History

40,000 BC: Earth’s magnetic field flipped, causing massive sudden climate change and Extinction of Neanderthals

By Chris Fogwill, Alan Hogg, Chris Turney, and Zoë Thomas | – The world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun’s behaviour. That’s the key finding of our new multidisciplinary study, published in Science. This last major […]

Archaeology

Were the Canaanites from Iran? Genomic History Shows that Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese have Zagros Ancestry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There are no races. Human beings are all mixed up, and genomic history demonstrates this principle better than any other approach. So much of Middle Eastern politics depends on a kind of “sleeping beauty” nationalism (in Ernest Gellner’s phrase) in which it is alleged that there was an ancient race […]

Archaeology

Israeli Archeologists find 7th Century Mosque and Evidence of Tolerance in Early Islam at Tiberias

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli archeologists have made two extremely important finds recently that have implications for our image of early Islam. Katia Cytryn-Silverman, an Israeli archeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has concluded that the remains of a mosque in Tiberias, on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee, is seventh […]

Colonialism

The Last time the US Capitol was stormed, it was by Enemy British Troops

The Conversation

By Matthew Ward | – As rioters forced their way into the US Capitol Building on January 6, astounded CNN presenters noted that this was the first time something like this had happened for more than 200 years. And that on the occasion it was the British, an enemy power, which was responsible. This was […]

Epidemics

How 3 prior pandemics triggered massive societal shifts

The Conversation

By Andrew Latham | – Not so anymore. People are beginning to understand that the little changes COVID-19 has already ushered in or accelerated – telemedicine, remote work, social distancing, the death of the handshake, online shopping, the virtual disappearance of cash and so on – have begun to change their way of life. They […]

Colonialism

Biden Pick, Native American Deb Haaland to head Dept. that once Vowed to “Civilize or Exterminate” her People

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) will be president-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Department of the Interior. She is the first Native American to head the department, and her appointment is full of ironies. The Department, formed in 1849, includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and has a long history […]

Archaeology

Prehistoric Arabia Felix: As Humans exited Africa 120K years ago, they headed into Green Nefud

The Conversation

By Richard Clark-Wilson | – Humanity originated on the African continent at least 300,000 years ago. We know from fossil evidence in southern Greece and the Levant (modern-day Israel) that some early members of our species expanded beyond Africa around 200,000 years ago, and again between 120,000 to 90,000 years ago. They likely travelled through […]

African-Americans

Trump doesn’t Understand History any more than he Understands Epidemics

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump has a long history of proclaiming that he understands things better than the people who are experts in those things. When Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control, testified to Congress that mask-wearing is even more effective against Covid-19 than a vaccine is likely to […]

Donald Trump

What was the Battle of Belleau Woods, the Slain Marines at which Trump called “Losers” and “Suckers”?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic reported yesterday on what he was told by four members of Trump’s entourage about the president’s 2018 visit to France. He had been scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris, but it was raining and he made excuses. Goldberg’s sources told him that […]