Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2026 i National Geographic History

On November 16, 1724, a 200,000-strong crowd gathered around the gallows at Tyburn, London, to witness the execution of 21-year-old John “Jack” Sheppard. Formerly a carpenter’s apprentice, Sheppard had become, according to historian Peter Line baugh, a household name in 18th-century England. Sheppard owed his fame to his extraordinary, daring prison breaks—at a time when the British working class was suffering under an increasingly draconian criminal justice system. Sheppard was born in 1702 in Spitalfields, now East London, into a humble family of carpenters. His father died when he was just four, leaving his mother to raise three children on her own. As soon as Sheppard came of age, he followed in his father’s footsteps and started work as a carpenter’s apprentice. Physically small but very robust, he soon became…

ORPHANED as a teen, Wovoka was taken in by white ranchers, who named him Jack Wilson and taught him about the Christian Messiah. In adulthood, he reconnected more fully with his Paiute heritage. Wovoka, meaning “cutter,” became a spiritual leader known for his shamanic techniques, healing, and leading round dances. Following his vision and the spread of his Ghost Dance, there were false claims that the ritual dance was going to unite Native Americans in violence. Wovoka’s initial instructions included a call to peace with white people, even after friends and loved ones had died: “Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life.” After the Wounded Knee Massacre, Wovoka, saddened and discredited, lived the rest of his life in Mason Valley, Nevada. He held on to his belief…

3100 B.C. At the dawn of Egypt’s history, the Narmer Palette bears some of the first hieroglyphs. 2543 B.C. Hieroglyphs start to appear on papyri; the earliest such papyri found were made in the reign of Khufu. 2300 B.C. The first religious texts to adorn an Egyptian royal tomb appear in the 5th dynasty pyramid of Unas. CA 700 B.C. The old, priestly hieroglyphs are simplified into the demotic script used by bureaucrats. A.D. 452 The last demotic inscription is made. Knowledge of hieroglyphs will be lost until the 19th century.…

For Roman engineers, the city of Rome and the Tiber River served as a testing ground for experimentation in every aspect of bridge construction. Rome’s earliest bridges were made of wood, such as the Pons Sublicius, built in the seventh century B.C. The first stone bridge, the Pons Aemilius, was likely begun by combining stone piers with wooden arches to replace the original wooden bridge in 142 B.C. Censor Marcus Fulvius Nobilior had it rebuilt later entirely in stone. Only one arch remains. In the first century B.C., the Pons Fabricius (the lower bridge in the illustration at left) and the Pons Cestius (the upper bridge) were built to replace older wooden crossings. These two bridges connect Tiber Island with the Campus Martius and Trastevere. Pons Fabricius, with its two…

IN HIS BOOK Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (1853), written for the general public, Austen Henry Layard detailed what the first tablet storeroom in Nineveh was like: “The chambers I am describing appear to have been a depository in the palace of Nineveh for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them; some entire, but the greater part broken into many fragments, probably by the falling in of the upper part of the building. They were of different sizes; the largest tablets were flat… the smaller were slightly convex… The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass.”…

SMALL OF STATURE (just five foot four) but very strong, Sheppard soon became something of a celebrity. During his various incarcerations at Newgate Prison, he received countless visitors who bribed the guards in order to gain an audience with the famous thief. One visit was from the well-known artist Sir James Thornhill, who sketched this portrait of Sheppard in front of the window, looking through the bars to freedom. Another visitor asked if he was indeed the famous Jack Sheppard, to which he replied: “Yes sir, I am the Sheppard, and all the turn keys of Newgate are myflock.”…

A TRAVEL GUIDE from the early 1820s describes the fashionable dining establishments that were emerging in postrevolutionary Paris. These were not merely places to eat, they offered the rising bourgeoisie a chance to dine in style and be seen: “Upon entering a café or restaurant… one is captivated by the magnificent mirrors that cover the walls almost to the ceiling, reflecting and multiplying every object in the room to infinity. A pretty porcelain stove usually occupies the center, and several lamps with beveled glass shades hang from the ceiling. Statues, vases, pewterware, and columns adorn the rooms. On one side of the room is a high desk where the deity who presides over the household sits; elegant and beautifully dressed… she greets you with a graceful bow of her head.…

