The reading room
Find your way through history.
Explore 279 entries across places and centuries. Follow an event, compare its context, and examine the evidence.
Jump to the pictures and stories ↓692–705 CE
In-depth study
Monochrome close-up of an Umayyad gold dinar made in Syria, 79 AH/698–99 CE, after ‘Abd al-Malik’s reform. The original measures about 2.1 cm across; the photograph does not show its gold color.Picture source & rights
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 99.35.2386 · Bequest of Joseph H. Durkee, 1898 · Public domain / CC0 · Resized and converted to WebP · Licence termsMiddle East / Trade
A small gold coin records a major change in official imagery: Arabic religious inscriptions replaced inherited imperial designs.
969–1171 CE
In-depth study
Eleventh-century silk textile fragment attributed to Egypt, with birds and scrolling ornament. A surviving object, not a reconstructed costume.Picture source & rights
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 31.106.66 · Gift of George D. Pratt, 1931 · Public domain / CC0 · Resized and converted to WebP · Licence termsAfrica / Trade
A silk fragment opens a history of Cairo’s court, diplomatic gifts and the wider Egyptian economy, without mistaking luxury for ordinary life.