AramcoWorld Magazine

Could Phoenicians Have Crossed the Atlantic?

Written by Tristan Rutherford Photographs by Yuri Sanada — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:11:18 GMT

Two thousand years before Columbus and 1,500 before Erikson, the Phoenician maritime empire covered the Mediterranean and west to the Canary Islands. In 2019 a replica Phoenician ship set its sail to find out if they could have gone farther.

Amir Zaki's Sculpture of Skateparks

Written by Brian E. Clark Photographs courtesy of Amir Zaki — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:10:36 GMT

It takes a landscape photographer’s eye to step down into a cement skatepark and turn the lens not on skaters but on the ramps, waves, valleys, bowls and tunnels that are the terrain of the park itself, and it takes a skater’s experience to do so in a way that captivates both art critics and skateboard stars. California native and photographer Amir Zaki grew up skateboarding on streets in suburban Los Angeles, and recently he began visiting skateparks to produce sweeping, large-format images that offer textured meditations on the beauty of light on curved concrete.

Preserving Arabia’s Bedouin Poetry

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:08:27 GMT

Throughout central Saudi Arabia, Bedouin tribal histories and folklore lie largely in oral poetry known as Nabati. In 1989, diplomat and linguist Marcel Kurpershoek set out to meet poets and record their verses. It became a lifetime project that continues to illuminate roots of the Arabic language and Arabian Peninsula cultures.

The Liverpool Effect

Written by Ken Chitwood — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:03:48 GMT

Around the turn of the 20th century, an acrobat from Morocco named Achmed Ben Ibrahim settled near the thriving port of Liverpool, UK. Forgotten until the recent discovery of his 1906 tombstone, his story foreshadows the cultural impacts of the city’s most famous 21st-century resident—Egyptian soccer star Mohammed “Mo” Salah.

Spice Migrations: Nutmeg

Written by Jeff Koehler Art by Linda Dalal Sawaya — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:02:16 GMT

In the Banda Islands, picking, peeling, drying and selling nutmeg to Arab and other traders was an aromatic business for centuries until the Dutch arrived. Nutmeg’s early fans used it more for health than cooking, but today it’s a kitchen staple, used in the West mainly in desserts but elsewhere in both sweet and savory dishes.

Masdar City: A Virtual Tour

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 14:00:21 GMT

A few kilometers east of downtown Abu Dhabi, traditional Arab urban principles are informing high-tech construction at Masdar City, one of the world’s most complex experiments in urban sustainability. Planned a decade ago to replace every molecule of carbon energy it used with one or more new ones, Masdar City is adapting its aspirations to financial necessities while evolving into a leading laboratory at the congested intersection of energy, environment, economics and design.

FirstLook: The Sphinx Imagined

Postcard collection by Jonathan Friedlander — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 21:55:22 GMT

Two summers ago I was browsing several hundred vintage postcards contained in narrow boxes all piled up in a Stillwater, Minnesota, antiques store...I came across several postcards that each featured an imagined sphinx as seen in natural rock formations.

Flavors: Fresh Thyme Pie (Za'tar Akhdar)

Recipe and photograph by Barbara Abdeni Massaad — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 14:50:08 GMT

Spreading the toppings evenly across the dough takes practice. Too much or too little of the topping makes a big difference. I found that the best way to spread the toppings on different pies is with your hands.

The Quest for Blue

Written by Tom Verde — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 15:00:00 GMT

Rare in nature and difficult to extract from minerals, blue eluded artisans for centuries until Egyptians invented the world’s first synthetic pigment. Formulas for blues from cobalt and indigo followed, and the results have delighted our eyes and evoked the sacred, the royal, the opulent and the mysterious ever since. And the quest is not over.

Pinisi Boats Sail into the Future

Written by Tristan Rutherford — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 14:03:00 GMT

Masterpieces of a wooden-boat tradition from the center of the 5,200-kilometer-wide Indonesian archipelago, pinisi schooners are both unique and related to the Arab dhows and European sailing ships that preceded them on the waters that link the region’s thousands of islands. Using memory,
not blueprints, pinisi shipwrights build each boat by hand.

Shanidar Cave Yields New Signs of Neanderthal Emotions

Written by Graham Chandler — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 14:02:00 GMT

Traces of flowers in a Neanderthal grave found 45 years ago in northern Iraq led to a theory that even the earliest humans may have expressed emotions in ritual. In 2016 archeologists returned: Could new finds lend support to the theory, or not?

Spice Migrations: Pepper

Written by Jeff Koehler Art by Linda Dalal Sawaya — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:04:00 GMT

It is the most common spice on tables around the world today, and for centuries, growing and trading the round corns of Piper nigrum—black pepper—created wealth, from pepper’s monsoon-watered origins in India to all of Asia, East Africa and Mediterranean Europe.

Hi Jolly – Uncle Sam’s Camel Captain

Written by Steve Brown — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 15:01:00 GMT

As a young man in Ottoman Turkey, Hadji Ali became an expert camel handler. In 1857 he accepted the US Army’s offer to assist its deployment of camels in the southwestern deserts, where his name was Americanized to “Hi Jolly.” His skills proved valuable, and yet he died penniless. Today his memory endures in legend as much as in fact—and on one miniature pyramid in Arizona.

Flavors: Spicy Bean Soup

Recipe by Troth Wells Photograph courtesy Kam & Co. Denmark — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 15:06:00 GMT

There were several meat dishes, so I asked if I could eat only non-meat ones. They were happy for that and charged very little—perhaps because the meat dishes were the centerpiece. This bean soup, harira, is often made with lamb, but this is a meatless version. I sometimes add peas or other veg to use them up.

FirstLook: My Grandmother’s Tlaba

Photograph by Nada Harib — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 15:05:00 GMT

In my hometown of Yefren, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tripoli, Libya, in the Nafusa mountains, my cousin Mira wears our grandmother’s tlaba (wool garment) to connect to her family roots. The photo is part of a documentary project I started to depict Amazigh women from Libya.

Habibi Funk’s Musical Revivals

Written by Mariam Shahin — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:04:00 GMT

Across North Africa a few back-street stores still sell records pressed in the ’70s and ’80s. There Jannis Stürtz has been digging for local classics to rerelease on his digital-and-vinyl label, Habibi Funk, bringing them to global audiences and illuminating some the era’s most vibrantly hybrid music scenes.

The Alhambras of Latin America

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:03:00 GMT

From the 1860s to the 1930s, architects throughout South America and the Caribbean took inspirations from the Islamic design heritage of southern Spain, where the most inspiring building of all proved to be the Alhambra palace.

For the Love of Reading

Written by Piney Kesting  Photographs courtesy of We Love Reading — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:02:00 GMT

From its first read-aloud in Jordan in 2006, We Love Reading has become one of the world’s most-recognized nonprofit organizations encouraging reading among children. Behind its success stand more than 7,000 local volunteer “reading ambassadors”—mostly women—in 61 countries and its founder, a scientist whose own four children inspired her.

Spice Migrations: Cinnamon

Written by Jeff Koehler  Art by Linda Dalal Sawaya — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:01:00 GMT

The series Spice Migrations opens in Sri Lanka with one of the world’s favorite spices, which once grew exclusively on that island. Traders priced cinnamon like gold, and those who could get it used it for health as much as for flavor. A storm, and a Portuguese fleet, changed everything.

FirstLook: Ahmet Dadali's Rodeo 7 Double Mute Grab

Photograph by Pally Learmond — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:05:00 GMT

For this shot I did a simple rodeo 7, which is two horizontal spins, and added a little extra spice by throwing in a double mute grab, which is holding one ski with both hands. It was a super high-speed jump, which I needed to make the 25 meters to the landing. I was lucky to land it first hit.

