Middle East

Just over a thousand years ago Chinese printers completed the publication of the Confucian Classics—an event as important in the history of civilization as the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. By Adrian L. Julian.

Britain’s involvement in the Middle East between the wars proved a rich seam for authors of adventure stories. Michael Paris shows how these, in turn, helped to reinforce the imperial mission.

Roger Howard recalls a moment 50 years ago when Israel was rocked by exaggerated claims of a threat posed by Egypt.

Christian Byzantium and the Muslim Abbasid caliphate were bitter rivals. Yet the necessities of trade and a mutual admiration of ancient Greece meant that there was far more to their relationship than war, as Jonathan Harris explains.

David Footman on the conspiracies that surround the Order of Assassins.

Christopher Sykes delivers a historical backdrop to mid-20th century tension on the Persian Gulf.

Sir Julian Huxley examines the debates and mysteries that surround humanity's earliest moves towards mass society.

G. Goossens recalls the Assyrian monarchs, noted for their ferocity, great libraries, and achievements in agriculture and engineering.

The 'lost' city re-emerged on August 22nd, 1812

During the seventh century the Arabs invaded North Africa three times, bringing not just a new religion but a language and customs that were alien to the native Berber tribes of the Sahara and Mediterranean hinterland. Eamonn Gearon looks at the rise of the first Islamic empire.

The great trading companies that originated in early modern Europe are often seen as pioneers of western imperialism. The Levant Company was different, argues James Mather.

In the light of current events in North Africa and the Middle East, David Motadel examines the increasing frequency of popular rebellions around the world.

Since its discovery in Yemen in 1972 a collection of brittle documents, believed to be among the earliest Koranic texts, has been the subject of fierce and divisive debate among scholars of Islamic history, as Scott MacMillan reports.