Emma Marriott

The Assyrian state was finally defeated in 612 BC by a coalition of Medes (

Sargon, king of Akkad

painted tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

last great pharaoh, Rameses III

Damascus and Israel,

Ten Lost Tribes of Israel

Nineveh the Middle East’s first organized library,

Tyre, Sidon and Berot

Phoenician dyes and – most notably – its famous purple textiles became much sought after (purple fabrics were increasingly associated with superior social status). Indeed the name Phoenicia is derived from the Greek word for ‘purple’.

Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira