Chinese drawing of the organs (about 1200) There are really three branches of medicine in antiquity and through the Middle Ages. One of these might be called "doctor medicine," or "scientific medicine." Doctors try to observe sicknesses and look for logical patterns. They figure out how the human body works, and from there figure [...]
Cloister at Moissac (ca. 1100 AD, southern France) Cloisters were a medieval kind of building that developed out of Greek and then Roman peristyles. A cloister is a courtyard garden inside a building. Often people grew herbs or fruit or flowers in the garden. Around the sides of the courtyard there is a covered walkway, with a waist-high wall between [...]
An Egyptian using a hand plow (about 1400 BC) The first part of farming is planting the seeds in good dirt, so they can begin to grow. In most parts of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia, early farmers planted their seeds in the fall, around October. You can plant seeds one at [...]
Basil growing in a garden Herbs are easy to grow, and can give you a sense of what people ate in antiquity and how they got their food. Basil is a good one to start with. You can get the seeds in any nursery, or you can order them online. If you don't [...]
