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Humans arrived in the region now known as Ireland c. 7000-6500 BCE at modern-day Coleraine in the north, establishing communities and gradually moving southwards. Hunter-gatherers eventually adopted an agrarian lifestyle as evidenced by the...

Dragons appear in the myths and legends of civilizations around the world from ancient times to the present day. Like the lion in ancient Mesopotamia, the dragon in some cultures (notably China) came to be associated with royalty and good...

Scotland has a rich history dating back to seasonal settlements around c. 10,500 BCE and permanent residences by c. 7000 BCE. Neolithic ceremonial sites such as the Ness of Brodgar were established by c. 3500 BCE, and communities like Skara...

Ancient Egyptian burial practices were observed as early as the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 to c. 3150 BCE) and continued through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE), serving to not only provide the living with closure in saying goodbye...

The Asiatic lion in Mesopotamia symbolized the forces of chaos, which the king defeated in his role as a champion of order and civilization. Lions appear in works of art from the Early Dynastic Period through the time of the Neo-Assyrian...

The Neo-Assyrian kings are among the best-known of the Assyrian Empire and include Tiglath Pileser III, Shalmaneser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal. The term Neo-Assyrian is a modern-day designation; the Assyrians...

The Assyrian military was the most effective – and feared – fighting force in the Near East, especially during the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, 912-612 BCE, when their territory expanded across Mesopotamia, the Levant, into Asia Minor...

From 1940 to 1943, the desert of North Africa became an important theatre of the Second World War (1939-45) since it was the only place the British Empire, standing alone, could directly fight on land the Axis powers of Germany and Italy...

Tutankhamun is easily the most famous Egyptian ruler in the world thanks to his nearly intact tomb discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 and the "mummy's curse" associated with the opening of that tomb. Although Tutankhamun was initially thought...

The Great Plains of North America were once home to over 30 distinct Native American nations now referred to as the Plains Indians, Native Americans of the Plains and Prairie, and Indigenous Peoples of the Great Plains. Their descendants...