Faisal Of Iraq

Middle East

A stained glass depiction of the nativity.

The history of the nativity: how much is known about the birth of Jesus?

A statue of Leif Eriksson, Erik the Red's son, who sailed to North America, c1000 AD. (Image by RF/Getty Images)

Russia, North America and the Middle East: where did the Vikings visit to trade and raid?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Is the world still living in the shadow of the crusades?

The Temple Scroll, from the Dead Sea Scrolls

General ancient history

Digging for the Bible: 10 key discoveries from the Holy Land

Dan Jones by Steve Sayers and Helen Castor

The Crusades, with Dan Jones. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crusaders defeat the Turks at Dorylaeum in 1097, as shown in a 14th-century illumination

Crusaders: did they fight for God or gold?

Four soliders of the 36th Sikhs, various ranks, 1896. The regiment was led in January 1897 to occupy the Samana posts, says Captain Jay Singh-Sohal. (Reproduced with permission from australiansikhheritage.com)

The battle of Saragarhi: when 21 Sikh soldiers stood against 10,000 men

The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides

General ancient history

Happy plants and laughing weeds: how people of the ancient world used – and abused – drugs

The 'Afghan Elvis': the extraordinary life of Ahmad Zahir

The Knights Templar depicted on an antique map of Jerusalem. (Alamy)

The rise and fall of the Knights Templar

Historian, presenter and author Dan Jones. (David Levenson/Getty Images)

Dan Jones on the Templars and ‘Knightfall’

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, last Shah of Iran, pictured in 1967 with his third wife, Farah Diba, and their son Reza. His attempted reforms during his final years in power alienated many of his nation's people. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The Iranian Revolution: why 1979's uprising still shapes the Middle East

The (forgotten) Iraq war

Men enjoying a drink and a chat in a coffee house, 1674. Coffee houses became known as ‘schools of the wise’, where people would gossip, argue and discuss the breaking news of the day. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A drink for the devil: 8 facts about the history of coffee

Towards the end of the third century BC, the First Emperor of China sought to make his new state immortal by shielding it with what would be the earliest predecessor to the Great Wall. (Photo by Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

A brief history of border walls – from 2,000 BC to Trump’s Mexico wall

Relief showing lion hunt on horseback.

General ancient history

Ashurbanipal 'the Great', the Lion of Assyria

Max Adams. (Photo by Kona Macphee/Royal Literary Fund)

Remarkable women through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A counting of goats and rams in cuneiform script, ancient Ngirsu, Iraq, 2360 BC. (DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Cuneiform: 6 things you (probably) didn’t know about the world’s oldest writing system

Islam’s struggle with modernity podcast

Islam’s struggle with modernity. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The burial mask of Tutankhamun. From the moment Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in The Valley of Kings in 1922, rumours swirled that a curse would fall on those who disturbed the Boy King's eternal slumber. (Photo by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

Q&AHow many people are supposed to have died from the curse of Tutankhamun's tombs?

This painting in Kensington Palace shows a group standing on a balustrade. Among them are George I’s two Turkish grooms of the chamber, ‘Mustapha’ and ‘Mohamed’. (Photo by Steve Vidler/Alamy Stock Photo)

Tales of the Turk

Elizabethan England’s relationship with the Islamic world

BBC Arabic at 80. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustation by Femke de Jong.

Michael Wood on Anglo-Saxon Christianity. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Historian Simon Schama.

Books interview: Simon Schama. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

General Edmund Allenby walks into Jerusalem on 11 December 1917

The Balfour Declaration: Britain’s unholy mess

A bust of Queen Nefertiti of Ancient Egypt. (Photo by Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images)

Q&AWhere is Nefertiti’s mummy?

The USS Liberty arriving for repairs following the attack by Israeli warplanes and motor torpedo boats

Why did Israel attack the USS Liberty?

The crews of Israeli armoured vehicles during the waiting period before the beginning of the Six-Day War. (Photo by David Rubinger/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Six days that shook the Middle East

Seven princesses with the name ‘Cleopatra’ are credited as sitting on the throne of Egypt. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Q&AHow many Cleopatras ruled Ancient Egypt?