A Brief History of Prosthetic Limbs
Prosthetics have come a long way from the wooden big toe found on a a 3000-year-old mummy, or the Etruscan bridgework made of human teeth.
How Cassette Tapes Helped Muslim Revivalism
Modern conditions play a crucial role in religious revivalism. Cassette tapes have been crucial in the Muslim revivalism of the past 40 years or so.
How to Lose a Pyramid
Archaeologists recently discovered evidence of a long-lost pyramid dating to the thirteenth dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. How does a pyramid get lost?
Why Egypt’s Coptic Christians Face Rising Sectarianism
Egypt’s Coptic Christians supported President Abdelfattah al-Sisi's overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood. Why do they still face discrimination?
How People Paid Their Taxes in Biblical Times
Think doing your taxes is annoying? Imagine trying it without a computer, a calculator… or even the Arabic numeral system.
Mostafa El-Abbadi
Mostafa A. H. el-Abbadi was the visionary behind the revival of the Great Library of Alexandria, the vast Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Why King Tut Had A Meteorite Knife
What do you get the boy pharaoh who has everything? A dagger made out of meteorite iron, of course.
The Map That Created The Modern Middle East
The Sykes-Picot remade the Middle East for British and French control. A century later, their legacy is a disaster.
For Pets in Ancient Egypt, Life Was Hard (or Really Easy)
Life wasn’t always easy for pets in ancient Egypt.
Tax Day in Ancient Egypt
A newly-analyzed papyrus fragment from Ancient Egypt revealed a truly whopping tax bill