Britain’s Muslim Heritage Trails

Written by Matthew Teller  Photographed by Andrew Shaylor — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 14:00:00 GMT

Not far from London, newly inaugurated walking routes trace some of the first Islamic patronages and cultural contributions to the UK. The trails start at the country’s first purpose-built mosque and lead to two cemeteries—one dedicated to nearly forgotten Muslim veterans and the other the resting place of several dozen British Muslims, more than a few of them leaders in their fields. While the sites owe their origins to a 19th-century linguist, the trails have come about through collaborations among a local journalist, the London-based nonprofit Everyday Muslim and the town of Woking. All have teamed up so visitors can walk the paths of stories that hold “the potential to change Britain’s popular historical narrative.”

Flavors: Lamb and Egyptian Rice With Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Peas/Green Fava Beans

Recipe by Joudi Kalla Photograph courtesy Jaime Orlando Smith — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 16:39:40 GMT

Lamb and Egyptian Rice With Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Peas/Green Fava Beans

The Westward Journeys of Buttons

Written by Caroline Stone — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:06:07 GMT

We all use them. Most fasten; some decorate. A search for origins points toward the Indus Valley and China. By the Middle Ages, buttons reached Europe along with other garment techniques and fashion influences from lands east. Their stories are as interwoven as the textiles they make possible and as varied as their infinite designs.

Artists Answer COVID-19

Written and curated by Beliz Tecirli — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:03:03 GMT

Amid this year’s travel bans, museum and gallery closures, lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing, visual artists are responding with fresh imagery and creative collaborations across new platforms to articulate this moment and carry culture forward into the next.

Jute, The Future’s Golden Fiber

Written by Tristan Rutherford — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:02:16 GMT

Jute grows in tropical wetlands worldwide but nowhere as organic and plentiful as the deltas of Bangladesh and India, where its golden-hued fibers are inspiring a new generation of biodegradable products from carpets to car seats, clothing to “bioplastic” grocery bags.

A League of Their Own

Written by Dianna Wray Photographed by Lisa Krantz — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:01:15 GMT

In the era when baseball emerged as "America" National Pastime," the sons of Syrian Lebanese immigrants were smitten by the sport too— including a leftie slugger in Port Arthur, Texas, named Bill Anawaty.

Sitar Master of Maryland

Written by Larry Luxner Photographed by Eric Kayne — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:00:05 GMT

With a lifetime of training from leading sitar virtuosos, Alif Laila is one of few women to achieve international recognition with the mesmerizing instrument whose sound evokes the musical identity of the greater Indian subcontinent. She is as passionate about music as she is about encouraging other women.

2021 Calendar: Flavors

Introduction by Leyla Moushabeck — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:07:54 GMT

Cooking at home: Many of us are doing more of it than ever. Stories and recipes selected from our own regular “Flavors” section show just how delicious 12 months of discovery can be.

FirstLook: East Coast of Saudi Arabia, Circa 1952–1964

Photograph by Mary Elizabeth Hartzell — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 14:00:00 GMT

East Coast of Saudi Arabia, Circa 1952–1964

Flavors: Tamia—Falafel

Recipe by Troth Wells Photograph courtesy Kam & Co. Denmark — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 21:41:00 GMT

An easy Sudanese recipe for this great snack or mezze/appetizer that is probably as popular in the West as in the Middle East, where it originated.

The Dialogues of Don Quixote

Written and photographed by Tom Verde — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 14:33:55 GMT

Amid the fearful turbulence of the 17th century, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes invented a plot, characters and names that seemed innocently comical, but they cleverly cloaked his insistence that Spain recognize its historical diversity—and Don Quixote became the bestselling novel ever published.

Flavors: Nasi goreng

Recipe by Troth Wells Photograph courtesy Kam & Co. Denmark — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 18:40:56 GMT

A popular dish in Indonesia and Malaysia—and one that I often enjoyed when I lived for a year in Penang.

FirstLook: Waleed’s Birthday

Sanad, Bahrain Photo by Khalid Alabbas — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 18:26:39 GMT

Everything is different this year. Including my father Waleed’s birthday. He works in Oman and comes home to Bahrain every weekend. As expected, his routine changed this year. When travel was banned he was stuck in Oman.

I Witness History: I, Innocent Asp

Written by Frank L. Holt Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:05:59 GMT

You do not know the real me. The demise of Cleopatra is but one of your many slanders against my kind. Even Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra called me a “poor venomous fool.” But let’s examine the facts: I, the Egyptian asp, Naja haje, did not kill the queen.

The Staying Power of 4stay

Written by Larry Luxner — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 20:17:13 GMT

As an 18-year-old from Tajikistan new to Washington, DC, Akobir Azamovich Akhmedov could barely afford the city’s high rents. A dozen years later, he is cofounder and CEO of 4stay, where his plug-and-play approach to long-term accommodations is reshaping the market.

Of Spice, Home and Biryani

Written by Alia Yunis — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 14:15:00 GMT

Slow-cooked with meats, vegetables and spices that vary all across the subcontinent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, biryani “speaks to love, time and patience” for those who grow up with it, and to dazzling, addictive blasts of flavor to everyone else. No wonder it’s a rising global food star.

Greetings from Cairo, USA

Written by Jonathan Friedlander Postcards courtesy of Jonathan Friedlander — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 14:00:00 GMT

Westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century coincided with the popularity of all things Egyptian. Beginning in 1808 some 25 villages, towns and cities throughout the country were named Cairo. Of them, Cairo, Illinois, became the largest, although today it is Cairo, Georgia, whose nearly 10,000 residents gives it that title. Five of the “American Cairos” produced picture postcards, mostly during the early 20th century: These included both Cairo, Illinois and Georgia, as well as the Cairos of West Virginia, New York and Nebraska. Today these postcards record what these communities—distinct in geography, economy and history but united by a name—regarded as points of pride.

Flavors: Cheese Parcels with Honey and Orange Reduction

Recipe by Fiona Dunlop Photograph courtesy Hiltrud Schulz — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 19:01:06 GMT

While studying for a diploma in tourism, Diego crisscrossed the entire province of Almería, in Andalusia, Spain, and as a result, there is very little he doesn’t know about local specialties. This dish combines delicious textural contrast with subtle, sweet Moorish flavors. You need to complete the final stage just minutes before eating. Add whipped cream as an extra hit of sweet.

FirstLook: Hambori, Mali

Photograph by Kevin Bubriski — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 18:30:11 GMT

I have many memories of road trips where the possibility of stopping for a casual photo was impossible. I’ve passed by landscapes, seascapes, storefronts, bazaars, people and events where I didn’t have the time to capture images.

Green Mosques Generate Positive Energy

Written and photographed by Matthew Teller — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 20:48:37 GMT

From Jordan and Morocco to Indonesia, the uk and more, communities and governments are supporting eco mosques. The goals: education and thrift. “We want to lead by example,” says the manager of Masjid Az-Zikra in Indonesia.

Disease Detectives of Lebanon

Written by Larry Luxner Photographs courtesy of Human Link — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 20:47:22 GMT

Dropping into bat caves to examine and swab their inhabitants is a day’s work for the epidemiologists at the Beirut-based biomedical research lab Human Link, whose sleuthing in 2012 helped fight mers. Now they are on the case to help the world find a vaccine to prevent covid-19.

Mappila Rhythms, Monsoon Connections

Written and photographed by Rolf Killius — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 20:46:23 GMT

It was mainly the pepper in Kerala, at the southwest tip of India, that lured early traders to ride seasonal monsoon winds across the Arabian Sea. With the mariners came music that mixed with Keralan sounds to become the complex, percussion-driven traditions of today’s Mappila culture.

