About the Encyclopedia
This Encyclopedia is a comprehensive print and electronic resource for the study of the history of the ancient world. It covers the entire Mediterranean world, includes the Near East and Egypt, and spans from the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE.
This will be the first comprehensive reference work concentrating on ancient history and will cover the subject in unprecedented depth and breadth. It will range widely, from social and cultural to political, economic and intellectual history. The Encyclopedia will emphasize connections across cultures, and the inclusion of the ancient near East and Egypt will allow readers to gain a new understanding of the close relationships among the civilizations of the broad geographical span from western Europe to Iran.
Articles in the print Encyclopedia will be arranged in an a-z format and will range from 250-5,000 words. Articles will be scholarly and based on the most recent work in the field but should be accessible to advanced undergraduate students. Our hope is that -- especially in its electronic form -- the Encyclopedia will be the first port of call for any student of ancient history.
The text of the Encyclopedia will be accompanied by hundreds of photographs, figures and maps. The online version of the work, which will be even more extensively illustrated, will be kept permanently up to date through a process of rolling revision and will be further enhanced by links to a variety of other electronic sources.
In particular, the online Encyclopedia will be linked to electronic editions of Wiley-Blackwell's Companion series, which will number approximately 30 volumes and consist of more than 200 articles by the time of publication of the Encyclopedia. Taken as a whole, this will be the most comprehensive and wide ranging historical reference work available on the ancient world.
The online realization of the work will contain a number of innovative features, such as allowing for more comprehensive or alternative versions of print articles, wiki space and commentary, updated bibliography, and other born-digital characteristics.
The Encyclopedia has five general editors and an international editorial board of 22 scholars, each of whom is responsible for an area of ancient history.
