Middle East: Did you mean...?

A map of the Middle East showing the Crusader-held Latin East states at the time of the Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE).

Map of East India, taken from the Atlas van der Hagen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague Part 4. This map of South East Asia was published by Nicolaas Visscher II (1649-1702). The map shows the entire trading region of the Dutch East India...

The Crusader States (aka the Latin East or Outremer) were created after the First Crusade (1095-1102) in order to keep hold of the territorial gains made by Christian armies in the Middle East. The four small states were the Kingdom of Jerusalem...

The original flag of the English East India Company (EIC), founded in 1600 by royal charter. The company later changed its name to the British East India Company and so the cross of St. George in the top right corner was replaced by a Union...

A map illustrating the political situation in the Ancient Near East during the Old Assyrian period (around 1700 BCE) shortly before the rise of the Babylonian Empire of Hammurabi. It depicts the rise of Assur from an independent city-state...

A c. 1759 painting by Charles Brooking East Indiamen in a Gale showing ships of the East India Company. (Royal Museums Greenwich)

Explore the 6 most common misconceptions about the Middle Ages, and find out what living in medieval times was actually like. Medieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended...

Eleanor of Aquitaine was an impressive and powerful woman during the High Middle Ages. Not only did she own the land of Aquitaine, a large chunk of southwestern France at the time, but during her life she was the Duchess of Aquitaine, Queen...

One of the major motivating factors in the European Age of Exploration was the search for direct access to the highly lucrative Eastern spice trade. In the 15th century, spices came to Europe via the Middle East land and sea routes, and spices...

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East by Amanda H. Podany is a unique history of the ancient Near East that compellingly presents the life stories of kings, priestesses, merchants, bricklayers, and others. Rather...