Samuel Eli Cohen's process for Ancient History Projects

Samuel Eli Cohen draws much of his inspiration for writing stories set in the ancient world from a lifelong engagement with classical literature, museum collections, and the surviving art of early civilizations. His earliest fascination came from reading Greek tragedies such as Antigone, where a single figure can stand against a political order through moral conviction. These ancient heroines, who navigate power, duty, gender, and resistance, continue to shape his sense of how to build characters whose struggles resonate across time.

The Bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin

Museum visits also play a central role in his creative process. Cohen’s viewing of the iconic Bust of Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin has remained a touchstone for imagining ancient women not only as symbols but as political agents. He studies other major artworks of women from the ancient world, including the Venus de Milo, the Caryatids of the Acropolis, the Fayum mummy portraits, Roman imperial portraits of Livia and Agrippina, and the Queen of the Night relief from ancient Mesopotamia. These works help him think about how women were idealized, empowered, constrained, or mythologized within the visual cultures of their time.

Cohen is drawn to the broader landscapes of the ancient Near East as well. He studies the myths and histories of Babylon and Jerusalem and looks to surviving objects such as the Ishtar Gate reliefs, the Statue of Gudea, and the carvings from the Palace of Ashurbanipal. His interest extends to ancient Egypt and Ethiopia, where he engages with materials such as the funerary reliefs of Hatshepsut, the sandstone statues from Meroë, and the literature associated with these cultures, including the Kebra Nagast, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Wisdom Literature of Egypt, and biblical narratives that reflect the political and spiritual conflicts of the region.

Across these traditions, Cohen is inspired by the interplay of power, gender, and myth. He studies how ancient societies constructed authority and how individuals, especially women, acted within or against those structures. These themes guide his writing and allow him to create characters who move between vulnerability and agency in ways that echo the ancient sources while speaking to contemporary audiences