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China's First Emperor

He was a prisoner's son and a small states' king. By subjugating the states of fragmented ancient China he founded a new empire. In spite of the fact, that the reign of his dynasty would endure no longer than 15 years, the rule of the First Emperor turned out to have a huge impact on Chinese history. His legacy does not only include his impressive graveside guarded by an entire army made of terra-cotta but also the specific structure of Chinese bureaucracy. And last but not least the First Emperor shaped the cultural identity of China.

In the field of tension between witchcraft and sex – love in antiquity

And which lonely man wouldn’t like to know how to win the love of a woman? Or, in today’s language – how to get her into bed?

Well, in the end everybody has to find out for himself. And here the MoneyMuseum can’t really help. But it will explain what paths men could take in ancient Mesopotamia to acquire a woman’s heart. And what could happen to women when men were "consumed" with love for them.

Love, sex and marriage in the ancient Orient

"He who does not support a woman or a child, shall not become wealthy," is not an empty phrase from the party program of the Swiss Christian Democrats. Nor is it a declaration in favour of the long overdue maternal insurance in Switzerland. No, this is a proverb from the ancient Orient.

Discover more ancient proverbs about love, sexuality and marriage at the MoneyMuseum. And that’s not all: excerpts from the then legal language offer a visual insight into the correct way of dealing with one’s own libido.

Back to the days when teacher still reigned over the classroom

Formerly it was usual for schoolchildren to complain about school. Now it’s the teachers themselves. Often overburdened with tasks and the target of parental criticism and childish-youthful unruliness more and more teachers are leaving their jobs.

Things were quite different several decades ago – and all the more so in ancient Sumer. In those days, the teacher was the respected authority and the pupils (mainly boys) had to obey and flatter the teacher with gifts. If they didn’t they would be punished. And their life was no picnic otherwise, as the MoneyMuseum will tell you...

Of beer and other basic foodstuffs

"You can’t get beer in Hawai" is the name of a German hit. But in ancient Mesopotamia beer lovers would have got their fill. Whether dark beer, quality dark beer or prime beer, there was a wide variety of choices in those days as well.

However, a person can’t survive on drink alone even if beer belonged to the basic foodstuffs in those days. What did people eat in Antiquity? If you want to find out then pay a visit to the MoneyMuseum.

Everyday life in ancient times

When our ancestors fought or merged their countries, where they travelled to and who they conquered, these are the sorts of things we had to learn during rather tedious history lessons.

What’s far more interesting, though, is: how did they live? What did they eat exactly and with what crockery? How did they dress and what did they wear? And what did that all cost? These questions about everyday life in ancient days are answered at the MoneyMuseum...

When the gods get angry

"How can God allow that to happen?" is what some think when human beings become the victims of an especially gruesome violent act. On the other hand, it is quite clear that particularly in our Western society belief in God and his influence has dwindled considerably.

Things were quite different in ancient Babylonian times when relations between people and gods were far closer. They were nearly as human as the tie between friends or foes and the gods were undeniably superior. If they were horrified about people’s actions, they did not just despair. Find out more at the MoneyMuseum...

Letters as contemporary witnesses

Letter writing is out. For long-distance communication, after the phone and fax e-mail, SMS and chat rooms are the tops or should we say, cool nowadays? And tomorrow we’d describe it all differently anyway...

Without a doubt what counts in present-day communication is brevity. And speed. But as quickly as they are written the messages are erased. And so there will be no testimonials for future generations!

Letters are quite different. Many of them have survived for centuries and talk about long vanished worlds as at the MoneyMuseum, for instance...

Text currently only available in German.

Pandemonium in antiquity

One of them walks around wearing a lion’s head at times, the other has a lion’s body. One is frightening and angry, the other protects and mediates. One is called Lamashtu and the other Lamassatu. This shows how important it was for women from ancient Babylon or Assyria to pay attention to a clear pronunciation when evoking the good demon. It would be awesome to think what would happen if the wrong one had been met with.

Apart from making wrong encounters with demons, men could also make wrong encounters as you can find out at the MoneyMuseum.