“Oh, My Hand!” Complaints of Medieval Monks

Click on this picture to read some of the complaints of Medieval monks as they hand-copied manuscripts. I bet these guys were glad when Gutenberg invented the printing press!

Mansa Musa: The Richest Man of all Time

Mansa Musa, the Malian king famous for his Hajj to Mecca, has recently been named the richest man in all of history. We know that Mansa Musa, whose wealth came from his prosperous west African kingdom, spread his generosity throughout his journey to and from Mecca. You can read about him and his competitors for this category here.

Keepers of the Lost Ark?

 

In 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” legendary archeologist Indiana Jones is hired by the American government to find the Ark of the Covenant.

In 2007, Smithsonian reporter Paul Raffaele explored the claim that the sacred Ark of the Covenant was hidden in modern-day Ethiopia, guarded by a people descended from the Aksumites. Read the article to learn what he discovered about ancient (and modern) Aksum.

Inside Mecca

“Inside Mecca” is an hour-long look at the Hajj from a first-hand point of view. If you have time, watch a little or a lot. It’s fascinating!

 

The Global Food Crisis

Tonight, I would like you to begin thinking about the global food crisis. Please watch the following short movies:

Global Food Security
How to Feed the World
A Billion for a Billion

For each movie, answer the following questions:

1. What was the main message of this movie?
2. What did you learn from watching this movie?
3. What’s one question you have after watching this movie?

The Adventures of Marco Polo

Marco Polo presents a controversy for historians. While he has been held up for years as an example of a medieval European traveler who made his way to Yuan China, many believe that his stories were exaggerated, or in some cases, completely made up! You can investigate that on your own time.
 

Nevertheless, Marco Polo caused many people in Europe to become curious about East Asia. National Geographic has created a gallery of sights that Marco Polo may have seen, if his journeys were real. You can view the gallery here.

The Search for Genghis Khan’s Tomb

It's not hard to understand why Genghis Khan wanted the location of his tomb to be a secret. In fact, the Mongols that buried Khan’s body flattened the land around the tomb by riding their horses to keep the location hidden. Those Mongolians were then killed by soldiers, just to make sure the secret location could never be disclosed.

For the last 800 years, people have searched for the tomb of Genghis Khan. No one has found it — but now some scientists, working with ordinary people, are using new technologies to try and discover the tomb of the great Khan. You can read about these efforts here.