al-shanfarā (6th century bc) with a group of poets such as taabbata sharran (“he who has put evil in his armpit”) are among the best known of the sulūk (“brigand”) poets. shanfarā was depicted as living a life of solitude and hardship based on the looting and plundering. shanfarā has two long and famous odes. one of them is tāeiyeh and the other is lāmiyyatu'l arab. lāmiyyatu'l arab i...

In antiquity crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great brought it from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC, and the Phoenicians introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC. It was virtua...

in the early of 1st millennium bc, in the region of lorestan, iran, the ellipi kingdom formed and played a significant role in regional developments, particularly in relation with two rival governments, assyria and elam. the political history reconstruction of the ellipi kingdom is more reliant on assyrian resources which cover just very short and particular part of its life. the first recorded...