Middle East

All 19th-century British visitors to Mesopotamia knew that it was the birthplace of civilisation. Could steam power revive ancient greatness while also keeping Russia at bay?

Years of armed resistance by four interlinked Zionist militia groups helped end British rule in Palestine, but led to a bitter civil war between Jews and Arabs.

When Roman forces burned the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, the Flavian dynasty thought it had defeated the Jewish god in the name of Jupiter. It was mistaken. 

In March 1722 rebellious Afghan forces laid siege to the Safavid capital. Was the great Iranian empire on the brink of collapse?

For wealthy tourists travelling to the Middle East in the 19th century, the services of a dragoman were an essential purchase. Yet the often difficult lives of these local agents and guides remain elusive. 

For more than a century, southern Arabia has seen waves of insurgency and conflict backed by competing foreign powers. 

The ‘normalisation’ of diplomatic relations between several Arab countries and Israel in late 2020 was described at the time as ‘historic’. Four experts consider whether it will lead to long-term change.

Muslims from Asia who wished to travel to Mecca on the Hajj were exploited by a trade in human cargo that grew with the opening of the Suez Canal.