The Castle of Populonia stands on the Acropolis of Fufluna, the ancient Etruscan Port During years of sailing along ancient trade routes, we dropped anchor in many old Greek ports. There was usually a port basin for the ships, a rocky outcrop with an acropolis, somewhere temples for major deities and dual use buildings which lined the quays. Marseille, Knidos, Miletus and Rhodes are good examples. The Etruscan Federation at its Peak in the 7th Century When Greek explorers

Outcrop of Obsidian Glass on the Eastern Tip of Lipari, the largest Aeolian Island Over the last few years, obsidian made an interesting come-back. Once material for cutting edge tools for our neolithic ancestors, it now adorns the necks and ears of modern women. Obsidian, a volcanic glass, acts like a mirror when carefully polished. Look at an “Alhambra” ear ring and you look at yourself. An Obsidian Pendant from the Alhambra Collection (Van Cleef & Arpel

View over the "Phlegarean Fields" east of Pozzuoli towards Sorrento (l.) and Capri (r.) The “Phlegarean Fields” or Campi Flegrei were in the news last week. During one single night, local Emergency Services received more than 800 reports of new gas vents opening up in the middle of villages, streets, parks and open fields. The “Campi Flegrei”, the often overlooked twin to the Vesuvius volcano, seem to be wakening up. Under upward pressure and volcanic steam one road i

Segmented Plate Armor (Lorica Segmentata) weighted about 15 kilograms per Legionnaire Global trade is made possible by maritime transport. These days, there are a good 107’000 merchant ships plowing the waves. Oil tankers account for about 12’000 ships, bulk carriers (ore, coal, grain) make up 13’000. There are 21’000 large cargo and 6’000 container vessels. The other 50% are smaller, primarily coastal merchant ships. A Roman Grain Freighter leaving a Port - possibly Leptis M

Mount Etna in the Evening seen from the North - His standard Plume stronger than normal When Apostle Paul sailed along Sicily’s east coast on his way to Rome in 60 AD, he must have noticed Mount Etna and possibly the many vineyards on the slopes. The mountain is huffing and puffing since people remember. Wine was planted on its slopes after Greek settlers arrived in the 8 th century BC. The colonist cleared slopes, built terraces and introduced irrigation. For them, wine was

On the horizon to the west, in the hazy afternoon, the small island of Antikythira comes into view. We are on the way to Kythira but will...

Medicane (Mediterranean Hurricane) Zorbas reaching the Peloponnese on 29 Sept 2018 - the Medicane was about 150 sea miles wide In exactly...

Can't believe - only 101 days to go until we set foot on the Myra, our sail boat this summer! Much of the Pharos (Lighthouse) of...

The Parthenon survived dozens of Earthquakes over the 2'500 Years since its Construction It is only a year ago that I wrote a blog about...

The lush Mountains in the Peloponnese with their fertile Valleys receive a lot of Rain Mosf of my High School class mates hated history....

Lifting Copper and Tin Ingots from the Uluburun Ship Wreck Yesterday’s blog reminded me to talk about tin, the rare metal required for...

Tyrian Dye was not only produced in Tyros but probably throughout the Roman Empire Before starting our journey, I go every year on Google...

Natural Salt Pan in Delice (Kirikkale) in Central Anatolia My recent blog about the high salinity of the eastern Mediterranean made me...

The ancient Greek town of Salamis was twice destroyed by Earth Quakes but rebuilt - it was only abandoned during the Arab - Byzantine...

Bottlenose and other Dolphins are a rare Sight in the Eastern Mediterranean On my to-do-list for this year’s trip is a blog on the...

In two of my previous blogs I talked about the role of scribes in antiquity and that books were scrolls not pages bound at the back. The...

Turkish Ceramic Tiles with Wild Flowers and Red Tulips at the Center When looking at tiles in a Turkish Bazaar, you instantly notice the...

Rainy today – no chance to spend time outdoors. Time for another blog then. Wondered  for a while as to why the Eastern Roman Empire was...

Love the way science changes the way how we understand the world. The James Webb telescope shows us that the universe is probably older...

One of the probably 2'000 Years old mighty Cedar Trees in the Lebanon Cyprus is not the only country in the Middle East with trees in its...