Sofia Baffo (about 1600 AD) The two great kingdoms of West Asia between 1500 and 1900, the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire, were both monarchies. So they were supposed to be ruled by a single [...]
Iraqi oil production (2000s AD) In the 1500s AD, a global cooling period known as the Little Ice Age affected people all over the world, from the Navajo and Iroquois in North America to the French in Europe [...]
A man making paper West Asia entered the 1500s AD in a very powerful position in world trade. Iran, together with the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan and the Mughal Empire, dominated the Silk Road, and the Silk Road [...]
Iron Age timeline: Zhou Dynasty swimmers (Sichuan bronze vessel, ca. 750 BC) How did the Iron Age begin? All across Asia, the early Iron Age started out as a time of many [...]
Ancient history timeline: Building at Gobekli Tepe in what is now Turkey (ca. 9000 BC) Beginning of farming Around 10,000 BC, with the end of the last major Ice Age, people all [...]
A pontoon bridge from the Column of Marcus Aurelius, in Rome A pontoon bridge is a temporary bridge that you make by lining up a lot of boats crossways across the river, [...]
Silver mining slaves at Laurion, near Athens Why did people want silver? People first mined silver in the Bronze Age. Like gold, silver is a great way to help people trade. [...]
History of iron: a Greek black-figure vase showing a blacksmith at work (Athens, about 550 BC) Why do people use iron? The history of iron doesn't start until much later [...]
A child with tuberculosis What is tuberculosis? Tuberculosis is a lung disease caused by germs. Today we can usually cure it with antibiotics. But in antiquity there was no cure. Many people died [...]
Who invented blown glass? A Roman man blowing glass Glass-makers and the Silk Road Increased trade on the Silk Road in the 200s BC forced traders to try to come up with new things [...]
