Reed pens were the most common writing implement during Miriam’s time. For centuries, they’d been made by cutting and shaping the hollow...

The Romans perfected firing clay bricks during Miriam’s time, the first-century CE. Previously, the only kind of bricks were mudbricks...

In THE DEADLIEST LIE, Miriam tells her aunt why she studies alchemy: I want to make it safe to study metals. If I can make an apparatus...

One of Jesus’s reported miracles was that of cleansing a leper. Like many diseases, leprosy was considered a form of divine punishment...

In THE DEADLIEST THIEF, Miriam shares with Judah the few clues she has to find the remaining scoundrel who broke into and ran off with...

Prostitutes were a recognized and substantial contributor to Alexandrian life. In THE DEADLIEST LIE, Miriam mentions them frequently and...

After the last two blogs on Asclepius and his daughter Hygeia, can you imagine my surprise when I came across a reference to the common...

Hygeia (we get the word hygiene from her name) was the daughter of Asclepius, who was the son of Apollo, who was the son of Zeus. As the...

In The Deadliest Lie, Judah tells Miriam about an asclepion where his mentor’s wife was treated for mania. (see my blog of February 23,...

The popular Greek legend about Thessalonike is that she turned into a mermaid who lived in the Aegean for hundreds of years. According to...