Henry Buhl Library: Classical Studies: Ancient & Medieval History

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Salem History Online This link opens in a new window
Collection of key reference eBooks on historical and cultural topics, including several primary sources and biographical series.

The Oxford Classical Dictionary
Call Number: Ref DE 5 .O9 2012
For over sixty years, The Oxford Classical Dictionary has been the unrivalled one-volume reference in the field of classics.
Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity
Call Number: Ref BS 440 .Y37 2017
The Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity is a unique reference work that provides background cultural and technical information on the world of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament from 4000 BC to approximately AD 600.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Contains "over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE. Entries extend to all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt, and represent an unprecedented level of coverage of the ancient world."
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Call Number: Ref DF 521 .O93 1991 v.1-3
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium is a three-volume, comprehensive dictionary of Byzantine civilization. The first resource of its kind in the field, it features over 5,000 entries written by an international group of eminent Byzantinists covering all aspects of life in the Byzantine world.
The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity
Covers every aspect of history, culture, religion, and life in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East (including the Persian Empire and Central Asia) between the mid-3rd and the mid-8th centuries AD, the era now generally known as Late Antiquity.
Warfare in the Classical World: an Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome
Call Number: Oversz U 33 .W37 1995
Traces the evolution of the art of warfare in the Greek and Roman worlds between 1600 B.C. and A.D. 800, from the rise of Mycenaean civilization to the fall of Ravenna and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
The World of Ancient Rome: a Daily Life Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref DG 77 .E77 2015 v. 1-2
This study of Ancient Rome offers a fascinating glimpse of what Roman society was like-from fashion, to food, to politics and recreation-gathered from literary works, art, and archaeological remains.

Find Books & eBooks

Highlighted eBook Collections

EBSCO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Access to over 200,000 full text eBooks across a variety of subjects.

Find free online books

eBooks & Online Books page
Provides access to thousands of eBooks and online books. Use the tabs at the top to locate eBooks by discipline.

TIPS:

Use subject headings to locate more books.
Use bibliographies to expand your search (tips for determining if a citation is for a book, a journal article, or a chapter in an edited book).

Try various spellings (ex: Genghis Khan and Chinggis Khan).
Try our list of E-Books & Online Books.

Here are a few search terms to get you started.

This is not an exhaustive list.

Byzantine Empire -- Civilization
Byzantine Empire -- History -- Justinian 1, 527-565
Civilization, Medieval
Crusades
Egypt -- Civilization
History, Ancient
Islam -- History
Rome -- Civilization
Rome -- History -- Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
Sumerians
Women in Christianity -- History -- Early Church, ca. 30-600

Want to Browse the Shelves?
Here are Some of the Relevant Call Numbers for Ancient & Medieval History:

BP (all) -- Islam

BR (all) -- Christianity

D (all) -- History (General)

DE (all) -- Greco-Roman World

DF (all) Greece

Find more call number ranges

Need a book the library does not own?

You can request the book through Interlibrary Loan. Info and a downloadable form are available here!

To search for books available in other libraries, try using

WorldCat -- Search the holdings of more than 10,000 libraries to locate books and identify citation information.

Library of Congress -- Access to the Library of Congress catalog and other online collections.

NOTE: Users do not need to identify a library that owns the book. Simply provide the appropriate information on the form and library staff will do the rest!

Journal Article Databases

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Contains citations and abstracts for articles from 2,300+ academic journals back to 1955 for world history (excluding US and Canada) from 1450 to present
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archival Database of full text scholarly journal articles.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Large collection of full-text scholarly articles and books supporting research in the humanities and social sciences.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Covers a wide range of subject matter in both popular and scholarly periodicals.
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,500 journals and nearly 10,000 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. This scholarly collection offers unmatched full text coverage of information in many areas of academic study including: animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology, and many other fields. Academic Search Complete offers critical information from many sources unique to this massive collection. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for 1,000 journals.
Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials This link opens in a new window
Contains articles, book reviews, and essays in all fields of religion, including 390+ major religion and theology journals from the Atla collection.

Journal articles are very specific.

Finding articles is easier after you have read up on your topic.

Use more than one article database.

No database searches everything.
For thorough research, use more than one database and try different search terms.

A to Z List of Journals
Always check the A to Z list to see if we have access to the journal title and date of publication you need!

Need an article that isn't full text? Access the request form below.

Document Delivery Forms

Remember, scholarship is international.

You may come across some great articles in which the titles (and thus the articles) are not in English.

So, when you can, it is a good idea to limit your searches to articles in English.