My favorite posts from around the web this week:
A.
Making an historical series work: Joys & challenges of writing Joanna, a Tudor nun & how does an author get at least one book out every year? by Nancy Bilyeau on Women’s Fiction Writers Link here
B.
Celebrating Women: An early successful business woman in 1600’s NY: Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse. She combined a Dutch sense of female equality w/ mercantile acumen to amass a huge fortune. Best this post is authored by Nassem Al-Mehairi, a teenage historical fiction aficionado! Link here
C.
In ancient Mesopotamia, a kind of monastic class of women called naditu lived in isolation consecrated to the god Shamash and his consort Aja. I knew nothing about these unusual, independent women until I read Shirley Graetz’s She Wrote on Clay. Read Shirley’s post about these ancient feminists on Sarah Johnson’s Reading the Past. Link here
D.
From the Daily Beast–Talking historical thrillers: Bruce Holsinger on medieval prostitutes & transvestites, Nancy Bilyeau on prophecy and the diet of aristocratic prisoners Link here
E.
Seeing history from the pagan peasant point of view. Kim Rendfeld on her novel Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar on Sarah Johnson’s Reading the Past. Link here
F.
Egyptian ‘Tempest Stela’ gets a new translation & significance: it describes the eruption of Thera’s volcano. This view changes date of Pharaoh Ahmose’s reign & thus aligns various Near Eastern events more logically. The chronology of the ancient Near East based on lists of Egyptian rulers, so a shift of a reign by 30-50 yrs changes the whole ancient world’s chronology. The power of translation! Link here