History

Long before Israelis invoked the bible erase a Palestinian homeland another colonizing people sought to remake a land in the image of their God

Climate Change

Was Volcano-Driven Climate Change partially Behind the Black Death?

Juan Cole

Mongols of the Golden Horde catapulted the cadavers of plague victims over the wall of the city of Caffa

Colonialism

U.S. Imperialism in Latin America from the Monroe Doctrine to Maduro: The Trump Corollary

Tomdispatch

In recent months, the Trump administration has escalated a decades-long campaign against the Venezuelan government and people.

Featured

Sorry, White Nationalists, Europeans were Black until the Rise of Rome, and Rome was Multiracial

Juan Cole

It wasn’t until the era of the foundation of Rome, however, than any significant number of Europeans began being lighter complected.

Archaeology

A Roman emperor grovelling to a Persian King: A new Statue in Tehran

The Conversation

Within a few years, the first Sasanian king, Ardashir I, threatened Roman territory in Mesopotamia

Archaeology

No, ancient Hebrew Slaves didn’t Build the Giza Pyramids

Juan Cole

As for Israelites, there is no archeological evidence of them being in Egypt, much less being enslaved.

Archaeology

Egypt’s Magnificent new Museum: Nationalism, Tourism, and the Economy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Egypt’s new billion-dollar museum near the Giza pyramids opened on Saturday. It has 100,000 artifacts, including a massive statue of Ramses II (1279 BCE – 1213 BCE). It may be the biggest museum in the world. Given that Egypt is now a rigid dictatorship with few rights for citizens, the […]

Featured

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Abuse of History for Politics

Yoram Meital

Beersheba (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – After his address to an almost empty hall at the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu found a warmer reception at a Shabbat gathering in the Israeli Consulate in New York. There, the Prime Minister chose to “reveal” what he presented as a forgotten historical truth. “The Arabs expelled us from […]

Colonialism

76 Years after Colonial Britain Scheduled a Palestinian State, UK to Recognize Palestine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nadeem Badshah at The Guardian reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to recognize a Palestinian state today, Sunday. Spain, Norway and Ireland took this step in May 2024 when Israel disregarded the International Court of Justice’s preliminary injunction against continuing actions in Gaza that were plausibly genocidal, […]