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Iran-War: Near Middle East Burning – Ancient History Repeating?

Watching the Iran-war in the Near Middle East region, our news screens project scene after scene of ominous dark smoke billowing from yet another target hit by an airstrike. The first week of April 2026 heralded the announcement that airstrikes on Isfahan in Iran and southern Lebanon has increased.

When Spices Were Worth More Than Gold

In 410 CE, when the Visigoths besieged Rome, they demanded ransom: gold, silver, silk, and 3,000 pounds of pepper.

How Whistling Became a Language

On the steep volcanic island of La Gomera in Spain’s Canary Islands, shepherds have communicated for centuries using an astonishing method: they whistle.

Greek Fire: The Byzantine Superweapon Lost to History

In the summer of 678 CE, an Arab fleet of several hundred ships approached Constantinople.

The Plain of Jars: Laos’s Megalithic Mystery

Scattered across the highlands of northern Laos lie thousands of giant stone jars.

Roopkund: The Himalayan Lake of Bones

High in the Indian Himalayas, at 5,029 meters above sea level, lies a small glacial lake called Roopkund.