Features

When Crusader Kings Ruled Jerusalem

It was one of the most romantic, chaotic, cruel, passionate, bizarre and dramatic episodes in history. In the 12th and 13th centuries A.D., a continual stream of European armies, mustered mostly in present-day France and Germany, marched out to destroy the infidel. Crusaders attacked non-Christians in northern and eastern Europe; they conducted bloody pogroms […]

The Holiest Ground in the World
How the crusaders transformed Jerusalem’s Temple Mount By Warren T. Woodfin

After defeating the army of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Horns of Hattin, west of the sea of Galilee, in 1187, the Egyptian sultan Saladin marched unopposed into Jerusalem. European Crusaders, mostly from the region of present-day France, had occupied the ancient city for almost a century, following 450 years of Arab […]

Mummies
Emissaries of the golden age By Zahi Hawass

We all know about mummies. According to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, the heart/soul of the deceased is placed on a scale and weighed against the feather worn by Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. If the scale tips one way or the other, a huge animal will devour the deceased. But if the […]

Colossal Enigmas
The ancient stone temples of Baalbek By Arthur Segal

It is unlikely that any archaeological work will be undertaken at Baalbek in the near future. This imposing site lies about 50 miles east-northeast of Beirut (ancient Berytus), between the Lebanon and anti-Lebanon mountains in the Beqa Valley, today home to 30,000 Syrian troops that represent Syrian control of its neighbor. There is […]

Departments

Editors’ Page: Contemporary Resonances
That always-controversial ancient world By Hershel Shanks
Past Perfect: A Day in the Life
Who has a better eye for detail—at a murder scene or on a Mesopotamian dig—than mystery novelist Agatha Christie?
Destinations: The Long Voyage Home
A Washington D.C. attorney follows in the footsteps of Odysseus By Daniel A. Rezneck
Ancient Life: Greek Fire
War engines from the otherwise otherworldly Byzantine Empire
The Forum
Our readers know a mashie (5 iron) and a spoon (3 wood) when they see them. But what about a niblick?