Middle Ages: Did you mean...?

A detail of the gilded and black bitumen middle sarcophagus of Kha, New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII (1428-1351 BCE). Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy

Did you know that holiday festivities on and around December 25th date back over 2,000 years ago? This video is all about the history of Christmas, and how it has grown and developed as a holiday from its earliest history in the Roman Empire...

A map depicting the divisions of the Islamic Empire during the second Islamic civil war - the Second Fitna. The dominions of the Umayyads, Zubayrids, Kharjites, Al Mukhtar and those regained by the Byzantines are shaded in colors as indicated...

Map showing some of the major regional resouces of the eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, East Africa, and Central and South Asia.

Early Northern Wei style grotto at Longmen Grottoes, Henan Province, China. c. 500 CE

Byzantine medallion with the Virgin from an icon frame, gold, silver, and enamel worked in cloisonné, c. 1100. The medallion was originally one of twelve that once surrounded an icon of the archangel Gabriel. Metropolitan Museum of Art...

Europe is a continent forming the westernmost part of the land mass of Eurasia and comprised of 49 sovereign states. Its name may come from the Greek myth of Europa, but human habitation of the region predates that tale, going back over 150,000...

Tel Kabri is an archaeological site in the Western Galilee in northwestern Israel and the location of one of the largest palaces in Canaan in the Middle Bronze Age or "MB" (c. 2,000–1,500 BCE), the period in which Tel Kabri was at the height...

Western astrology refers to a form of divination based on the motion of astronomical objects such as stars or planets. The belief that astronomical objects are divine or influence events on Earth is found in many cultures, but the practices...

In the 13th century, astonishing quantities of spices and silk passed from the Far East to Europe. Exact amounts are not known, but spice popularity in both cuisine and medicine reached its historical peak during the Middle Ages in Europe...