History explained, connected, and remembered
Cities Where Cultures Meet How can exploring daily life in ancient border cities help students understand cultural exchange and globalization? When we think of the Roman–Persian frontier, images of armies, emperors, and shifting borders often come to mind. Yet the most meaningful cultural blending happened far from battlefields and palace halls. It took place in... Continue Reading →
The Illusions of Borders How can exploring historical borderlands help students understand the complexity of political and cultural boundaries today? We often assume that the political lines on modern maps are fixed and represent clear breaks between nations. In reality, these lines are rarely so simple. Cross-border connections—like those between the Southwest United States and Mexico,... Continue Reading →
A Culture of Blending, Borrowing, Innovating Location of Petra in southern Jordan, showing its position in the modern world. Map © Sting / Wikimedia Commons, CC‑BY‑SA 3.0. Source How can studying ancient trade cities help students understand the ways cultures influence one another? Modern brands like Coke, Disney, Netflix, and Amazon show that cultural exchange is... Continue Reading →
Art in the Kushan Empire How can ancient empires help students understand the power of cultural exchange and creativity? The art of the Kushan Empire provides a perfect example. By blending Greek realism, Persian motifs, Central Asian sensibilities, and Indian spirituality, Kushan artists created a distinctive, hybrid style that illustrates how cultures borrow, adapt, and innovate.... Continue Reading →
Origins and Rise The multicultural world we find ourselves living in today provides us with both strengths as well as challenges, but the process has unfolded many times before. What can it teach us? Let’s take a look at the Kushan Empire. The empire emerged in the 1st century CE when the nomadic Yuezhi tribes migrated... Continue Reading →
Cosmopolitan cities are nothing new, nor are they confined to any one area. The city of Ai Khanum was no different. Tucked away along the Oxus River, on the edge of the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges, in what is now northern Afghanistan, Ai Khanum was once one of the most surprising cities of... Continue Reading →
Why do some conquests bring about lasting change, while others seem to fade from memory? Of all the foreign powers that Bactra came under the dominion of, none changed them as much as the Muslim conquest. When the Umayyad Caliphate came to power in the 7th century AD, sweeping changes reverberated throughout the land. As... Continue Reading →
Lyceum of History 