Middle East

Genghis Khan’s tent, as shown in a 14th-century Persian miniature. The Mongols’ conquests transformed the way the people of Eurasia did trade, shared knowledge, paid taxes and fought wars (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

What was life like under the Mongol empire?

Composite image of depictions of Queen Cleopatra

The face of Cleopatra: what did she look like, and was she really so beautiful?

Illustration of King Richard I, on horseback, in the Holy Land, by Henry Justice Ford (Photo by The History Emporium / Alamy Stock Photo)

What if... Richard the Lionheart had recaptured Jerusalem?

Thousands of Muslims gather in India in 2019 to offer Eid prayers, marking end of holy month of Ramadan

General ancient history

A brief history of Ramadan

Fires burn in Baghdad following an attack on the Iraqi capital, March 2003. The motives for the war continue to spark controversy (Photo by Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

“The early 2000s was a strange era of fear and terror”: remembering the Iraq War 20 years on

Aerial view of the 2,000-year-old Gaziantep Castle in Turkey, showing the damage caused by the earthquakes that hit the nation and neighbouring Syria in February 2023 (Photo by Yan Zhigang/VCG via Getty Images)

General History

Preservation of heritage sites: what happens in the aftermath of a catastrophe?

Mavia of Tanukh, illustration by Lynn Hatzius

General ancient history

Mavia Of Tanukh Warrior queen of Arabia

Cover illustration from Le Petit Journal, 1908, showing Ferdinand I of Bulgaria declaring independence (centre) and Franz Joseph I of Austria Hungary seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina from a forlorn-looking Ottoman sultan, Abdülhamid II (Photo by Archives Charmet / Alamy Images)

Divided they fell: how war, revolution and sectarianism led to the end of the Ottoman empire

A medieval illustration showing a doctor bleeding a patient

General History

A history of medicine 14 surprising facts

Theban mural showing people plucking geese. (Photo by DEA / G Dagli Orti/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Life in Ancient Egypt: what was it like?

Saint Michael and the DragonSaint Michael and the Dragon

General ancient history

Dragons From mythological beasts of history to the firebreathers of fantasy

Pod DD_Kristina Richardson WL

Lost languages & travelling communities: unexpected medieval histories

Persian courtiers in the throne room at Persepolis, as depicted in a relief detail.

General ancient history

Persepolis: the creation of the Persian empire’s foremost citadel

A scene from a relief at Persepolis, ancient Persia’s magnificent ceremonial capital

General ancient history

The Persians: empire of the greats

Christopher de Bellaigue “Suleyman was just as bellicose as his father, if not as gratuitously cruel”