Free Republic

Archaeologists pinpointed the location of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyaha which took place in what is now Iraq in 636 AD by combining space technology and historical texts.The clash was a key victory for Arab Muslims in their expansion beyond Arabia, and remains part of the core curriculum for students of Arabic history.But, until now, its precise location was not clear.A team from Durham University led by Dr William Deadman, a specialist in archaeological remote sensing, conducted the research with colleagues at the University of Al-Qadisiyah in Iraq.The researchers were undertaking a remote sensing survey to map out the route of...

They discovered that the Romans miscalculated their Persian-Sassanian opponents which caused their downward spiral, leaving them weak and allowing Islam to rise in a manner that essentially wiped out the once-powerful civilization.The two groups were at war from 54 BC to 628 for control of territories, but the Persians and Sassanians took over Roman trade routes that were critical to their victory.Without access to trade, the economy quickly collapsed and forced people in the Roman Empire to flee to other regions like Constantinople, the researchers discovered...The team analyzed shipwrecks throughout the Mediterranean from multiple sites, such as Marseille, Naples, Carthage,...