Faisal Of Iraq

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?

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Christopher de Bellaigue in conversation

The Islamic Enlightenment: Christopher de Bellaigue and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in conversation

Illustration of the capture of Jerusalem during the third crusade

Crusader, deserter and traitor: the life and legacy of Raymond III of Tripoli

Theodora was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to emperor Justinian.(Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Theodora: from prostitution to empress of the eastern Roman empire

Bethlehem. (Getty Images)

My favourite place: Bethlehem, West Bank

The end game: Britain’s role in Afghanistan 1947–50

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr (centre) at a UN Security Council meeting concerning the Suez crisis. (Photo by Lisa Larsen/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Blood and sand: Suez, Hungary and the crisis that shook the world

The Mar Elian Catholic monastery burnt by Islamic State militants in 2016. (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images)

History under attack: the destruction of antiquities in the Middle East

Sykes-Picot and a 17th-century polymath

A combo picture of two images taken 13 August 2002 at Cairo Museum shows a foot of a mummy missing its big toe and beside it a prosthetic toe of leather and wood to replace the amputated real one. (Photo by Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images)

Q&AHow long have people used prosthetic limbs?

c1754: Siege of a town led by Godefroy de Bouillon (c1060-1100) 1st Crusade (1095-1099), showing Saracens firing arrows at Crusaders as they attempt to scale the walls. From manuscript of Roman de Godefroy de Bouillon. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

5 things you (probably) didn't know about the Crusades

View of an Ancient Eyptian burial chamber

Q&AWhen was the first strike?

A portrait of Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty which ruled over much of India from 1526 to 1858. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

How people make the past

Elizabeth I’s Armada portrait. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images

The Tudors’ unlikely allies

Middle East history special

The tomb of the Crusader knight Richard de Crupes.

Books interview with Christopher Tyerman: "Religious war isn't an irrational act, and we shouldn't dismiss it as irrational"

How to lead like Saladin

Shakespeare and war in the Middle East

Photo of archaeologist revealing a skull

General ancient history

Q&AWho was the first archaeologist?

Living through the Crusades: 3 poems and songs that reveal how medieval people felt about the holy war

Clock gears in motion

Q&AWhy are there 24 hours in a day?

When did Ancient Egypt start and end?

Diorite stela inscribed with the laws of King Hammurabi of Babylon, around 3,800 years ago. Hammurabi sits enthroned at top of the stela. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Q&AWho first attempted to regulate medicine?

The historians’ take on… the future of Iraq

Archaeologist Howard Carter opens the coffin of Tutankhamun. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

How did Tutankhamun die?

The long history of the Crusades

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein on trial in December 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Nikola Solic-Pool/Getty Images)

The first butcher of Baghdad

Photo of red wine

General prehistory

Q&AWhere and when was wine first made?

Illustration of the Zodiac Man

General ancient history

Q&AWhy did physicians ‘bleed’ their patients?

Tragedy of the Templars: The Rise and Fall of the Crusader States