Tag Archives: Ancient history

Homo Yossi Zaidner Michelle Langley, Griffith University An international group of archaeologists have discovered a missing piece in the story of human evolution. Excavations at the Israeli site of Nesher Ramla have recovered a skull that may represent a late-surviving example of a distinct Homo population, which lived in and around modern-day Israel from about 420,000 to 120,000 years ago. …

The Tailban destroyed this Buddha statue dating to the 6th century AD in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in March 2001. The photo on the left was taken in 1977. AP Photo/Etsuro Kondo, (left photo) and Osamu Semba, both Asahi Julian Droogan, Macquarie University and Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University Despite cliched talk of a “graveyard of empires”, what we now call Afghanistan has …

The Investiture of Zimri Lim Fresco from the palace of Mari gives us an image of royal ideology in the ancient Middle East. Louvre Museum, CC BY-SA Javier Alvarez-Mon, Macquarie University and Yasmina Wicks, Macquarie University Inhabitants of the ancient city-states of the Middle East enjoyed a vibrant social and economic life centred on palace and temple institutions, supported by …

Sweeter Alternative/Flickr, CC BY-NC Mark Horton, University of Bristol; Philip Langton, University of Bristol, and R. Alexander Bentley, University of Houston It seems as though no other substance occupies so much of the world’s land, for so little benefit to humanity, as sugar. According to the latest data, sugarcane is the world’s third most valuable crop after cereals and rice, …

Paul Collins, University of Oxford Within days of Islamic State (IS) releasing a video showing their destruction of sculptures in the Mosul museum and the ancient city of Nineveh, reliable reports emerged that the obliteration of Iraq’s past had expanded to include the architectural treasures of Nimrud and, most recently, Hatra. Lying to the south of the modern city of …

Daviegunn/Wikimedia commons Zena Kamash, Royal Holloway London, Paris and New York are global cities: modern hubs for travel, technology and trade, their names and images echo around the globe, capturing our imaginations with their distinctive histories, famous residents and iconic landmarks. Cities, such as these, which connect with the wider world become mixing pots for a rich interplay of diverse …