Wednesday, July 08, 2026

History Highlights

The excavated mound of Alalakh, ancient Tell Atchana, in the Amuq plain

Alalakh: The Bronze Age City That Wrote Down Its Own History

In the wide, fertile plain that opens near the city of Antakya in southern Turkey, a low mound rises gently above the surrounding fields. To a casual passerby it looks

The rock of Van Fortress rising above the plain in eastern Turkey

Tushpa: The Urartian Capital Carved Into the Rock Above Lake Van

A long spine of rock rises abruptly from the flat plain on the eastern shore of Lake Van, in the far east of Turkey. It is a natural fortress, steep-sided

The summit and statue terraces of Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey

Mount Nemrut: The Mountaintop Where a King Sat Among His Gods

On a bare peak in southeastern Turkey, more than two thousand meters above sea level, a line of colossal stone gods sits gazing out over the mountains of the upper

The megalithic standing stones of Zorats Karer on the Syunik plateau

Zorats Karer: The Standing Stones Armenians Call Their Stonehenge

High on a windswept plateau in the far south of Armenia, a scatter of upright stones stands where it has stood for thousands of years. There are more than two

The excavated ruins of the ancient site of Metsamor

Metsamor: Armenia’s Bronze Age Metal Center Beneath Mount Ararat

On the broad plain west of Yerevan, within sight of the snow-capped peak of Mount Ararat, rises a modest hill that holds one of the oldest and most fascinating archaeological