Tashkent’s Underground Masterpieces

Written by Piney Kesting Photographed by Stephen Lioy — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 20:43:18 GMT

In Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, the subway system offers more than practical travel. Called Toshkent Metropoliteni, or the Metro for short, it also transports passengers on a symbolic journey through Uzbek history. Each of its 29 stations was designed by an individual artist, and together they honor a pantheon of cultural heroes—writers, composers, scientists and more—as well as historic resources such as cotton and almonds. As breathtaking as they are informative, each metro station is a chapter in a story told in tileworks, murals and mosaics amid elegantly thematic lighting and architecture.

Mohammed Khoja's History and Harmony

Written by Kate Hazell Photographs courtesy of Hindamme — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 20:42:38 GMT

Designer Mohamed Khoja named his latest collection Al Ula after the city in Saudi Arabia that last year hosted the Desert X festival and 2,000 years ago hosted the Nabateans, whose iconic monuments now serve as his inspirational motifs.

First Look: Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem

Unknown photographer, circa 1909 — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 12:27:11 GMT

The contraption felt like a wood-and-metal prototype VR headset, and indeed it was with stereoscopes that 3D imaging was born in the mid-19th century.

Prince of Enchantment: The 'Ud

Written by Kay Hardy Campbell — Fri, 01 May 2020 20:00:00 GMT

Often regarded as the forerunner and name- sake of the European lute, the ‘ud (oud), is among the world’s oldest continuously played string instruments. In Arab and other musical traditions, its deeply resonant, emotionally evocative tones earned it, over the centuries, the sobriquet amir al-tararb.

The World’s First Oils

Written and photographed by Ken Chitwood — Fri, 01 May 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Pressed, extracted or distilled from any of hundreds of plants, pure “essential” oils are not just a rising multibillion-dollar global industry: They are among the world’s oldest organic wellness products, now available almost everywhere.

Brickwork in the Land of Palms

Written and photographed by Jeff Koehler — Fri, 01 May 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Along the northern edge of the Sahara, in the part of Tunisia called Bled el-Djerid—Land of the Palms—the regular pruning of vast date-palm orchards literally fuels a centuries-old brickmaking industry, and local bricklayers have taken the kiln-fired masonry to heights of artistry. Throughout the city of Tozeur and the nearby town of Nefta, bricks set in patterns decorate facades, windows, doors and arches with motifs from desert life, textiles and other traditions. The results not only dance with the changing angles of the sun, but also create just enough shade to help cool the buildings behind them.

Hassan Hajjaj's Hot Remix

Written by Juliet Highet // Photographs courtesy of Hassan Hajjaj — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:23:42 GMT

With brilliant colors, bold patterns and unbridled exuberance, photographer and designer Hassan Hajjaj has become one of the world’s most popular artists, remixing esthetics from Marrakesh to London, from heritage to hip-hop, with a playful, subversive swagger.

The Hidden Treasures of Nubia

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:03:54 GMT

To the south of ancient Egypt, there was another civilization, at times a rival, at times a vassal, and always a source for coveted gold: Nubia, which rose to its peak of conquest 2,700 years ago when its king, Piye, sailed an army down the Nile.

Flavors: Watermelon, Feta and Red Onion Salad with Mint

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 13:22:26 GMT

The ingredients in the title represent everything that Palestinian people enjoy eating: fruits, cheese and onions.

FirstLook: One Eye on You

Photography by Mohammad Khorshed — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 14:07:11 GMT

I usually photograph birds in Kuwait during the migration seasons, when the country becomes an important stop for birds migrating throughout Africa, Europe and Asia. In October 2012 friends alerted me to a spotted, short-eared owl at Jahra Pools Nature Reserve in al-Jahra.

Gahwa Renaissance

Written by Shaistha Khan  Illustrated by Teresa Abboud — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Preparing, serving and sipping gahwa—the Arabic word for coffee—is a ritual steeped in centuries of hospitality. In December in Abu Dhabi, the inaugural Gahwa Championships honored not only tradition but also innovation.

Sepak Takraw Takes Flight

Written by John O’Callaghan Photographed by Beawiharta — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Take the Malay word for kick and pair it with the Thai word for a hollow, woven ball and you have sepak takraw, the name of the acrobatic, lightning-fast Southeast Asian sport in which players use feet, legs, chest and head—no hands—to power a ball over a badminton-style net. (Think “kick volleyball.”) It’s been played across the region for more than three centuries, and recent decades have brought international agreements on rules that have led in turn to local and national leagues, tournaments in schools and capitals—all pushing sepak takraw onto an increasingly global sports stage. With more than two dozen countries now fielding national teams, the sport’s leading promoters have set their eyes on the Olympics.

The Middle East on a Plate

Written and photographed by Larry Luxner — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:00:00 GMT

His roadside discovery of a discarded Lebanese license plate kindled the author’s 30-year passion for license plates from the Middle East and North Africa. Along the way, he often found pleasant and humorous stories, as well as bright artifacts of the diversity of daily life.

The Arabian Journey of Geraldine Rendel

Written by William Facey Photographs by George and Geraldine Rendel — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:00:00 GMT

In 1937 Geraldine Rendel became not only one of the first non-Muslim women to traverse the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but also, quite possibly, its first tourist. She and her husband, George, a British diplomat, were invited by King Abdulaziz Al Sa`ud, and 83 years later her account is being published for the first time.

I Witness History: I, Eternal Bodyguard

Written by Frank L. Holt Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:00:00 GMT

I’m from Kemet. You call it Egypt. Now I live in Texas. Crafted from wood and ritually painted nearly 2,000 years ago, my job in afterlife protection never ends. I haven’t always done it so well.

Flavors: Cherry and Tomato Gazpacho

Fiona Dunlap — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:53:26 GMT

Sweet cherries are a Middle Eastern fruit thought to have originated in Anatolia and later cultivated in al-Andalus. Not the case for the tomato, of course, that American interloper

Flavors: Pistachio, Zucchini and Lemon Cake

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 19:53:28 GMT

I started making this cake years ago when I was running my deli. I really prefer it to carrot cake and the green of the pistachio slivers running through it make it not only beautiful but delicious.

Tinariwen's Sahara Blues

Written by Banning Eyre Photographed by Charlotte Doughty — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Coming out of the struggles of post colonial desert Africa, Tuareg band Tinariwen adapted blues rock ‘n‘ roll guitars to North African traditions. The result has been nearly four decades of a sound that has inspired an entire genre of “desert blues,” in which themes of loss, home, hope and unity transcend language for audiences around the world.

The Emperor from Africa

Written by Barnaby Rogerson Photographed by Don McCullin — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

One of two sons of a wealthy, politically ambitious, olive-farming family, Septimius Severus grew up in Leptis Magna, along what is now the coast of Libya, in the second century ce. At first not the most promising of teenage scions, he matured to take high command posts on the Danube frontier and, at 48, became the Roman Empire’s first emperor born on the African continent. Over his 18-year reign, he rarely sat on a throne in Rome, preferring travel with the legions to frontiers and far reaches where his efforts expanded the empire to its greatest extent and left legacies in law and architecture that endure today.

The Arts Come Home to Bethlehem

Written by Mariam Shahin Photographs courtesy of Dar Jacir — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

From urban gardening workshops to artists in residence, gallery shows, cinema and a historical archive, Dar Jacir is one of the oldest and most stately homes in Bethlehem and one of the Palestinian town’s newest touchstones for creative expressions.

