Piquant and witty collection excavates 200 pyramid-builders, poets, poisoners, physicians, power brokers and panderers of ancient times.

This guide to the feisty women of medieval times profiles 200 of these fair and unfair damsels from around the world. There's English rose Hilda of Whitby, Viking leader Aud the Deep-Minded and Wu Zhao of China, who chose to concubine, connive, murder and machiavelli her way to a 50 year reign.

Reveals tales of sex and love from ancient Greece, Rome, and other Mediterranean cultures, offering insight into these civilizations' beliefs about contraception, bisexuality, cross-dressing, nymphomania, and erotic practices.

This lively commentary encompasses four major books focusing on women in the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha. Each section in the volume addresses the biblical text in detail, and draws connections from the world of ancient audiences to that of present-day readers. Wolfe's research is motivated by the usual inquiries of biblical scholarship, as well as the questions raised by the many church Bible study groups she has taught. Clergy and laity, students and scholars will benefit from these contemporarily relevant reflections on Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs and Judith. Ruth: The foreign widow who sneaks onto the nighttime threshing floor to find survival for herself and her devastated mother-in-law. Esther: The Jewish orphan-turned-queen who turns Persian banqueting on its head in an effort to defend her people. Song of Songs: The proud and alluring lover who claims her sexuality as her own and joyfully shares it with her beloved. Judith: The pious and beautiful widow who lets the enemy commander's appetite become his downfall in order to save her besieged city. This volume is an opportunity to engage these women's suspense-filled stories, which have sustained faith communities since ancient times. ________ Lisa Wolfe is also the author of a DVD Bible study series "Uppity Women of the Bible" (Living the Questions, 2010), which is a companion to this book.To purchase a copy of the DVD series, please visit the following link at Living the Questions: http://www.livingthequestions.com/xcart/home.php?cat=461

In How to Mellify a Corpse, Vicki León brings her particular hybrid of history and humor to the entwined subjects of science and superstition in the ancient world, from Athens and Rome to Mesopotamia, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Carthage. León covers subjects as diverse as astronomy and astrology, philosophy and practicalities of life and death (including the titular ancient method of embalming), and ancient mechanical engineering. How to Mellify a Corpse of course invokes legendary thinkers (Pythagoras and his discoveries in math and music, Aristotle's books on politics and philosophy, and Archimedes' "Eureka" moment), but it also delves deeply into the lives of everyday people, their understanding and beliefs. A feast for the curious mind, How to Mellify a Corpse is not only for those with an interest in the experimental: it's for anyone who's inspired by the imagination and ingenuity humanity uses to understand our world.

Some were feisty and fiery. Others were cool and dangerous. All were incredibly courageous. Outrageous Women of The Middle Ages took on the challenge of their world--and didn't worry about ruffling a few feathers. Among the outrageous women you'll meet are: * Eleanor of Aquitaine--queen of France and later England, she led a group of women on the Second Crusade and created her own financial system * Lady Murasaki Shikibu--besides being a wife and mother, she learned the "forbidden" language of Chinese and wrote the world's first novel * Aud the Deep-Minded--a Viking wise woman and explorer who led her clan, grandchildren and all, on a risky voyage from Scotland to Iceland * Hildegarde of Bingen--the German nun who, late in life, became a composer, a botanist, and founded convents * Damia al-Kahina--a nomadic freedom fighter, skilled at peacemaking and war, who kept her North African homeland free