Ancient Egypt

Four figures in a boat, including the ibis-headed god Thoth and the scarab-headed god Khepri

8 ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses you might not know about

Ramesses II holding prisoners

Was Ramesses II really that great?

Great Pyramid of Giza

5 facts about the Great Pyramid of Giza

The pirate Blackbeard

10 brilliant beards from history

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Dramatic view of the sun setting over a megalithic tomb and stone circle. (Dreamstime)

Egypt’s lost tombs . 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

An elevated view of Cairo's Old City, which is home to a Roman tower, a Greek Orthodox church and an array of historical mosques and madrasas. (Photo by Getty Images)

Battleground of empires: Cairo in 5 cultures

A painting in the tomb of Inherkha – a priest wearing the mask of Horus is performing the opening of the mouth ritual. The purpose was to restore to the deceased the use of the senses, thus restoring life in the next world. Ancient Egyptian 20th dynasty c1186-1070 BC. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Why was mummification used in Ancient Egypt, and why did they leave the heart in the body?

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

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

Tutankhamun-Howard-Carter-2-dd8866a

11 shocking moments in history

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Sarah Dunant. (Alamy)

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

The Sultanahmet district in Istanbul, Turkey, which is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO. (Photo by DOZIER Marc via Getty Images)

A new civilisation rises

An engraving from Ulrich Molitor’s ‘On witches and female soothsayers’, depicting witches bringing down the rain. Germany, 15th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

A spell-binding history of witches

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Podcast Website large Simon Schama

Schama on ‘Civilisations’ . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.