Making Lawrence of Arabia

Written by Vyvyan Kinross — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

In 1919 American journalist and filmmaker Lowell Thomas glamorized British Army officer Thomas Edward Lawrence first in war propaganda and then in commercial cinema. His show traveled the world and gave birth to one of the most popular modern legends of Western involvement in the Middle East.

Texting Cuneiform

Written by Jane Grutz — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

The world’s first palm-sized tablets were made of clay, and they had enough surface for only a few wedge-shaped impressions of a reed stylus. That was how students in Sumer—all boys—learned to write cuneiform. Those who did well could upgrade to bigger clay and go into accounting, law or literature.

FirstLook: Stepwells of Chand Baori

Photograph by Victoria Lautman — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:00:00 GMT

The Stepwell of Chand Baori

Messages in the Maps

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 14:00:00 GMT

Long given short shrift by Western scholars for being more schematic than to scale, Islamic maps from the 10th to the 18th century were often sophisticated images, full of insights for anyone willing to set out and explore them.

2020 Calendar: Exploring Islamic Maps

Introduction and captions by Karen C. Pinto — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 12:53:28 GMT

2020 Calendar: Exploring Islamic Maps

A Palette in White

Written and photographed by  Alia Yunis — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 15:00:00 GMT

There is no official count of how many varieties of cheese the Arab world produces. Although each is unique, all are white. Don’t even begin to think that makes them boring.

Cooling Dubai

Written by Beliz Tecirli — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Some 90 former warehouses have been transformed into a lively cultural scene at Alserkal Avenue—the latest of Dubai’s replies to the question, “What can art do for a city?”

Robots of Ages Past

Written by Robert W. Lebling — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 15:00:00 GMT

A century ago, a Czech playwright coined the word “robot,” and 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci designed a pretty good one—and he was far from the first. (Hey Siri, who was Ismail al-Jazari?)

The Storyteller Who Listened

Written by Rami G. Khouri  Photographed by George Azar — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 15:00:00 GMT

“I’ve tried to listen and understand,” said the late Anthony Shadid, the first Arab American correspondent to win a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting. How he did it was no secret formula: time; attention; sincerity—and lots of notes.

Washington’s Museum of Palestine

Written by Larry Luxner  Photographed by Eric Kayne — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 15:00:00 GMT

What started as a traveling exhibit of history, culture and art opened this year as one of the newest museums in Washington, dc, in a former residence in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.

Flavors: Poulet Stuffed with Herb-Infused Freekeh

Recipe by Joudie Kalla Photograph courtesy Jamie Orlando Smith — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 22:05:27 GMT

Poulet Stuffed with Herb-Infused Freekeh

FirstLook: A Memory of My Mother’s Scarf

Photograph by Laura El-Tantawy — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 14:00:00 GMT

FirstLook: A Memory of My Mother’s Scarf

A House for the World

Written by Matthew Teller — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

A marvel of ultramodern architecture and engineering inspired by a simple arrangement of stones, The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, is one of Saudi Arabia’s newest sources of energy—creativity, culture and knowledge.

Chef 2.0

Written by Brian E. Clark Photographed by Krisanne Johnson — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

Can robots cook? Yes, says Michael Farid, mit grad and cofounder of the new eatery Spyce in downtown Boston. But does it taste good? Yes, says Daniel Boulud, Michelin-star chef and the culinary brains behind the Spyce menu.

Africa's First City of Islam

Written by Ana M. Carreño Leyva Photographed by Richard Doughty — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

Founded on a plain between sea and hills in the year 670 CE, Kairouan became a capital of dynastic power and a cultural beacon, the center for the spread of Muslim Arab influence through North Africa and southern Europe— not only in religion, but also in architecture, medicine, education, law and more.

Egypt Drops the Beat

Written by Tristan Rutherford Photography and video by Rebecca Marshall — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

It was a Cairo composer who produced the world’s first electronic remix, and now, 75 years later, his digital descendants are mixing fresh new beats for new generations. The best place to listen is along the shores of the Red Sea at the annual Sandbox Festival.

FirstLook: Birthday Feast

Photograph by Carolyn Drake — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

In the small town of Syrdaryo, about 80 kilometers outside of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, photojournalist Carolyn Drake visited the family of a local friend. The visit coincided with a birthday celebration. In the family’s main room near a window, a dasturxon (Uzbek for tablecloth used as a place setting, usually set on the floor) served as a focal point for sweets, appetizers and side dishes, surrounded by kurpachas, felt mats used for sitting or reclining.

Flavors: Jollof Rice

Recipe by Tunde Wey — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 14:00:00 GMT

The perfect plate of jollof rice must be slightly smoky, deeply flavored, al dente and bright red. It’s a challenge but definitely worth it!

The Borderless World of Kahlil Gibran

Written by Piney Kesting  Photographed by Kevin Bubriski — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 15:42:34 GMT

Arriving penniless in Boston from Lebanon, Gibran Khalil Gibran—whose name a schoolteacher misspelled “Kahlil”—grew up to become one of the early 20th century’s most inspiring writers. The story of his against-the-odds rise is one of not only pluck and talent, but also luck and mentors, whose little-known stories are shedding new light on the complex biography of a man whose poetry and prose speak today as richly as nearly a century ago.

Amedi: Citadel of Culture

Written by Matthew Teller  Photographed by George Azar — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 15:41:47 GMT

Perched on a table-topped, naturally defensive crag overlooking green valleys in Iraq’s rugged north, the town of Amedi is one of what were once nearly 200 historic citadels and one of the most intact. Experts at home and abroad are pitching in to meet the town’s newest challenge: preserving the history that remains and, at the same time, turning it into a much-needed economic engine.

FirstLook: Casablanca Not the Movie

Photograph by “Yoriyas” Yassine Alaoui Ismaili — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 15:45:33 GMT

I love walking the beach in Casablanca. Earlier this year I saw a dog digging a hole into the sand. The scene grabbed my attention, and I began to take a couple of pictures. When a boy rode up on a horse behind me to watch what was happening, I quickly took three steps back, placing the horse in the left of the frame, and made this photograph.

Flavors: Reem’s Muhammara

Recipe by Reem Assil — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 15:43:15 GMT

Muhammara dip recipe from Chef Reem Assil: In every home in Syria, my family would serve multiple mezze dips with dinner, and muhammara was always a centerpiece. It has the perfect combination of tangy, nutty and spicy flavors. And it looks beautiful on a dinner spread.

Kazakhstan’s Golden Son

Written by Hal Foster  Photographed by Seitek Moldokasymov — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 15:40:50 GMT

Working patiently in his family-run lab, Krym Altynbekov has restored and re-created chariots, saddles, weapons, tools and clothing unearthed over the past four decades, including the unnamed warrior dubbed “the Golden Man,” who has become a national symbol of the Central Asian nation’s nomad history. But “gold isn’t the treasure for us,” says Altynbekov’s daughter Elina. “It’s the information we obtain about our past.”

The Canary Islands Connection

Written by Gary Paul Nabhan Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 16:00:00 GMT

Since antiquity, foods and food cultures have migrated from the Middle East westward as far as the Canary Islands. After 1492 the Canaries became a leading port of departure to the New World, and new research shows that Canarian culinary influences flowed particularly to the dry lands that today straddle the border between Mexico and the us. Those influences led to crops and livestock that have helped produce the region’s distinctive cuisine today—from albóndigas and atoles to sopapillas and zalabias.

The Extraordinary Ordinary #everyday

Written by Mae Ghalwash — Tue, 07 May 2019 12:44:10 GMT

Founded by journalists to look beyond the headlines, Everyday Projects comprises more than 50 Instagram feeds featuring photography that captures a mosaic of life from just about everywhere, every day.

