Middle East

(Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC World Histories magazine)

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

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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

Star of the east
Ahmad Zahir was born into a high-ranking family in Afghanistan,
and used his charisma and musical talent to carve a hugely successful
but tragically short career as the country’s foremost singing star.
He played a huge range of innovative music, and many of his
songs touched on political and social themes.

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

British soldiers guard an oil pipeline, leading from Iraq to Palestine, at the Kishon river, in what is now Israel, in 1941. When Baghdad was retaken, the flow of oil was restored. (Image by Bridgeman)

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

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

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