Middle East

A big day in history: The day Pope Urban II exhorted Christians to go on crusade

Major Roy Farran (seated, centre) at a press conference on his return from Palestine, 1947. (Bentley Archive/Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Trouble in Palestine

Jerusalem's magnificent Dome of the Rock was deliberately designed to put a Muslim stamp on what had previously been a Christian city. (Getty Images)

The midwife of Islam

The Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade, c1200. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Why Islam crushed the crusaders

A stone relief depicting men bringing gifts to the king, c500 BC. (Getty Images)

The Persian empire: myth vs reality

A Saracen attack on Crusaders, from the French manuscript 'Chroniques de Saint Denis', c1200. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Traders and crusaders

An aerial view of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Geography has been

The surprisingly long history of humanity’s political development

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Illustration by Jonty Clark.

Ye olde travel guide: Acre AD 1272 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two women from South America. Six centuries ago South American civilisations matched the west in some respects. (Getty Images)

The wonder of the west

A view of Jerusalem's best known landmark the Dome of the Rock, a spectacular shrine on the site where Muhammad is said to have risen to heaven. (Getty Images)

Jerusalem: blood and gold

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The plague, Sir Walter Ralegh and Jerusalem . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Holy Face by Andrei Rublev. Tempera on wood, 14th century. Moscow, Russia. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

The mutation of Christianity