The Storyteller of Tangier

Written and photographed by Jeff Koehler — Wed, 01 May 2019 15:09:00 GMT

Mohammed Mrabet ran away from school and never learned to read or write. But he told spellbinding stories. A friendship with writers Jane and Paul Bowles got him published in more than a dozen languages. Today he is known also for his painting and drawing.

Astrolabe Tech Made ... Not So Easy

Written by Lee Lawrence // Photography by David H. Wells — Wed, 01 May 2019 15:00:00 GMT

About the size of a tablet computer, astrolabes were tools of astronomers, surveyors and navigators, to name a few. But using them took a lot more than typing, tapping and swiping.

Cedrus libani Forever?

Written and photographed by Sheldon Chad — Wed, 01 May 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Lebanon's cedars are symbols of the country itself, a living metaphor of majestic beauty and endurance. Few cedars remain, and their survival is challenged as conservationists work to preserve them.

The Mystery of Cairo’s Magnificent Mamluk Carpets

Written by Rosamond E. Mack — Wed, 01 May 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Few survive, some just in fragments: In the 15th century, the Mamluk sultan in Cairo built up the city’s carpet workshops. The large masterpieces they produced soon graced palaces—notably in Italy and Spain.

FirstLook: Mobile Library, Java

Photographed by Putu Sayoga — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:52:33 GMT

Ridwan Sururi of Serang Village, central Java, Indonesia, started the Kudapustaka (Horse library), in 2015. Today he visits villages and schools three days a week.

Flavors: Afro Steak Dinner

Recipe by Moussa Doulaeh — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 15:08:10 GMT

This dish includes tasty portions of spiced beef with grilled vegetables. Aromatic Somali rice, bursting with sweet and savory flavors, is a natural match.

The Handwritten Heritage of South Africa’s Kitabs

Written by Alia Yunis Photographed by Samantha Reinders — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

One heirloom connects Muslim families of Cape Town to heritage more than any other: a kitab. Historians and linguists value them, too, as some preserve the first written form of the Afrikaans language, which was in Arabic script.

A Crude History

Written and photographed by Beliz Tecirli — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

In the oblique and often provocative ways of contemporary art, the 17-artist exhibition “Crude” probes the roles of oil in cultures and societies of the Middle East through the eyes of artists of the region. It is “art rooted in the Gulf, yet addressing universal ideas,” says Antonia Carver, director of the new Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, which in November inaugurated its galleries with the show.

Montpellier’s Multicultural Medicine

Written by Gerald Zarr Photographed by Rebecca Marshall — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Founded in the 10th century in southern France, Montpellier grew on commerce and knowledge. In the 12th century, Christian, Muslim and Jewish scholars opened what is today Europe’s oldest continuous school of medicine.

Modernism Awakening

Written by Juliet Highet // Images Courtesy Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

The Modernist movement expressed postcolonial aspirations, elevated traditional cultures and redefined identities from Morocco to Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, the Levant, the Gulf and more. As Arab Modernist paintings command rising prices at art auctions, curators and historians are paying increasing attention to its diverse and dynamic origins.

Women Behind the Lens: The Middle East's First Female Photographers

Essays introduced and edited by Tom Verde — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Some took portraits of women or worked in the labs of family studios. Some worked across the region with employers or family members. A few struck out on their own. None received much notice—until recently. Three historians introduce leading women photographers of the early 20th century in the Middle East.

Sirens of the Seagrass

Written by Alia Yunis — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Gentle and at times curious, dugongs likely inspired the first tales of mermaids. Once widely hunted, they are now globally protected, but their food—seagrass—is in decline, and from East Africa to the Pacific Islands, conservationists and communities are taking action.

Flavors: Vegan Lebanese Moussaka

Recipe by Salma Hage — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 15:08:10 GMT

Vegan Lebanese Moussaka Recipe

FirstLook: Baking Naan

Photograph by Farshad Usyan — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:56:05 GMT

Baking Naan, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan

After Manas, My Kyrgyz, Your Chingiz

Written by Alva Robinson Photographed by Seitek Moldokasymov — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 20:32:52 GMT

Through more than 30 literary works, translated into more than 170 languages, as well as films and theater, Chingiz Aitmatov became credited with raising the profile of his country and, with it, the cause of cultural preservation throughout Central Asia.

Orientalism’s Equestrian Eye

Written by Lucien de Guise — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 13:27:44 GMT

Orientalist artists—generally 19th-century European and American painters of Arabworld subjects—are often criticized for stereotyping. But one subject they painted with fidelity continues to win universal respect: horses.

FirstLook: AramcoWorld at 70

Wed, 02 Jan 2019 18:20:07 GMT

From the current print edition’s cover to the our first edition, we’ve assembled 366 of the nearly 450 regular and special editions published since 1949 as we celebrate 70 years of AramcoWorld

The Age of Ivory

Written by Graham Chandler — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 17:51:29 GMT

Some were found at the bottoms of wells. Some were scattered about palace rooms. Thousands of exquisitely carved works of ivory, all produced nearly 3,000 years ago in and around what is now Iraq, make up one of the most beautiful and enigmatic legacies of Assyria.

Cairo’s House of Knowledge

Written by Tom Verde — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 17:49:59 GMT

Shortly after the founding of Cairo, Egypt, in 969 CE, its ruler started a research center whose legacies—particularly in optics and astronomy—helped shape the world we know today.

David Dorr's Window East

Matthew Teller — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 16:48:25 GMT

Like other “Grand Tour” travelers of the 1850s, David Dorr visited Europe, Egypt and Palestine. But unlike others, Dorr did not travel freely. His book, A Colored Man Round the World, is the only known account of Middle East travel by an American slave.

Flavors: Chicken with Charmoula

By Mourad Lahlou — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:46:59 GMT

Before the development of the poultry industry in Morocco in the 1970s, it was customary to go to the market and pick out a live chicken. Though it is not as critical in a recipe like this, which marinates the meat in spices and herbs, I still encourage you to seek out the purest ingredients available to you.

Camels: The Magnificent Migration

Written by Peter Harrigan Graphic by Mesa Schumacher — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 21:00:09 GMT

Beginning around 3,000 years ago, humans began domesticating camels in Asia and the Middle East. Adapted for the harshest of climates and traveling long distances, the camel's journey began 40 million years ago—all the way from North America.

Camels and Culture—A Celebration

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 20:30:32 GMT

Celebrating their national animal, some 40,000 camels are brought by truck, by trek, singly and in herds, to compete in contests of beauty, speed and obedience outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Camel-culture exhibits round out the annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival.

Bling Your Camel

Written and photographed by Beliz Tecirli — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 20:01:30 GMT

Want your camel to stand out from the herd? Don’t think too hard about endurance—it’s pretty much a given for a camel. Speed? Not every camel has it. But accessories? Maybe an artistic fur-cut? That’s up to you.

The Art of Saddling a Camel

Written by Doug Baum Photographed by Nick Keller — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 19:02:30 GMT

Since the earliest days of domestication, the camel’s hump—or humps—have challenged would-be riders. In Africa, Arabia, India and Central Asia, saddle designs have long expressed both utility, beauty and culture.

The Culinary Camel

Written by Sara Al-Bassam Photographed by Hatim Oweida — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:30:56 GMT

From Bedouin banquets to hipster hashi-burger food trucks, Camel is one of the world’s fastest-growing health-and-heritage consumer product sectors. How does camel taste? There's only one way to find out.

