The complexity of the scribal art in Ancient Mesopotamia necessitated the emergence of specialised institutions devoted entirely to the teaching of cuneiform to the next generation. This article aims to shed light on these schools, focusing on the Old Babylonian period (2000–1600 BCE), which is best represented in our archaeological and written source material. How did they function? What were they like?
In her first contribution to Along the Silk Road, Cemre Melis Yordamlı explores, through the example of Princess Maria Komnena Palaiologina, how the Late Byzantine court used political marriages to secure favorable alliances and promote Orthodox Christianity.
In this essay, Prof. Dr. Mesut Idriz outlines the necessity of, and practical steps toward, establishing a Global Silk Road University and a Global Silk Road Library.
Join Dr. Ankur Barua, Senior Lecturer in Hindu Studies at the University of Cambridge, in his discussion of how the religious poetry composed in Bengali of two major South Asian poet-thinkers – Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) and Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976) – interweaves Islamic and Indic idioms.
In this piece, our linguistic specialist Rik Verachtert takes a look at the Greek term for barbarian, what it actually means, and whether it carried any negative connotations.
The introduction of tobacco into the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th century profoundly transformed social and cultural practices across Ottoman territories. In a short time, smoking became a daily habit shared by all social classes, from humble artisans to the sultan himself. The rapid growth in consumption led to the emergence of a specific craft: the production of clay pipes, with Tophane in Istanbul becoming its most iconic center.
This article aims to highlight one factor that played a crucial role in the extraordinary expansion of the Assyrian Empire: its army. For roughly three centuries, the Assyrian monarchs commanded a military force that had no equal. Praised for its effectiveness and lamented for its cruelty, this formidable army left a lasting mark on military history unlike any other from the ancient Near East.
This paper seeks to illuminate the prevailing conditions in fourteenth-century Macedonia through a focused case study. While Veria is not an isolated example, it offers a particularly illustrative case, given that local historiography frequently debates the date of its conquest by the Ottomans, often without adequate consideration of the broader historical context.
While much of the Silk Road’s history was long shrouded in legend and fragmented historical texts, modern archaeology has brought greater clarity to its narrative. One of the most illuminating discoveries in this regard is the Astana Graveyard, located near the ancient Turfan Oasis in China’s Xinjiang region. The artifacts unearthed there have significantly expanded our understanding of Silk Road commerce, mobility, and material culture.
In this article Jasleen Kaur examines the parallel political developments and interactions between the powers in Hindustan and the polities of the Mawara’ al-Nahr and the Khorasan in twelfth century, offering insights into how these diverse regions responded to similar challenges, all the while developing distinct political and cultural traditions.
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