Ali: Did you mean...?

Yazdegerd III (r. 632-651 CE) was the last monarch of the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE), ruling – or attempting to rule – amidst the chaos of its final decline and fall to the invading Muslim Arabs. He was the son of the prince...

Monotheism is simply defined as the belief in one god and is usually positioned as the polar opposite of polytheism, the belief in many gods. However, the word monotheism is a relatively modern one that was coined in the mid-17th century...

Adisthana - the decorative raised platform on which a temple is built. Alasa kanya - a decorative female figure. Amalaka - a large fluted stone disc placed on top of a Nagara tower taking its form from the amla or myrobalan...

Map of the conflict between Caliph Ali (r. 656-661 CE) and Muawiyah I (r. 661 – 680 CE) during the First Fitna (656 – 661 CE), a civil war within the Rashidun Caliphate. The area shaded in green represents the territories of the Caliphate...

The ruins of the Great Ziggurat of Ur, taken in 2005 CE near Ali Air Base in Iraq. The ziggurat was built by the Sumerian King Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi in approximately the 21st century BCE (short chronology) during the Third Dynasty...

Four medals showing beautifully designed names of the first four Rashidun Caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632 - 634 CE), Umar (634 - 644 CE), Uthman (644 - 656 CE) and Ali (656 - 661 CE). In the Dome of the New Mosque, in the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul...

A drawing of a 3rd century CE Sasanian rock relief in Naqsh-e Rustam, Iran. The relief shows on the right Ardashir I (r. 224-241 CE) and on the left the supreme Persian and Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. The god is giving the king his ring...

Persian mirror case with bird-and-flower motif, painting by Ali Ashraf, 1751. Brooklyn Museum.

"The Coronation of the Infant Shapur II", Folio 538r from the Shahnameh (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp.Painting attributed to Muzaffar 'Ali (active late 1520s–70s CE; d. c. 1576 CE)

The tympanon, the most popular frame-drum in ancient Greece, is now transformed into different varieties of drums. The original form of this instrument, identical in shape and making and producing the same rumbling sound described in classical...