture, including embedded links, and a side bar which has various relevant linked topics and a list of links for the culture:
chronology
essays
images
Internet sites
texts
Each of these also has links to other sites. These are extremely useful in helping a person get a more in‐depth look into a culture. Each “culture” page also provides links back to home and to the other cultures covered, including Evansville University and a copyright statement for the site. The home page has an essay, “Why study ancient world cultures?”, which I found unenlightening. The essay has links embedded in the text, which is convenient. The bottom of the page has written‐out links (as opposed to the little photographs) to the nine boxes of cultures displayed further up, and “conclusions.” The latter begins, “So, what have we learned about ancient cultures?” I did not find this essay informative; but perhaps it is geared toward grade‐school children.
Overall, the EAWC site is extremely useful. I encountered no dead ends; so the site is presumably well maintained. Its essays are rather simplistic; and it uses the ultra‐politically‐correct bce and ce instead of the more conventional bc and ad for dates, which can confuse some searchers. I found no indication of when the site was last updated, apart from a copyright date of 1997 (the researcher is left to guess whether this is bc, ce, bce, or ad). However, the abundance of links makes the site a valuable one for anyone seeking information regarding ancient or medieval history. I strongly recommend it.