USING HIEROGLYPHIC TEXTS to describe religious ceremonies, especially those related to the passage of the soul into the afterlife, was an ancient practice. In certain cases, temple walls were inscribed with texts related to the specific function of that particular room. The temple of Khnum at Esna, for example, contains a type of room Egyptologists call the laboratory, a place where ointments were prepared. Inscriptions on the doorjamb inventory the different kinds of aromatic substances the room holds. The temple of Hathor at Dendera, built mainly in the first century B.C., includes a wabet chapel dedicated to ritual cleansing (at left). The inscriptions detail the purification rituals to be carried out for the festival of the New Year.…

220 B.C. Censor Gaius Flaminius calls for the construction of the Via Flaminia, which runs from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini), opening a crucial passage through the Apennines. CIRCA 19 B.C. Following the conquest of northwest Hispania, Roman engineers develop an extensive network of canals to exploit the gold mines of Las Médulas for two centuries. A.D. 38–52 Construction of the Aqua Claudia, begun by Emperor Caligula and completed by Claudius, brings water to Rome from natural springs, via its towering arches. 66–67 During the reign of Emperor Nero, construction of the Corinth Canal on the narrowest part of the isthmus begins, but the project is soon abandoned due to difficulties and cost. 72–80 The Colosseum is built in Rome. It’s the largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire, with a capacity…

AS DUX (LATIN FOR DUKE), or Doge, Enrico Dandolo—the elderly head of the Venetian Republic from 1192—was the city’s most powerful leader, and nursed a deep hatred toward the Byzantines. In 1171, after hearing reports that Venetians living in Constantinople were being mistreated, he and the then doge, Vitale II Michiel, mounted a punitive expedition against the city. The following year, Dandolo returned to Constantinople as part of a diplomatic mission with the Venetian ambassador. His later blindness was attributed by some sources to mistreatment by the Byzantines. Dandolo’s resentment toward them, both for the alleged personal injury and for the suffering endured by his compatriots, explains his role in the Fourth Crusade. Dandolo died in 1205, at age 98, possibly from wounds sustained during the Crusade.…

1702 John “Jack” Sheppard is born in Spitalfields, then east of London, into a humble family of carpenters. February 1724 After burgling several houses, he is imprisoned for the first time but soon pulls off the first of his spectacular escapes. August 1724 Sheppard’s escape from the infamous Newgate Prison in London transforms him into a popular legend. October 1724 After being imprisoned in September for the fourth time, Sheppard then makes his most spectacular escape. November 1724 On being recaptured, Sheppard is hanged in front of a huge crowd at the execution site at Tyburn, London.…

ON MAY 19, 1724, Jack Sheppard was arrested after stealing some watches and was locked up in a Clerkenwell prison with Elizabeth Lyon. He was chained and handcuffed, but thanks to poor security measures, friends were able to smuggle tools into his cell. By May 25, he had freed himself from the handcuffs and made his second escape. He sawed through the prison bars, then he and Lyon clambered down into the inner courtyard of the prison. Faced by the high wall, Sheppard put his carpentry skills to work and, using a chisel, fashioned some steps. He and Lyon managed to climb over the gate and down the other side to freedom.…

On the afternoon of January 1, 1889, a dark circle cut into the sun above Nevada’s Mason Valley. As the moon eclipsed more and more of the solar disc, shadows swept across the sagebrush, birds grew quiet, and a young Paiute man named Wovoka lost consciousness. In this state, he said later, he had a vision. He was taken up to heaven, where he saw God, as well as those who had died long ago, alive and happy. God instructed him to return to the world and tell his people to live in peace so they could be reunited with their loved ones in the next world. To bring this about, God told him, Wovoka must teach his people a dance. Upon awakening, Wovoka spread the word of his vision.…

