What comes to the mind when one says Anatolia? Does the phrase “land of the rising sun” (as the ancient Greeks called it) appear? Or, because it technically belongs to the Middle East, do you think of an arid desert? Anatolia was arguably the most desired land of the ancient and medieval world. It saw the rise of the Assyrians, Hittites, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, and the Turks. Especially in ancient times, it seemed anyone who had some power in their hands desired to control Anatolian lands...

Nothing is really certain about the Tamil people’s history. They lived in a southern part of India called Tamil Nadu, circa 2200 BC, then migrated mainly into the northeastern areas of Sri Lanka, which became the permanent homeland of the Sri Lankan Tamils around the second century BC. The Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of Brahmi script, circa 2200 BC, with literature emerging circa 300 BC – AD 300.  It is currently used to write the Tamil language in the southern Indian state of Tamil...

The British and Irish countryside is often celebrated for its wealth of unique places of heritage, significance and interest. But not many people know that this heritage includes thousands of ancient panels of neolithic art , which are usually found out in the open for anyone to see. Known also as “cup and rings”, these rock carvings were made by our Neolithic and Early Bronze Age ancestors between 6,000 and 3,800 years ago. About 7,000 carved panels are known about – occurring mostly...

From nativity plays to crèche sets to Christmas cards, animals are ubiquitous in our vision of the birth of Christ – but according to the Bible, not a single animal was there. Where did all these animals come from, and why are they now so central to the story? Only two parts of the Bible talk about Jesus’ birth: the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Mark and John skip over Jesus’ infancy and head straight to his adult life. So how similar are the narratives of Matthew and Luke...