north africa – Stephanie Dray

Snake Charming, Serpent Symbolism & Slithery Politics in the Ancient World

January 10, 2012

The heroine of my novels, Cleopatra Selene, is the daughter of the much more famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the notorious Queen of the Nile who is best known for having committed suicide by way of clutching a venomous Continue reading →

alexander the great, asclepius, caduceus, cleopatra, cleopatra selene, cobra, cobra-goddess, egypt, greek god, guadian, hermes, immortality, jadjet, judaic, judeo-christian, julius caesar, meretseger, north africa, ptolemy caesarion, queen of the nile, snake, snake charming, snake skin, suicide, temptation, the bible, uraeus, venemous serpent, zeus

Dining With A Castillian Knight: Recipes from 15th Century Spain

December 9, 2011

Readers, none of the historical recipes I’ve featured in this series has made me as hungry as this one. Adelaida L de Lower presents a feast that would make such a lovely holiday meal I’m now considering readjusting my holiday Continue reading →

15th century spain, almonds, arab, arab occupation, banquets, barbecued cat, canary islands, capers, caraway, castile of Aragon, castillian knight, catholic church, cereal, christian knight, church, dried, eggs, europe, jewish culture, jews, king fernando of naples, libre del coch, master cook, milk, mirrauste de manzanas, muslims, north africa, oranges, peasants, pickled, porridge, pre-muslim roots, recipes, renaissance spain, rice, roasted apples, roberto de nola, romans, saffron, salted, sauce of roasted apples and almonds, seafood, sumptuary laws, the red ribbon, two lents, visigoths

Beverages of Ancient Romanized North Africa: Recipes for Mint Tisane & Hibiscus Tea (#tastytuesday)

November 22, 2011

Modern Moroccan Mint Tea

So, we all know about the wine. Falernian, Caecuban, etc. Ancients drank the stuff in copious quantities. But what else did they drink? This was a point of inquiry for me when writing Song of the Continue reading →

algeria, ancient rome, berber recipes, beverage recipes, beverages, caecuban, cranberry juice, falernian, foodie friday, hellenization, hibiscus, hibiscus tea, hibiscus tisane, honey, infusion, mauretania, mint, mint tea, mint tisane, morocco, north africa, pharaohs, romanized north africa, tasty tuesday, tea culture, tisane, tunisia, wine

So-Called Barbaric Nomads & Troublemakers on the Edge of the Roman Empire

November 19, 2011

To the ancient Romans, just about everyone was a barbarian. (Except the Greeks, who gave them the word in the first place, not to mention an inferiority complex to go with it.) Whether it was Blue Picts of Scotland or Continue reading →

barbarians, berber, berbers, cleopatra selene, garamantes, greeks, juba, jugurtha, kleopatra selene, libya, lucius cornelius balbus, north africa, romans, Song of the Nile, tacfarinas

How Rain, Grain & Cleopatra’s Daughter fed the Roman Empire

November 2, 2011

For much of its history, Rome depended upon Egypt for grain. While the Romans considered themselves an agricultural nation, and paid great homage to farming in literature, poetry, and art, the simple truth was that they couldn’t feed themselves.

By Continue reading →

africa nova, alexander the great, algeria, augustus caesar, berber, cleopatra, cleopatra selene, cleopatra vii of egypt, cleopatra's daughter, colonial power, egypt, garamantes, goddess, goddess worship, grain, harmonia, hellenism, hellenistic, iseum, isis, juba, julius caesar, marcus antonius, mark antony, mauretania, morocco, mother goddess, nile river, nomads, north africa, numidia, octavia, paul erdkamp, plantations, rain, roman veterans, romanized king, rome, sailing season, tacfarinas, the grain market in the roman empire, the last ptolemaic queen, tunisia