Images

The period following the collapse of the Mycenaean palatial system (c. 1200–1100 BCE) saw profound demographic and cultural reorganization across the Aegean. During the so-called Greek “Dark Age” (c. 1100–800 BCE), communities fragmented...

The tomb of Tutankhamun (c. 1345–1323 BCE; reign c. 1332–1323 BCE), located in the Valley of the Kings, offers a rare and largely intact snapshot of royal burial practice during Egypt’s New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE). Although Tutankhamun’s...

The Death of Messalina, oil on canvas painting by Georges Antoine Rochegrosse, 1916. Depicted here is the killing of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius.

Proclaiming Claudius Emperor, oil on panel painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1867. Depicted here is Claudius being proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard following the assassination of Caligula.

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt (1250–1517) emerged from the military elite of the late Ayyubid state and transformed a palace coup into one of the most durable powers of the late medieval Islamic world. Following the death of al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb...

The rise of Sumerian civilization in southern Mesopotamia (c. 6000–2300 BCE) represents one of the earliest transformations from agrarian village life to urban state formation. Located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, this alluvial...

Statue of Horus, black granite statue. Temple of Edfu, Egypt, 07 September, 2025. A colossal 3.2 meters (10.50 ft) tall black granite statue of Horus as a falcon wearing the double crown (Upper and Lower Egypt) embodying the majesty of the...

A selection of postage stamps from British Somaliland (aka the Somaliland Protectorate). The protectorate was established in 1884 and became part of an independent Somalia in 1960. Private Collection

A photograph of a Somali woman building a traditional nomadic house, an aqal.

The flag was adopted by Somalia when that state was created in 1960. The five points of the star represent the regions Somali people live in East Africa. In the colonial period, these regions were part of British Somaliland, French Somaliland...