General ancient history

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'Tippoo's Tiger', made for Tipu Sultan. (Photo by Alamy)

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

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Carved Pictish Stone in the Meigle Museum east of Blairgowrie, Scotland. (Photo by Alamy)

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

Illustration from Dante's ‘Inferno', depicting thieves tormented in hell by serpents.

General ancient history

A brief history of the afterlife

Thomas Becket murder

7 controversial saints in history

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Original Gutenberg Bible, Beinecke Library, Yale Univeristy. (Photo by Alamy)

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

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History Traveller, part 1: Meroë, Sudan . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marble statue of a young Roman girl

Everything you wanted to know about Roman Britain – but were afraid to ask

Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Shiraz, Iran

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Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene: why do people want to believe she was a sinner and prostitute?

'The Landing of St Augustine in Kent', AD 597

General ancient history

Q&A When did Christianity first arrive in Britain?

Miniature from an Apocalypse of Cambrai depicting the opening of the sixth seal: an earthquake occurs and the sun becomes black. Municipal library, Cambrai, France. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

Written in the stars: 7 celestial events that may have changed history

An open Bible on an altar

General ancient history

A history of the Bible: who wrote it and when?

The figure Mulan on a silk print, c19th century

General ancient history

Mulan: the history of the Chinese legend behind the film

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A group of young female Red Army snipers, East Prussia, February 1945 (Photo by Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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

c1955: A child pulls toilet paper from a roll. But what did humans do before toilet paper was invented? (Photo by Mac Gramlich/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

General ancient history

When was toilet paper invented and what did people use before?