The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

Mankind has sought civilization since the earliest days of recorded history. However, some kingdoms were the first to start ...

British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans purchased some ancient stones with mysterious inscriptions on them at a flea market in ...

Although many researchers assume that birthday celebrations date back to the ancient Egyptians, the earliest textual evidence of a birthday party proves these annual events are much older.

The persecution began on 23 February 303. It was the feast of Terminus, the god of boundaries – chosen, Lactantius says, ‘so ...

Ancient Greek geographer Strabo is one of the greatest writers in the ancient world, devoting his life to studying, writing, ...

The ancient Greeks believed that our galaxy was created when the goddess Hera spilled some of her milk as she was nursing the ...

Stars were "the heavenly writing"; a sheep's liver was "the tablet of the gods". You have a date palm with two tops? People here are hostile to you. Your gate creaks? You're at risk of attack. It was ...

Since humans discovered the power and capability that comes with numbers, we have lived in societies that enable us to … ...

Peter Frankopan, Oxford historian, was first enticed by history in the 1970s, during summer holidays as a child in rural Sweden visiting his maternal grandfather (his paternal line was the ancient ...

On this day in 1925, the Kurdish princess and ballet dancer Leyla Bedir Khan performed at the Royal Musical Academy (Kungliga ...

The Rassam Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder containing cuneiform inscriptions that describe the reign and military campaigns of Ashurbanipal, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It was discovered in ...