2019 Gregorian-Hijri Calendar – Camel

Introduction by Peter Harrigan — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 18:03:41 GMT

Herded, saddled, loaded by traders; cared for, sung about and even sung to—one-humped dromedaries prove extraordinary in deserts where the sun is hot; two-humped Bactrians rank no less in others where it is not. Let the rhythmic gaits of our calendar camels carry you along for the year.

Flavors: Saudi Camel Meatballs

Recipe by Anissa Helou — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 22:01:20 GMT

The first time I tasted camel was some 25 years ago in Damascus, Syria.

FirstLook: Morning tafheem, al-Rumah, Saudi Arabia

Photograph by Abdullah Sulaiman Alshathri — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:48:51 GMT

To get camels ready for races, they are taken out for tafheem, an Arabic word that has two main meanings in English.

A Museum of the World

Written by Ana M. Carreño Leyva Photographed by Richard Doughty — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:37:08 GMT

Ten years in the making and the first universal museum in the Arab world, the newly opened Louvre Abu Dhabi sets out a dozen themed galleries to tell cross-civilizational stories about the relationships of cultures—in every land, from the earliest settlements to today—that informed and inspired each other along their myriad respective quests of expression and beauty.

FirstLook: Removing Water Lilies from Dal Lake

Photograph by Paula Bronstein — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 16:47:22 GMT

No matter what my assignment is, as a photojournalist, I usually keep a camera ready all day. You never know when there will be a chance to make an interesting image that can tell a different story.

Flavors: Turmeric Shrimp with Curry Leaves

Recipe by Mei Chau — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 16:46:59 GMT

This dish was invented a year after I moved to New York, with the help of my large Asian pantry, especially curry leaves, whose smell reminds me of my innocent and unbound childhood.

The Producer

Written by Lina Mounzer // Photographed by Michael Nelson — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 17:50:36 GMT

Over nearly three decades, her festivals, concerts, albums and songs have connected styles, artists and audiences across cultures from Lebanon to Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan to the heart of Hollywood, where in 2017 Dawn Elder became the first woman to be named producer of the year.

Egyptology’s Pioneering Giant

Written by Tom Verde — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 16:27:17 GMT

Circus strongman, amateur engineer, locator and excavator of tombs and temples, mover of massive masterpieces—to England—Giovanni Battista Belzoni left a legacy in Egyptology that was, in every conceivable way, large.

Somaliland’s Midwife

Written by Louis Werner Photography and video by Lorraine Chittock — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:31:48 GMT

From the hospital that carries her name to the villages where she is affectionately greeted as Edo (Auntie), Edna Adan has helped Somaliland recover from a civil war and inspired a rising generation of women leaders in medicine, public service, environmental conservation and even the arts.

The Fragile Songs of the Sumatran Rhinos

Written By Jeremy Hance — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:31:35 GMT

“The more I know, the more I love about the Sumatran rhino,” says veterinarian Zulfi Arsan about the smallest and oldest rhino species. With only a few dozen left in the wild, captive breeding may offer the rhinos their best—and perhaps only—hope.

Listening to the Land

Written by Matthew Teller // Photography by George Azar — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:31:12 GMT

Tuned to low-impact design, local materials and how people physically experience buildings, the Royal Academy for Conservation of Nature in northern Jordan rises from an abandoned limestone quarry to exemplify the ethic it teaches.

Kufiya Nouveau

Written by Mariam Shahin Photographed by George Azar — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:30:54 GMT

Once a traditional Arab headdress of white cotton sewn with traditional patterns in black or red, the kufiya is being pulled by designers onto the streets and runways of global fashion.

More Than a Team

Written and photographed by Brian Clark — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 18:35:08 GMT

Founded more than 100 years ago, Club Deportivo Palestino (Palestinian Sport Club) helped unify Palestinian immigrants in Santiago, Chile. Today, an estimated 300,000 Chileans can claim Palestinian descent, and the premier-league club is an active link to a distant land of origin.

Flavors: Kurus with Spoon Salad

Recipe by Didem Hosgel — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 15:23:29 GMT

My mother made kurus a lot for my brother and me because it was inexpensive, easy to prepare and, most importantly, delicious.

A Conversation with Saudi Filmmakers

Photographs courtesy Fleishmanhillard — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 11:51:26 GMT

Twelve short films. Five video installations. Three days. Seven Saudi filmakers talk about one of the world's fastest-emerging film industries.

First Look: The Shining Jewel

Photograph by Saleh Alhathloul — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:43:50 GMT

Often an angle least considered is the bird’s-eye view—straight down, this came to mind when I thought about photographing the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

Iraq's First Archeologist

Written by Jane Waldron Grutz — Thu, 03 May 2018 08:46:49 GMT

Hormuzd Rassam was 19 years old to help with excavations. Soon he began to uncover long-forgotten palaces–temples at Nimrud and later at Nineveh, splendors of first-millennium-BCE Assyrian kings.

Flavors: Chicken Dahiwala

Recipe by Roni Mazumdar — Wed, 02 May 2018 15:48:43 GMT

Chicken Dahiwala's origin is northern Indian, but many mothers across India make this dish with their own spin. This recipe comes from my home; my mother used to make it for us during the hot days of summer.

I Witness History: I, Down the Drain

Written by Frank L. Holt // Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Wed, 02 May 2018 12:11:12 GMT

I was carved to adorn a soldier's ring, but one day in the steamy bathhouse of the Second Legion Augusta, I came unglued, slipped my mooring, and then darkness–and plenty of rotten company–for nearly 2,000 years.

FirstLook: Inside/Outside

Photograph by Tuba Koymen — Tue, 01 May 2018 16:31:30 GMT

This "dreamlike" photograph was made both inside and outside of my grandmother’s sister-in-law’s adobe house near Ankara, Turkey using a pinhole camera that I made by hand from a paint can.

The Ottoman Carpets of Transylvania

Written by Louis Werner Photographed by Matthieu Paley — Tue, 01 May 2018 14:00:05 GMT

Some of the finest carpets ever made came from Ottoman workshops in western Anatolia between the 16th and 19th centuries. One of the best collections of them can be found displayed and stored among more than a dozen churches in Transylvania.

Hike Palestine

Written by Matthew Teller Photographed by George Azar — Tue, 01 May 2018 14:00:00 GMT

With the wide wanderings of Abraham more than 4,000 years ago, 21 linked stages of rural pathways and back roads now make up the 330-kilometer Masar Ibrahim al-Khalil, or “Trail of Abraham the Friend.”

Flavors: Kushari

Recipe by Brenda Abdelall — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 04:05:02 GMT

Kushari is a simple, yet hearty vegetarian dish that is popular on the streets of Egypt. It is often considered poor man’s food because it is cheap and filling.

The Modernist

Written by Matthew Teller Photographed by Andrew Shaylor — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 23:20:50 GMT

Independent. Confident. Inclusive. Three watchwords for art collector and social-media activist Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, whose Barjeel Foundation is showing how much Arab modern art has to say.

The Art Bridge

Written by Lee Lawrence — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 15:00:00 GMT

How does art influence our attitudes toward the cultures artists come from and express? To find out, we looked at a children’s museum, a public mural, an online comedy and a touring hip-hop quartet.

Marseille’s Migrant Cuisine

Written by Tristan Rutherford Photographs and video by Rebecca Marshall — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 15:00:00 GMT

“If you imagine French cuisine as a tree,” says food historian Emmanuel Perrodin, “the leaves are in Paris, but the roots reside in Marseille”—fed by 2,600 years of migrations from the Mediterranean and beyond.

Khartoum: A Tale of Two Rivers

Written by Louis Werner Photographed by David Degner — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 14:44:57 GMT

Sudan’s capital Khartoum is the gift of not one but two Niles—the White and the Blue—at whose meeting point arose a three-part metropolis.

