The reading room
Explore 228 entries across places and centuries. Follow an event, compare its context, and examine the evidence.
21 entries · Earliest to latest
Middle East / Empire
At its height, the Neo-Assyrian imperial system linked Mesopotamia, the Levant, Anatolia and Egypt through conquest, tribute, provincial administration, communication routes and forced migration.
Middle East / Faith
Assyria captured Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, in 722/721 BCE, deported a large section of its population and incorporated the territory into its imperial system; local population continuity remained.
Middle East / War
In 587/586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II’s army breached Jerusalem, burned the Temple and royal buildings, dismantled the city’s defenses and deported a significant part of Judah’s population to Babylon.
Middle East / Empire
Persian forces entered Babylon and absorbed its territories into the Achaemenid Empire. In the biblical restoration tradition, the political change opened a path for Judean exiles to return and rebuild in Jerusalem.
Middle East / Faith
Persian policy permitted Judean exiles to return and rebuild the Temple; work associated with Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel and Jeshua culminated in its dedication under Darius I.
Middle East / Faith
In the traditional Artaxerxes I chronology, Ezra strengthened Torah-centered communal life from 458 BCE and Nehemiah governed Judah and organized the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls from 445/444 BCE; their sequence remains debated.
Middle East / Faith
Jesus taught in Roman-ruled Judea and Galilee, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and—according to the New Testament—rose and ascended.
Middle East / Faith
Pentecost, missionary travel and house churches carried the Christian message from Jerusalem through Asia Minor, Greece and Rome.
Middle East / War
Roman forces under Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE during the Jewish revolt, which had begun in 66; resistance continued elsewhere after the city's fall.
Middle East / Faith
Muhammad’s preaching in Arabia, the Hijra and the formation of a Muslim community were followed by caliphal conquests across the Byzantine and Sasanian worlds, North Africa and Iberia.
Middle East / Science
Muslim-ruled societies connected trade and scholarship from Iberia to Central Asia; scholars advanced mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy.
Middle East / War
Latin Christian expeditions, Muslim powers, Byzantines and local communities fought over territory and sacred places while commerce continued across frontiers.
Middle East / Science
A surviving instrument made in Yemen in 1291 connects mathematical astronomy, skilled metalwork and religious practice. Its parts reveal knowledge that a decorative image alone cannot explain.
Middle East / Empire
An Anatolian principality became a multilingual empire spanning Southeast Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, governing vital cities and trade corridors for centuries.
Middle East / Empire
A frontier principality became a multiethnic empire spanning Anatolia, southeastern Europe, the Arab lands and North Africa before reform, nationalism, war and partition ended the sultanate.
Middle East / War
Ottoman authorities and their collaborators subjected Armenians to deportation, massacre and lethal conditions during the First World War.
Middle East / War
The UN General Assembly recommended partition in 1947; civil war followed, Israel declared statehood as the British Mandate ended in May 1948, and neighbouring Arab states entered the war. More than 700,000 Palestinians were displaced or expelled in the Nakba.
Middle East / Faith
Bedouin discoverers, antiquities dealers and archaeologists brought to light manuscripts from eleven caves near Qumran between 1947 and 1956, including biblical texts and other Jewish writings copied during the late Second Temple period.
Middle East / Rights
A broad and divided coalition of religious, secular, liberal, leftist, student and labour opposition challenged the Pahlavi monarchy through protest and strikes. The Shah left on 16 January 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned on 1 February and the monarchy collapsed on 11 February; referendums and a new constitution established an Islamic Republic later that year.
Middle East / Rights
After Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia on 17 December 2010, mass protests challenged authoritarian governments across North Africa and the Middle East. Grievances, coalitions, state responses and outcomes differed sharply by country.
Middle East / War
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups attacked communities and military sites in Israel on 7 October 2023, killing civilians and taking hostages. Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza caused enormous Palestinian civilian death, destruction and displacement. Violence also spread through connected regional fronts and remained unresolved at the 7 September 2026 review boundary.
