Online chat rooms and bulletin boards started in the 1980s and 1990s. As the internet evolved, social media sites became a prominent figure in the world of collaboration and digital community. However, the subjects aren’t always about food, news, entertainment, or politics. There is now an online collaboration happening around ancient text. This interesting information came from the blog, The Ancient World Online, in their article, “Cyrus’ Paradise: The World’s First Online Collaborative Commentary to an Ancient Text.”

As the descriptor “collaborative commentary” suggests, many people were involved in bringing this site into existence. Scholars around the world have been involved and shown interest in the topic and delivery.

The ancient world for the blogger is at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. From the Pillars of Hercules to the Pacific, from the beginnings of human habitation to the late antique/early Islamic period. Go exploring.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.