The Gold Road: how the medieval empires of West Africa traded across the Sahara

See a collection of ancient Roman coins used on the Silk Roads

As ancient Rome's appetite for eastern luxuries grew, long-distance trade routes linking the Mediterranean to Asia emerged along what became known as the Silk Road. Without shared language or legal systems, merchants could use the reliable Roman coins to exchange with other cultures. This exhibit features gold and silver pieces bearing the portraits of emperors and Latin inscriptions.

Trade and conquest carried chess into Europe by the 11th century

After spreading through Persia, chess traveled along Islamic military and trade routes into North Africa and Moorish Spain by the 10th century. By the 11th century, it had taken root across much of Europe, flourishing in courts and monasteries.

Great Zimbabwe: the massive medieval trading hub in southern Africa

Arising during the 13th century, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe’s capital quickly grew into a central trading hub, dealing in items from across the world, before its decline in the 1400s. Great Zimbabwe had three distinct districts, each surrounded by...

Watch the history of human migration that led to civilizations

Starting in Africa where they hunted with spears and fires, humans would gradually move out of the continent over thousands of years as they navigated crossing deserts, rivers, uneven terrain, and shifting climates. Development of technology, language, farming, and other societal structures helped build up the first civilizations.

Maritime trade in the Mediterranean accelerated during the late Bronze Age

This map illustrates the vibrant trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age (circa 1500–1200 BCE), highlighting an era of growing interconnectivity among major powers including Egypt, the Hittite Empire, Mesopotamia, and others.

Money—not land—became Europe’s key economic driver in the Middle Age

During the medieval commercial revolution, money gradually replaced land as the primary economic commodity. Expanding trade, markets, and finance transformed Europe’s economy—laying foundations, historians argue, that were essential for the later Industrial Revolution.

Drug trafficking, violence, and politics in Northern Mali

Drug trafficking in northern Mali is fueling unparalleled regional violence and instability. In Mali, smuggling narcotics is not only a way armed groups gain funds, but also a source of conflict in itself. According to the International Crisis Group...

Variations of marriage existed in ancient West Africa

The enormous landmass of Africa has been home to numerous cultures and countries, and there’s been no singular way to get married. One striking aspect has been the matrilineal belt across central Africa, where wealth was passed down through the female, rather than the male, line. In some regions, it was also acceptable for a woman to take more than one husband.

What can be found underneath the Saharan sands?

Watch this 19-minute video to learn more about what can be found under the Sahara Desert, which spans almost all of northern Africa and is one of the largest deserts in the world. Deep under the Sahara desert sands lies evidence of life that once...

Mapping the known ports involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade

Based on historical logs, this interactive maps shows info from various ports of departure and arrival during the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Where were the Middle Ages?

Many have equated the Middle Ages to European culture and an era beyond the reach of science and art. This false equivalency minimizes, if not erases, the culture and scholarship that flourished worldwide during this time. Medieval history exists in and across many countries, including China, India, Iran, Sudan, and Ethiopia. In this article, a classical archaeologist details evidence of medieval life around the world.

22 fascinating discoveries of massive gold coin hoards

The gallery highlights major gold coin treasures from ancient to modern times, from the Saddle Ridge hoard in California in the 1800s (now worth $10M) to finds in Baltimore, Kentucky, and more. Each discovery reveals something about the period, with some buried and others left in vaults.

What was the Great Inca Road?

In little more than 100 years, it grew from a small kingdom in the highlands of Peru to become the largest empire in the Americas. Read about the critical role played by the Great Inca Road.

European powers carved up nearly all of Africa in just 4 decades

This video explains the "Scramble for Africa," when seven European nations seized over 90% of the continent between 1870 and 1910. Only Liberia and Ethiopia remained sovereign as imperial competition redrew Africa’s borders and reshaped its future.

Cholera went global thanks to global trade

The first cholera pandemic grew from an outbreak in India, in 1817. Scientists suggest it spread from there throughout the continent and onward to Africa, Russia and Europe through the poop of traders.

Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to map, trade, and secure the West

Beyond seeking a water route to the Pacific, Jefferson tasked the Corps of Discovery with mapping the new Louisiana Territory, cataloging its resources, and establishing trade with Native nations.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

The standard measurement for precious metals comes from a small town in France

The troy ounce is the standard measurement for precious metals like gold and silver and it’s heavier than a standard ounce. The term “troy” is widely believed to come from the town of Troyes in France, which was a popular trading hub for merchants all across Europe in the Middle Ages.

Who was Gudrid the Far-Traveled?

Considered one of the greatest female explorers of all time, Gudrid the Far-Traveled counted among her in-laws Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. Traveling from Medieval Europe to North America via Iceland and Greenland, Gudrid became the first European woman known to have given birth in North America. This article details the pioneering achievements of medieval Europe's greatest female explorer.

4-minute overview of gold mining in the Amazon rainforest

A 2022 NBC news investigation of gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Much of the $3B in illegal gold is trafficked to the US every year.

A full documentary on the origins of Islam narrated by Ben Kingsley

A rare feature-length treatment of Islam's founding that traces Muhammad's life from Mecca to the emergence of the religion. Narrated by the famed Gandhi-portraying actor Ben Kingsley, it brings production values to material that's often handled dryly in text—a good visual narrative option to the religion's origins.

The evolving industry of flowers

The global trade of flowers is worth billions of dollars, and new markets and supply chains are opening each year. This multimedia deep dive takes a look at the origins of the modern flower trade in the Netherlands and its expansion into dozens of...

The Rosetta Stone helped scholars decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics

With the same verses written in three languages, the stone—discovered during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt—let scholars decipher hieroglyphics for the first time, unlocking the secrets of ancient Egypt. Learn why the task, originally expected to take two weeks, ended up taking 20 years with this fascinating essay.

The Alhambra’s medieval water system powered a palace-city

Built over centuries by Islamic rulers in medieval Spain, the Alhambra used canals and pressurized tanks to move water throughout the complex. Its sophisticated system supplied fountains, baths, and gardens, showcasing advanced medieval engineering.

See how Britain promoted imperial trade through 1920s propaganda posters

This photo gallery showcases posters from the Empire Marketing Board, created after Canada gained dominion status in 1926. The campaign encouraged Canadians to buy goods from across the British Empire, producing more than 800 posters displayed nationwide.

Rock expanded to Africa, where it was used as a political artform

The Nigerian rock scene began after Bill Haley’s "Rock Around the Clock" film premiered in the country, inspiring young people to take up electric guitars. The music was also an integral part of the country’s civil war, with conscripted bands entertaining soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.