Ancient World
Tutankhamun: The Boy King and His Tomb (c. 1332 BC)
Tutankhamun's reign ended the Amarna religious experiment; the discovery of his tomb in 1922 became the most famous find in the history of archaeology.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Dakhamunzu Affair: An Egyptian Queen Asks for a Hittite Prince
Prince Zannanza died before he could marry the queen, and the episode led to Hittite attacks on Egyptian territory in Syria.
Ancient World
Horemheb: General Who Became Pharaoh After Amarna
Horemheb completed the restoration of Egypt's traditional order after the Amarna period and handed the throne to his vizier, the future Ramesses I.
Ancient World
Uluburun Shipwreck: A Late Bronze Age Cargo off Turkey
The excavation recovered the richest Bronze Age cargo ever found at sea, transforming understanding of Late Bronze Age long-distance trade.
Ancient World
Tiryns (c. 1300 BC): The Cyclopean Walls of a Mycenaean Citadel
One of the strongest Mycenaean fortresses; its palace burned c. 1200 BC and the town was destroyed by Argos in the 5th century BC.
Ancient World
Palace of Nestor at Pylos (c. 1300 BC): A Mycenaean Palace
The best-preserved Mycenaean palace on the Greek mainland; its fired Linear B tablets were key to deciphering the script.
Ancient World
Acropolis of Athens: The Sacred Rock From Bronze Age to Pericles
A Bronze Age fortress became the religious heart of Athens; after the Persian sack of 480 BC it was rebuilt as the most celebrated sanctuary of classical Greece.
Ancient World
Yinxu: The Last Capital of the Shang Dynasty at Anyang
The first archaeologically confirmed capital of a Chinese dynasty, Yinxu became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.
Ancient World
Seti I: Pharaoh of Restoration and the Temple at Abydos
Seti I re-established Egyptian power in the Levant and left some of the finest monuments of the New Kingdom, passing a strong state to his son Ramesses II.
Ancient World
Ramesseum: Ramesses II's Temple and the Ozymandias Statue
Ramesses II gained a vast cult temple whose ruins and toppled colossus later inspired Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias.
Ancient World
Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh of the New Kingdom
Ramesses II reigned for 66 years, ended decades of war with the Hittites by treaty and left more monuments than any other pharaoh.
Ancient World
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC): Ramesses II Against the Hittites
Tactically inconclusive; Ramesses escaped defeat, but Kadesh and Amurru stayed under Hittite control.