The Shampooing Surgeon of Brighton

Written by Gerald Zarr — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 14:44:57 GMT

He wrote the first book in English by an author of Indian origin and opened London’s first Indian restaurant, but he is remembered most along England’s south coast for his therapeutic steam baths.

FirstLook: Jumeirah Beach, Dubai

Photograph by Bjorn Moerman — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 06:01:00 GMT

It was as if Dubai's sand "reflected ... not the forms of the towers but the humanity that built them," says photographer Bjorn Moerman.

Carsten Niebuhr and the Danish Expedition to Arabia

Written by Paul G. Chamberlain — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 18:43:02 GMT

Of six men who set out from Denmark in 1761, disease took five; only Carsten Niebuhr—mapmaker and empathic observer—returned, and he published what became a foundation of European scientific knowledge of Arabia.

Lemons, Garlic, Mint, Portraits

Written by Jeff Koehler // Photography by Hamza Ayari — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 14:10:29 GMT

Hamza Ayari describes himself on Facebook as having a “photo addiction,” which fuels his growing collection of portraits made on location at his produce stand in Tunis’ central market.

The Legacy of Arabic in America

Written by Piney Kesting Photographed by Krisanne Johnson — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 15:01:00 GMT

The eighth most-studied language in US schools and universities today is Arabic. That would please Edward E. Salisbury of Yale, who in 1841 became the country’s first full professor of Semitic languages—nearly 200 years after North America’s first Arabic class was offered at Harvard.

Asian Nations Unite to Protect Snow Leopards

Written and photographed by Adriane Lochner — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 15:00:00 GMT

In Central Asia’s mountains, heritage and folklore show a centuries-old respect for the most elusive—and ecologically vulnerable—of the vast region’s wild predators: Panthera uncia, the snow leopard. In August delegates from 12 countries met at the Second International Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Forum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to advance increasingly successful collaborations in government, education, wildlife management and law enforcement.

I Witness History: I, Horn of Africa

Written by Frank Holt // Illustration by Norman MacDonald — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 14:43:47 GMT

Royal trumpet of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, I was born to command armies, priests and whole populations. But my days with him were few. Layed to rest with my mouthpiece toward my 19-year-old pharaoh, I fell silent for 3,262 years. Then one of you tried to play me.

FirstLook: Tassili n’Ajjer National Park

Photograph by Sebastião Salgado / Contact Press Images — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 07:54:45 GMT

At first impression, the Sahara appears to be lifeless, with golden sand dunes stretching out as far as the eye can see. Yet it is one of the places where I have felt closest to the past of humanity.

—Sebastião Salgado

FirstLook: State Highway 37, near Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, Central India

Photograph by David H. Wells — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 16:00:00 GMT

State Highway 37, near Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, Central India

The Amazigh Adventures of Le Petit Prince

Written by Louis Werner — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 19:19:23 GMT

One of the world's most beloved children's stories, The Little Prince – as it is titled in English – resonates especially in Morocco among Amazigh, or Berber, children and not just for its familiar desert setting. As one translator explains, "The plot has many similarities to our Amazigh oral tales."

Tarab and the Art of Music

Introduction by Kay Hardy Campbell — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:25:00 GMT

Beyond virtuosity, Arab musical esthetics enjoin musicians to elicit an emotionally charged and frequently interactive relationship between musician and audience called tarab, using instruments from voices and hands to woodwinds, strings and percussion.

12 Things Twitter Won’t Tell You About Zodiacs

Written by Robert Lebling Illustrations by Kitty Yin Ling Miao — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:00:00 GMT

Should the 13th constellation of the zodiac matter to you? (It’s named Ophiuchus, and Babylonians wondered about it just as much as everyone who argues the point now on social media.)

Arab Translators of Egypt’s Hieroglyphs

Written by Tom Verde — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 13:30:00 GMT

The translation of hieroglyphs in 1822 culminated more than 1,000 years of efforts by Romans, Arabs and Europeans. Insights from 10th-century Assyrian scholar Ibn Wahshiyya al-Nabati helped build the understanding that the Egyptian symbols worked in three distinct ways.

Kanga’s Woven Voices

Photographed by Samantha Reinders Written by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 13:15:00 GMT

Skirt, scarf, or both; sling for a child, basket for shopping, or both; bought to honor a special occasion, to give as a gift, or just to feel good tomorrow; its distinctive, one-line jina a proverb, a plea, a proclamation or a sunny burst of whimsy; above all, a social statement on a colorful cotton cloth. From rural villages to city streets, women and girls along East Africa’s coast do more than wear the popular rectangular kanga: They weave it into life, from birth to death, a “social medium” worn, traded and treasured, for designs, messages and memories.

The Seventh Summit

Written by Johnny Hanson // Images courtesy Raha Moharrak @rahamoharrak — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 19:31:06 GMT

One Saudi woman's historic journey to climb atop the "the seven summits," the highest peak on each continent, is about making the impossible achievable.

Bahrain's Pearling Path

Written by Sylvia Smith Photographs and video by Richard Duebel — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 15:00:00 GMT

Linking the waters once plied by pearl divers to the town their pickings paid for, the island of Muharraq’s streets-and-alleys walking trail strings together some 17 restored buildings, bringing new life to Bahrain’s most historic urban neighborhood.

FirstLook: Qubbat al-Sakhra, ca. early 20th century

Photograph by Kelvin Bown — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 12:07:26 GMT

Photo restorer and artist Kelvin Brown stitched together scans from stereoscopic negatives bringing renewed clarity to the Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock).

Islamic Science's India Connection

Written by Alok Kumar and Scott T. Montgomery — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 17:36:21 GMT

Mutual belief in the idea of a universal order drew Muslim scholars to Indus Valley knowledge, and their translations advanced the trans-civilizational endeavor we today call science.

The Music Through the Window

Written by Matthew Teller Photographed by Andrew Shaylor — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:00:00 GMT

London’s biennial summer festival of Arab culture, Shubbak (“Window” in Arabic), staged 80 events with 150 artists, writers, dramatists—and musicians, all chosen for fusion-oriented creativity. We take in six outstanding new sounds.

Morocco's Cinema City

Written by Tristan Rutherford Photographs by Rebecca Marshall — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:00:00 GMT

From Lawrence of Arabia in the ‘60s to Star Wars in the ‘70s to Game of Thrones last year, Ouarzazate is where it’s at for film and TV shoots— more than 100 a year—and it’s home to North Africa’s newest film festival.

Chasing Zero

Written by Alan Mammoser Photographed by Kevin Bubriski — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 12:55:58 GMT

Just east of downtown Abu Dhabi, traditional Arab urban principles are informing high-tech construction in Masdar City, one of the world’s most complex experiments in urban sustainability.

Hadrian's Syrians

Written by Charles O. Cecil — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 18:20:37 GMT

Stretching 80 Roman miles across northern England, Hadrian’s Wall took 8,000 men to maintain and defend, among them some 500 Syrian archers. With them came merchants, too, including one Barates, who married a local woman. When she died, he memorialized her on stone, leaving a glimpse of daily life along Hadrian’s Wall.

The White Olives of Malta

Written and Photographed by Tom Verde — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 15:00:00 GMT

In the Middle Ages, bajda olives—from the Arabic for “white”—were prized on this Mediterranean archipelago, but by the late 20th century they were nearly gone. It took a retired expert in gems and jewels to revive the olives knights once called “Maltese pearls.”

Why Reinvent the Wheel?