IN EGYPTIAN TEMPLES it was common to find captivating statues and stelae used for magic. Three are pictured here: a statue of Djed-Hor, priest healer of the temple of Athribis; a statue of the priest Padimahes, from Leontopolis; and the Metternich stela, commissioned by Esatum, a priest from Heliopolis. In the center of each appears an image of Horus the Child (Harpocrates) standing on two crocodiles and with an effigy of the dwarf deity Bes, protector of childhood, on his head. The scene refers to an episode from Horus’s childhood. While Horus was in the marshes, his mother, Isis, protected him from an attack by his uncle, Seth, and cured him of a scorpion’s sting. This type of sculpture was typically placed in a temple courtyard and used by priests…

Ancient Greek advances in mathematics and physics were key to Roman engineering. One of the devices described by third-century B.C. mathematician and engineer Archimedes was used extensively in the engineering of Roman mines, ports, and canals: The Archimedes’ screw, a hollowed cylinder containing a helix-shaped screw inside, propels fluid upward when the screw is rotated. The Romans used it in sections of aqueducts where they had to overcome steep gradients, irrigate sloped land, or remove water from construction sites and underground shafts. Ctesibius of Alexandria, a Greek Egyptian inventor of the third century B.C., was also highly influential in the Roman world. A pioneer in the use of compressed air, his hand pump was adapted and improved by the first-century Greco-Roman inventor Hero of Alexandria, whose own design for a…

In ancient Rome, the highest levels of government centrally managed the planning of road networks and the associated engineering works. During the Roman Republic, which concluded in 27 B.C., officials such as consuls, proconsuls, praetors, and censors were tasked with overseeing road construction and maintenance. In the imperial era (from 27 B.C.), the emperor himself directed major infrastructure projects, though execution was often delegated to governors, proconsuls, or imperial procurators. These officials’ names were sometimes inscribed on the structures they commissioned. Funding typically came from the public treasury, but private contributions were occasionally accepted—particularly for enhancements like widening a road or adding decorative features. Wealthy local patrons gained prestige in return for their support. While Roman legions sometimes helped carry out construction, especially during campaigns, most of the work was…

1099 Members of the First Crusade conquer Jerusalem and massacre its inhabitants. The Crusader states are established in the Holy Land. 1147–1149 Following the Muslim attack on the Crusader state of Edessa (Türkiye), the Second Crusade is launched by Louis VII of France, with the help of other European nobles. 1189–1192 The Third Crusade takes place over three years but fails to reconquer Jerusalem, which had been occupied by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, since 1187. 1198 Pope Innocent III calls for the Fourth Crusade. The leaders, lacking sufficient economic resources, become indebted to Venice for supplies and transport. 1202 The Fourth Crusade begins. To settle their debt with Venice, Crusade forces sack the city of Zara (Croatia) even though it belongs to Hungary, a Catholic kingdom. 1204 In…

ST. MARK’S BASILICA in Venice houses many religious artifacts that the Venetians seized during the sacking of Constantinople and the plundering of the Byzantine churches. Some were kept as is; others were supplemented with new artwork. But a nonreligious piece is perhaps the most famous: four gilded bronze horses made in antiquity that adorned the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Each horse measures 7.5 feet high, over 8 feet long, and weighs almost a ton. The Venetians had to cut off their heads in order to transport them by ship, and then weld them together again on arrival. Collars were added to hide the joint marks.…

RECENT ANALYSIS of the corpus of Nineveh tablets by a German-British team is producing interesting insights. For example, it was initially thought that reconstructing the tablets would be just a matter of time and effort. Now, even with all the pieces digitally cataloged, it has only been possible to reconstruct about 200 tablets, and even these are missing large sections. It has also been established that many tablets were marked with colophons (notes placed at the end of text) of different types. These identified the kind of text they contained or the period in which they were made. Some were even signed by individual scribes. The conclusion is that the rest of the fragments have been lost or have yet to be found in Nineveh.…

CUNEIFORM (meaning “wedge shaped”) script was made by pressing the tip of a reed into wet clay tablets that later hardened. Nineveh’s vast repository of tablets was buried under rubble after the Assyrian capital was put to the torch in 612 B.C. Fire, normally the enemy of archaeology, may have helped preserve the brittle tablets by baking them—thereby making them even harder—without damaging the inscriptions. Shattered, but still relatively legible, the tablets lay entombed for more than 2,500 years. They are now housed in the British Museum, and the painstaking work to reassemble them continues.…