Mining and miners in ancient West Asia
Skeleton of a salt miner from Sassanid Iran Who worked in ancient mines? Mining was a dangerous job. So most people in the ancient world didn't want to do it. [...]
15
09, 2017
11
09, 2017
Persian and Parthian art – Iran
Molded brick relief of Persian archers, from Susa in the 400s BC Not long after the Babylonians made the Ishtar Gate, the Persians conquered the Babylonians. They took over some Assyrian [...]
25
07, 2017
Arabian Nights – Medieval Islamic Literature
Princess (ca. 1540 AD) How old are the Arabian Nights stories? People in India and Iran have been telling these stories for a long time - nobody knows how long. Around 850 AD, an Iranian [...]
23
06, 2017
When was backgammon invented?
Royal Game of Ur (2600 BC; British Museum) Backgammon's from older board games Backgammon is descended from much older board games from Africa and West Asia like Senet and Tabula [...]
25
05, 2017
Barrel vault – History of Architecture
Roman baths of Cluny in Paris - barrel vault Making an arch into a roof Once you've built an arch, you know how to make a doorway or a window [...]
24
05, 2017
What is an arch? History of Architecture
Arches of the Medieval Baptistry at Pisa How do you hold up the roof? People building houses or any other kind of people have always had this one big problem, [...]
