

HOW DID THEY DO IT?
Miriam is overwhelmed by the size of the Library’s collection when her tutor, Hector [see my blog, “Miriam’s Tutor” of June 27, 2017],...


THE MEANING OF A HEBRAIC BEARD
In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam introduces us to Amram, her father’s business partner and her prospective father-in-law, by comparing him to...


ANCIENT AIR CONDITIONING
Alexandria was experiencing an unusually hot day, a perfect day, as Miriam said, to sit in the atrium, face the impluvium and sip ginger...


Brides in Ancient Rome II: The Engagement and Wedding Rings
The bride in Ancient Rome wore no adornments that would detract from her engagement ring. The engagement ring signified that the couple...


CAPERNAUM
Trouble surfaces quickly in THE DEADLIEST FEVER when the Torah mantle in Alexandria’s Great Synagogue, set with King Solomon’s priceless...


DO OPPOSITES ATTRACT?
In THE DEADLIEST FEVER, Miriam wonders about Omar and Naarah: What a curious match. Only a nascent double chin and an asymmetry about his...


OLIBANUM (FRANKINCENSE)
Olibanum (frankincense), traded on the Arabian Peninsula for more than 6000 years, has a balsamic-spicy, slightly lemony fragrance with a...


EGYPTIAN AND ROMAN LOCKS
The need to secure one’s belongings emerged with the evolution of human society. The first mechanical door locks were invented in ancient...


THE ETERNAL FLAME
The first chapter of THE DEADLIEST FEVER begins with your witnessing a threat to the mantle that wraps the Torah in Alexandria’s Great...


THE SECRET IN AN OLD CHINESE LATRINE
Researchers excavating latrines along the Silk Road in northwestern China found 2000-year-old feces containing eggs of the Chinese liver...