Middle East

Baldwin IV arriving at Kerak, from the Romance of Godfrey of Bouillon and Saladin, 1337. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Baldwin, Saladin, and the Fall of Jerusalem

As Baldwin IV succumbed to leprosy, his potential successors fought over the throne. Their determination to prove their worth would bring medieval Jerusalem itself into peril

Ottoman coffeehouse scene, c.1620. Chester Beatty Library Dublin. Public Domain.

The Coffee Poets of 16th-Century Islam

The early modern Islamic world was embroiled in a bitter controversy over coffee. Much ink was spilt by poets on both sides.

Cyrus restores the vessels to the Temple of Jerusalem, by Gustave Doré for the Bible de Tours, 1843. Bridgeman Images.

The Great Destroyer: Cyrus, Babylon, and Jerusalem

The ancient world found him to have achieved greatness and thrust it upon his name, but was the destruction of Babylon Cyrus’ divinely ordained destiny?

Arabian American Oil Co drilling rig in the desert, Saudi Arabia, by Robert Yarnall Richie, 1948. DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University. Public Domain.

‘Saudi Arabia: A Modern History’ by David Commins review

How did a Gulf backwater become a global powerbroker? Saudi Arabia: A Modern History by David Commins explores the uneasy alliance between oil, autocracy, and Wahhabism.

Jesus Mocked by the Soldiers, Édouard Manet, 1865. Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review

Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels finds that the son of God is more than the sum of his parts.

The Siege of Antioch, from the Chronicle of William of Tyre, 14th century. Heritage Images/TopFoto.

Cannibal Crusaders

Reports from the First Crusade brought tales of victorious Christian soldiers eating dead bodies.

Stone stela of Ashurbanipal inscribed with cuneiform commemorating his building work on the Temple of Marduk in Babylon. Trustees of the British Museum.

The Library of Ashurbanipal

When it was discovered in the 19th century, the Library of Ashurbanipal revealed an ancient Assyrian empire previously known only through myth.

Nabateans illustration © Ben Jones/Heart Agency.

The Nabataeans are Coming

Pre-Islamic history was once taboo in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Will the ‘rediscovery’ of an ancient people – the Nabataeans – encourage international tourism?