Articles

c. 500–1,000 CE

Were the “Dark Ages” Really Dark?

Explore early medieval manuscripts, craftsmanship and trade, and ask what a sweeping label hides about different places and people.

c. 334–330 BCE

How Did Alexander the Great Defeat the Persian Empire?

Look beyond individual genius to the army, supplies, battlefield decisions and political arrangements behind Alexander’s conquest.

c. 2,600–2,500 BCE

Who Built the Egyptian Pyramids—and How Was the Work Organised?

Follow workers’ settlements, food supplies and administrative traces to understand the people and organisation behind the pyramids at Giza.

c. 1,792–1,750 BCE

Hammurabi’s Laws: What Did Justice Mean in Ancient Babylon?

Explore responsibility, social status and royal authority through Hammurabi’s laws—and distinguish legal provisions from records of actual trials.

c. 1,914 CE

How Did the July Crisis Lead to World War I?

Follow the decisions between Sarajevo and the outbreak of wider war through diplomatic reports, an ultimatum and competing military commitments.

c. 1,763–1,783 CE

Why Did the American Colonies Declare Independence?

Follow the shift from disputes over British authority to war and independence—and separate the decision, the Declaration and its signing.

c. 750–1,100 CE

Who Were the Vikings? Raiding, Trading and Everyday Life

Look beyond the battlefield to Viking Age harbours, farms and workshops, while keeping raiding and enslavement firmly in the story.

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c. 44 BCE

Why Was Julius Caesar Assassinated?

Explore Caesar’s concentration of power, the senators who turned against him and why his assassination failed to restore stable republican government.

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c. 2,900–1,800 BCE

Before Coins: How People Traded in Mesopotamia

Discover how weighed silver, crafted goods and written obligations shaped Mesopotamian exchange long before coinage.

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c. 2,600–2,000 BCE

Daily Life in Early Mesopotamia: Homes, Work and Family

Explore homes, food preparation, craft work and family relationships through specific finds and records from early Mesopotamian cities.

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c. 3,500–2,000 BCE

Feeding the First Cities: Farming, Storage and Distribution

Follow food from irrigated fields to containers and clay accounts, and discover what the evidence can tell us about supplying early Mesopotamian cities.

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c. 4,000–3,000 BCE

Beyond Mesopotamia: The World Around 3500 BCE

Look beyond Mesopotamia to communities along the Nile and across other regions, separating contemporary developments from famous monuments built later.

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