This coin struck me as curious - copying 4th century Roman style portraits in the 12th century.  Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, was the Zengid emir...

Saturnalia in Red: an AI generated abstract image evoking the spirit of Saturnalia. Saturnalia is December 17th. I was excited to open...

Gur-e-Amir - a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan ( Copyright: under license from...

By the mid-14th century, the Chaghatai Khanate, originally established by Chaghatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, had begun to fracture.

The arabic word مملوك or mamlūk means "owned" or "possessed". In the context of 13th century Islamic society, Mamlūks were usually ...

2024 has had ups and downs - it seems that every year I start with same thought. This has been an unusual year with and earth quake,...

This is the Kwarazmian Empire in 1215.....it was one of the most powerful and affluent states of its time. The Khwarezmian Empire, at the...

The Seljuks of Rum, who ruled over much of Anatolia from the late 11th century, faced increasing pressure from the Mongol invasions...

The Coronation of Ardashir-e Babakan, a Sasanian rock relief, carved circa CE 235, located in the east corner of Naqsh-e Rostam, in the...

Today's notes start from my latest coin, issued by the Islamic rulers of Bukhara, dating to the 8th century CE.

A Śivalinga as drawn by ChatGPT 4o Today's coins (20 of them) come with minimal descriptions of their era. This is a collection of...

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), who was also called Emperor Shizu of the Yuan, was the son of Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. This...

I have to admit that I am drawn to coins that are not popular and periods in history that are not well known. One current interest is...

Detail from a 19th Century water color on paper depicting the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Accession Number XXIII-239 Salar Jung...

The Vikrama Samvat is a Hindu luni-solar calendar, which means it is based on both the phases of the moon and the solar year. It has...

Mustafa II was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703. He ascended to the throne late in the The Great Turkish War (1683-1699)...

"Harun al-Rashid receiving a delegation of Charlemagne in Baghdad", oil on canvas by Julius Köckert (1827–1918), 1864, held by the...

Baybars I was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria from the Bahri dynasty, of Turkic Kipchak origin. Islamic, Mamluks, al-Zahir...

The ancient Romans, celebrated a feast on March 31st, in the Temple of Luna on the Aventine Hill to honor the Moon Goddess, a cult...

This 1831 mezzotint print depicts the battle of Ascalon (circa CE 1192), with Richard I King of England, on a white charger, wielding an...