At its height around 400 AD, Teotihuacan was the most populous city in the western hemisphere. Explore this vibrant metropolis, focusing on its still-extant pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the role they played in the violent ritual life of the Classic Maya period.

How well did the Seljuk Turks use their victory? How did the sultans in Konya, the new center of Muslim Turkish civilization, forge a wider unity? What caused the region's Christian population to convert? Explore how a new Turkish civilization in Asia Minor developed largely through religious architecture and the allure of Sufi mystics.

Trace the history of the Roman Empire from its foundation to its Golden Age in the 2nd century C.E. through ever-worsening crises and its ultimate disintegration. Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete, these 24 captivating episodes offer you the chance to experience the story of ancient Rome like never before, incorporating the latest historical research, perspectives, and insights.

Observe how the measurement of factors such as electromagnetic radiation, hydration, and carbon content can reveal the age of excavated objects. Examine how particular environmental conditions can preserve organic material over centuries or millennia. Finally, take account of the looting of antiquities and its impact on the world’s archaeological heritage.

After the Seljuk Turks emerged as a major factor in eastern Islam, they conquered two regions that were not previously part of Dar al-Islam: Asia Minor and northern India near Delhi. Here, take a comparative look at these conquests, including the Turks' seesaw struggle with the crusaders.

Examine the Sacae and Kushans, two steppe peoples forced west into the Middle East and India by the Xiongnu confederacy. Learn the key role both groups played in developing trade along the Silk Road and how Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises and his successors carved out an Indian empire while creating conditions for Buddhism to flourish.

Professor Paxton begins this lively history course by examining the common preconceptions about Celtic identity - before smashing them to bits. The first lecture paints the initial brushstrokes on the gargantuan canvas of this European culture most widely perceived as Scottish and Irish while promising much more.

Genghis Khan's rivals saw him as the embodiment of the steppe barbarian. But who was this man who united the Mongol tribes and set his sights on world conquest? Discover Temujin - as Genghis Khan was originally known - and who the Mongols were at the time of his birth.

Learn about Maya life through their art, studying such works as the fantastic painted murals at Bonampak and the famous sarcophagus lid on the tomb of Pakal. According to a best-selling book, the latter depicts an ancient astronaut on a rocket ship, but Dr. Barnhart decodes its real meaning.