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Latest stories
Grand Egyptian Museum: Take a Tour of the New Home for Egyptian Artifacts
Arts
When the Grand Egyptian Museum officially opens its doors, it will reveal treasures from the ancient Egyptians and their storied past.
Sculptor Marie Khouri’s Message of Connection in Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition
Arts
Vancouver-based artist Marie Khouri turns Arabic calligraphy into a 3D examination of love in Baheb, on view at the Arab World Institute in Paris.
History in Objects: 12th-Century Glass Flask an Islamic Golden Age Masterpiece
History
Arts
Golden Vessel From the Islamic Golden Age Reflects Cross-cultural Connections
‘Make It Your Own’: The Self-Belief Simmering in Noorjahan Bose’s Shemai Recipe
Food
A Bangladeshi dessert reflects hard-fought adaptability in life.
FirstLook: Poetic Fusion
Arts
Prior to our modern practice of image manipulation with editing software, photographers worked more with planned intention and craft.
Egyptology Today: A Conversation With Egyptian Archeologist Monica Hanna
History
Q&A
Until recently, Egyptian archeological sites were filled with foreign archeologists excavating prized treasures from the country’s ancient past.
Mundane to Magnificent: Yale Manuscript Exhibition Illuminates Muslim Knowledge
Arts
Manuscript exhibition reveals handwritten treasures spanning centuries and nations, in graying script and glorious technicolor, on ancient papyrus and gold-coated paper.
How South Africa Came to Popularize Luxury Mohair Fabric Globally
Arts
South Africa is the world’s largest producer of mohair, a fabric used in fine clothing. The textile tradition dates to the arrival of Angora goats from the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s.
Quick Summer Salad Recipe: Sea Beans With Fava Beans and Dill
Food
This recipe serves up one of London-based food writer Sally Butcher's favorite lunches—a perfect mezze dish of beans.
Flavors
Flavors: Cracked Wheat and Tomato Kibbeh
- Food
- Food
Featured Videos
Safi’s Search for Sound
- Arts
Read "Egypt Drops the Beat" here.
Video by Rebecca Marshall
Weaving an oriental carpet tradition in Georgia
- Arts
In Georgia Borchalo rugs are making a tentative comeback amid growing recognition of the uniqueness of ethnic Azerbaijani weaving. There’s hope that this tradition can be saved. Video by Pearly Jacob and Robin Forestier-Walker
Arian Shehu's Vocal Appeal To Safeguard Albania’s Iso-Polyphony
- Arts
For centuries iso-polyphony, a style of folk singing, has chronicled Albanian life. The songs are part of a rich tradition, and Arian Shehu lives and breathes it. The music is vital to Albanian weddings, funerals, harvests, festivals and other social events. Indeed, a Ministry of Culture official dubs it “the autobiography of a nation,” a means for the preservation and transmission of different stories. Recently, crowds gathered for the National Folklore Festival in the “stone city” of Gjirokastër, demonstrating that interest in iso-polyphony remains high. The challenge is getting younger generations to engage. But some are taking up the call.
Learn more and discover the story "A Vocal Appeal to Safeguard Albania's Iso-Polyphony" here.
The Art of the Seal: How to Make a Cylinder Seal Impression
- Arts
- History
Video by David H. Wells
Compact in size yet complex in the scenes they depict, stone cylinders—many no larger than your thumb—were a popular medium for Mesopotamian artisans talented enough to reverse-carve semiprecious stones and produce unique, often mythological tableaux in astonishingly sensitive, naturalistic detail. Their craft gave each seal’s owner a personalized graphic signature for use with the most popular media channel of the third millennium BCE: damp clay. Seal impressions certified ownership, validated origins, attested to debts, secured against theft and more. Many seal cylinders were drilled so they could be strung and carried as amulets and status symbols—uses that may find echoes among today’s compact, personalized communication devices.
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Author's Corner Q&A
- Arts
