Primary sources from world and global history, including images, objects, texts, and digitally-born materials – annotations by scholars contextualize sources.
A gold dinar of Abd al-Malik minted in Damascus in 697/98
Historians use coins to find evidence of change over time. This dinar coined in 697 or 698 was minted in Damascus by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn. Compared to a coin minted by the same state only a few years earlier we notice an interesting difference.
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Temple of Vespasian altar
This stone alter found in Pompeii, Italy was part of temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor Vespasian who ruled from 69 to 79 CE. The alter depicts a scene of a bull being led to a religious sacrifice, a common practice in ancient Rome. Objects from the past that have been preserved can tell scholars a lot about the people who created them.
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Gold Solidus of Justinian I (527–65)
Coins like this one from the Byzantine Empire can reveal a great deal. Coins found in a well can tell historians and archeologists the range of dates people settled in a given area. Coins can also help date other artifacts that researchers find near the coins. Finally coins tell historians the extent and reach of various trading networks.
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Bone comb
Historians and archeologists can learn a great deal from artifacts such as this comb that may date from the Neolithic or Late Stone Age. Items found near the artifact can help provide context such as when the artifact was created and what it might have been used for. This comb, carved from bone, was found on the island of Gotland which is presently part of Sweden.
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Excavation at Çatalhöyük, Turkey
The excavation at Çatalhöyük in southern Turkey began in 1958 and scholars continue to actively search for artifacts at the site. Items found at Çatalhöyük have shown that the site has been inhabited since Neolithic times beginning in approximately 7100 BCE. Artifacts found at Çatalhöyük include a rich collection of art including sculptures and wall paintings.
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A Hindu Princess Committing Sati against the Wishes of Emperor Akbar
This 18th century painting by Mohammad Rizā Naw'ī depicts Sati, the practice whereby a Hindi widow would commit suicide through self immolation upon the death of her husband. While Sati has been referenced repeatedly in European depictions of Hinduism, it was never very widespread. The practice was also controversial among South Asians at the time.
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Mameluke with a basket of flowers, 1641
Albert Eckhout was the first European painter in Brazil. Eckhout was an official painter, hired by Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, a prince of the House of Orange. These paintings tell us much about Brazil in the first half of the seventeenth century, and but also about the activities of the Dutch, and Dutch perceptions of the colony.
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Hobo-Dyer Projection Worldmap
On a typical world map, such as the classic Mercator projection, Greenland appears misleadingly enormous – yet few observers pause to note the inaccuracies. Mapmakers rarely question other basic assumption, such as drawing north at the top. But if the Earth resembles ball spinning through space, are ‘up’ and ‘down’ so self-evident?
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