Middle East

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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 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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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)

Preservation of heritage sites: what happens in the aftermath of a catastrophe? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Mavia of Tanukh, illustration by Lynn Hatzius

Mavia Of Tanukh Warrior queen of Arabia . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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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 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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?

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Saint Michael and the DragonSaint Michael and the Dragon

Dragons From mythological beasts of history to the firebreathers of fantasy . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Pod DD_Kristina Richardson WL

Lost languages & travelling communities: unexpected medieval histories . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Persepolis: the creation of the Persian empire’s foremost citadel . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

The Persians: empire of the greats . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Christopher de Bellaigue “Suleyman was just as bellicose as his father, if not as gratuitously cruel” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Immortals shown holding long spears on a frieze from the palace of Darius the Great

General ancient history

The Persian Immortals: the feared elite guard of the Achaemenid empire

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Pod Mike Carr WL

Trading and crusading in the Middle Ages . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

When were punctuation marks first used? Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine.

General History

Q&A When were punctuation marks first used?

Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in mounted combat

Richard the Lionheart: king of war