Middle Eastern History
In Anticipation of Women’s History Month: A Medieval Queen, The First Crusade And The Quest for Peace In Jerusalem
March 1st is barrelling down upon me. It’s the start of women’s history month–which doesn’t have much impact on me because women’s history has been the pool I swim in for the last several years. It’s also the day my manuscript (typescript? bytescript?) is due to my editor and I am scrambling. I hope you…
Read More
From the Archives: Who Made the Map of the Modern Middle East?
The simple answer is: Great Britain. You want the long version? In The Makers of the Modern Middle East historians T.G. Fraser, Andrew Mango, and Robert McNamara tell the story of how today’s Middle East was created from the remains of the Ottoman Empire during the peace negotiations at the end of the First World…
Read More
From the Archives: Alhazen–The First True Scientist?
Anyone who built a pinhole camera from a cereal box to watch the solar eclipse last week owes a debt to Islamic scholar Abu Ali al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham (ca. 965-1041), known in the West as Alhazen. Alhazen began his career as just another Islamic polymath. He soon got himself in trouble with the ruler of…
Read More