people history

Sargon

Founder of the Akkadian Empire; created one of the first empires in Mesopotamia.

Hammurabi

Babylonian king famous for Hammurabi's Code, an early written law code.

Ra

Egyptian sun god and chief deity.

Osiris

God of the afterlife and resurrection.

Isis

Goddess of motherhood and magic; wife of Osiris.

Seth

God of chaos and disorder; enemy of Osiris.

Horus

Falcon-headed god of kingship; son of Osiris and Isis.

Anubis

God associated with mummification and the dead.

Geb

Earth god.

Nut

Sky goddess.

Menes

Traditionally credited with uniting Upper and Lower Egypt.

Khufu

Built the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Hatshepsut

Powerful female pharaoh known for trade and prosperity.

Akhenaten

Promoted worship of Aten; attempted monotheism.

Nefertiti

Wife of Akhenaten; famous Egyptian queen.

Tutankhamun

"King Tut"; tomb discovered largely intact.

Ramses II

Powerful New Kingdom pharaoh; military leader.

Cleopatra VII

Last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt before Roman control.

Hebrews, Persians & Islam

Abraham

Founder of the Hebrew covenant tradition.

David

United the Hebrew kingdoms; captured Jerusalem.

Solomon

Built the First Temple in Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar II

Conquered Jerusalem and began the Babylonian Captivity.

Cyrus the Great

Founder of the Persian Empire; allowed Jews to return home.

Darius I

Expanded Persia and improved administration.

Zoroaster

Founder of Zoroastrianism.

Ahura Mazda

Supreme god in Zoroastrianism.

Muhammad

Prophet who founded Islam.

Khadija

First convert to Islam.

Gabriel

Angel believed to have delivered God's revelations to Muhammad.

Abu Bakr

Muhammad's successor and first caliph.

Medieval Islam, Crusades & Ottomans

Charles Martel

Defeated Muslim forces at the Battle of Tours.

Abu al-Abbas

Founder of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Alexios I Komnenos

Requested help against Turks, helping spark the Crusades.

Pope Urban II

Called for the First Crusade.

Saladin

Recaptured Jerusalem from Crusaders.

Genghis Khan

Founder of the Mongol Empire.

Hulegu Khan

Destroyed Baghdad in 1258.

Osman I

Founder of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed II

Captured Constantinople in 1453.

Suleiman the Magnificent

Ottoman Empire's greatest ruler.

Shah Ismail I

Founded the Safavid Empire.

Abbas the Great

Strengthened and expanded the Safavid Empire.

Modern Middle East

Ferdinand de Lesseps

Directed construction of the Suez Canal.

T. E. Lawrence

"Lawrence of Arabia"; aided Arab revolt.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Founder of modern Turkey.

Reza Shah

Modernized Iran.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Last shah before the Iranian Revolution.

Ibn Saud

Founder of Saudi Arabia.

Theodor Herzl

Founder of modern Zionism.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Arab nationalist leader; nationalized Suez Canal.

Golda Meir

Major Israeli leader during the 1970s.

Anwar Sadat

Made peace with Israel.

Menachem Begin

Signed Camp David Accords.

Yasser Arafat

Leader of the PLO.

Mahmoud Abbas

President of the Palestinian Authority.

Ruhollah Khomeini

Led the Iranian Revolution.

Saddam Hussein

Ruled Iraq from 1979–2003.

Osama bin Laden

Organized the September 11 attacks.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Founder and leader of ISIS.

China

Qin Shi Huang

First emperor of unified China.

Liu Bang

Founded the Han Dynasty.

Marco Polo

European traveler to China.

Hong Xiuquan

Leader of the Taiping Rebellion.

Guangxu Emperor

Reform-minded Qing ruler.

Empress Dowager Cixi

Powerful Qing dynasty regent.

John Hay

Proposed the Open Door Policy.

Sun Yat-sen

Father of modern China.

Yuan Shikai

First president of the Chinese Republic.

Mao Zedong

Founder of Communist China.

Chiang Kai-shek

Leader of Nationalist China.

Karl Marx

Founder of Marxism and communism.

Deng Xiaoping

Introduced economic reforms.

Japan & Korea

Prince Shotoku

Promoted Buddhism and Chinese influences.

Minamoto Yoritomo

Established Japan's first shogunate.

Oda Nobunaga

Began unification of Japan.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Continued unification of Japan.

Tokugawa Shogunate

Military government that ruled Japan for over 250 years.

Yi Seong-gye

Founder of Korea's Joseon Dynasty.

India & Southeast Asia

Siddhartha Gautama

Founder of Buddhism.

Brahma

Creator god in Hinduism.

Vishnu

Preserver god in Hinduism.

Shiva

Destroyer and transformer god.

Chandragupta Maurya

Founder of the Mauryan Empire.

Ashoka

Spread Buddhism throughout Asia.

Tamerlane

Built a large Central Asian empire.

Akbar the Great

Expanded Mughal Empire and promoted tolerance.

Shah Jahan

Built the Taj Mahal.

Mahatma Gandhi

Led Indian independence movement through nonviolence.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Founder of Pakistan.

Reginald Dyer

Ordered the Amritsar Massacre.

Pacific & Southeast Asia

George Dewey

Won Battle of Manila Bay.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Led Philippine independence movement.

Matthew Perry

Opened Japan to trade with the West.