ATLAS / WORLD HISTORY IN PICTURES

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Explore 279 entries across places and centuries. Follow an event, compare its context, and examine the evidence.

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969–1171 CEIn-depth study
Eleventh-century silk textile fragment attributed to Egypt, with birds and scrolling ornament. A surviving object, not a reconstructed costume.
Picture source & rightsThe Metropolitan Museum of Art · 31.106.66 · Gift of George D. Pratt, 1931 · Public domain / CC0 · Resized and converted to WebP · Licence terms

Africa / Trade

Fatimid Egypt: textiles, court gifts and trade

A silk fragment opens a history of Cairo’s court, diplomatic gifts and the wider Egyptian economy, without mistaking luxury for ordinary life.

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