Written by Graham Chandler // Illustrated by Ivy Johnson — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 15:03:50 GMT

The wheel may be an all-around symbol of human progress, but how did such a simple invention cause so much controversy?

eL Seed's New Scripts

Interview by Johnny Hanson — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 19:03:10 GMT

Fluid, colorful and often covering buildings, eL Seed’s public installations of “calligrafitti” have won eyes and hearts in 14 countries. Now he’s embracing sculpture and fashion, but when asked what’s the most important thing about his art, he replies, “Meeting people.”

FirstLook: Cairo Cat

Photograph by Lorraine Chittock — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 14:22:30 GMT

Since Pharaonic times, thousands of cats have appeared in Egyptian iconography and literature. Today Cairo, they pad and paw their way everywhere, even staring dow the camer of photographer Lorraine Chittock.

Ambassadors of Art

Written by Piney Kesting // Images Courtesy of CULTURUNNERS — Tue, 09 May 2017 20:53:59 GMT

When the Museum of Art at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, hosted “Phantom Punch,” it marked the fourth show in a multi-year, multi-city exhibition tour of the United States by an eclectic group of some two dozen artists from Saudi Arabia, where over the past decade, a once-marginal contemporary art scene has become one of the world’s fastest-growing creative movements. Thought-provoking, socially engaged and at times whimsical and even satirical, the works vary from painting and rubber stamps to sculpture, assemblage, photography, video, calligraphy, performance and installation pieces. All share what one curator calls as “an honest need for explanation, an exploration of the world we live in and a desire to understand.”

The Silent Silk Road Rendezvous of Konye Urgench

Written by Louis Werner — Wed, 03 May 2017 18:58:43 GMT

Abandoned for more than 300 years following its eclipse by competing cities, the remnants of a once-flourishing capital of a once-powerful Silk Roads realm remind us of centuries of craftsmanship and scholarship in one of Central Asia’s most intact historical sites.

Iftar Potluck Baltimore

Written by Laila El-Haddad Photographed by Johnny Hanson — Tue, 02 May 2017 14:30:00 GMT

In a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, 15 families with origins across the world gather in the author’s backyard for iftar, the evening meal breaking the day-long fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. It’s an American-style potluck, and each family brings not only food from homelands and traditions, but also stories and recipes. “Iftars are to me very much a party,” says Francesca Pagan, who has prepared an Italian stew of escarole and beans. “Food is one of those things that you do without during the day so you can get spiritually closer to God, but the reward of enjoying it after the sunset takes it to a whole new level.”

FirstLook: Galata Bridge, circa 1890

Tue, 02 May 2017 12:03:44 GMT

“Constantinople: Kara-Keui et vue de Péra” reads the caption for this skillfully colorized view of late-Ottoman Istanbul, a city connecting East and West and driven by global commerce and trade, at a time when the advances of the Industrial Revolution in ﬁelds including photographic processes were connecting people as never before.

I Witness History: I of the Storm

Written by Frank Holt // Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Mon, 01 May 2017 12:31:21 GMT

“You have marveled at me since beyond memory, at once dreading the flash of my blinding light and eager for my return. My brilliance was recorded and sung about; my rumbles of warnings, in pithy Latin on a North African stone inscribed—’FVLGVR CONDITV’--‘Lightening was buried here.’”

Saudi Film Days

Written by Jonathan Curiel // Photographed by Amanda Kari McHugh — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 13:28:15 GMT

Screened before red-carpet audiences in Hollywood, the premieres of seven short films by seven young directors from Saudi Arabia proved an international debut for some of film’s newest and most promising talent.

FirstLook: New Energy

Photograph by Abdulaziz Al-Moaiweed / Saudi Aramco — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 19:43:02 GMT

Silhouetted from afar, five shapes cluster like wind-worn stones. Closer, they shimmer, suggesting perhaps a squad of recently landed spaceships. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia is a new permanent space to local, national and international programs for art, culture, science, education and innovation.

Yuna In Song and Style

Written by Andrew Dansby // Photography by Johnny Hanson — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:46:03 GMT

"I'm more interested in something you can hold onto forever," says Malaysian-born Yuna, who released her third album last year to global acclaim while expanding her fashion lines from a new home in Los Angeles.

America’s Zouaves

Written by Robert Lebling — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 15:00:00 GMT

As tensions escalated and the nation moved toward the outbreak of the US Civil War in 1861, a law student in Chicago formed the first American company inspired by a North African light infantry known as Zouaves that had won distinction in both Algeria and Crimea. Soon dozens of Zouave regiments mustered up and, from 1859 to the end of the war in 1865, Zouave soldiers were wildly popular in both the North and the South—mostly for their courage and elite training, but also for their fashionably colorful Algerian-style pantaloons, waistcoats and headgear.

Walnuts and the First Forest Farms

Written by Graham Chandler — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 14:27:09 GMT

Harvesting genetic samples across the breadth of Asia, researchers are finding that the portable, long-lasting, tasty and nutritious walnut may have spread because it was an ideal traveler’s snack along the Silk Roads.

The Islamic Roots of the Modern Hospital

Written by David W. Tschanz — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 12:41:44 GMT

By the mid-ninth century, more than 30 bimaristans—centers for treating illness and injury—were working from the Arab Middle East to Persia in the east and Al-Andalus in the west. Dedicated to the empirical pursuit of wellness, their design, organization and goals were much the same as those of hospitals today.

FirstLook: “Children can swim before they walk"

Photograph by Matthieu Paley — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:20:39 GMT

Photographer Matthieu Paley was in Southeast Asia working on stories about the evolution of the human diet when he made this picture. "I was visiting traditional, self-sufficient communities to see how food shapes daily life. My host was named Marita. She was inside preparing food as I arrived."

Malika VI: Sayyida Al-Hurra

Written by Tom Verde // Art by Leonor Solans — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:20:16 GMT

When she governed the Moroccan coastal city of Tétouan, the Spanish accused her of organizing piracy, while at home she won respect from both Moroccans and post-1492 Andalusian émigrés. On land and sea, hers was a life charted by crisis.

The Place of Many Fish

Written and illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 14:30:00 GMT

That is how “Iqaluit” translates into English from the Inuit language. It’s the name of Canada’s smallest territorial capital, just 8,000 people on the chilly shores of Frobisher Bay, a town governing a polar archipelago half the size of Western Europe that is Canada’s largest—and newest—province, Nunavut. Once a frontier for fishing and hunting, later for whaling and the fur trade, Iqaluit today is a fast-growing outpost on the world economic stage.

Rousseau's Turban

Written by Ian Coller — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 13:27:02 GMT

Late in his life, one of the most celebrated minds of the European Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, donned Turkish attire. It was a personal expression of the mobility between Western Europe and the Muslim world—and the new ideas these crossings engendered, which he articulated in writings that changed history.

Cracking Coconut's History

Written by Ramin Ganeshram — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 13:07:54 GMT

Ocean currents and maritime traders first brought coconuts to nearly every tropical coast. Now global food producers are bringing them to nearly every grocery shelf. Heritage cuisine, health fad or a little of both? Five recipes from five lands can help you decide.

Small American Town, Big Algerian Legacy

Written and photographed by Brian Clark — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 14:26:44 GMT

In 2008 Kathy Garms, a teacher in Elkader, Iowa, led the launch of a student essay contest in honor of her town’s Algerian namesake, Amir Abd el-Kader. In September this year’s seven winners received scholarships.

Rites of Flight: Falconry in Japan

Written by Matthew Teller Photos and video by Steve Shelton — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 17:00:00 GMT

For more than 1,000 years, falconry—hunting with birds of prey—symbolized power for the emperor and, later, the elite samurai. The most highly trained keepers of the tradition were based in the mountains west of Tokyo, where late last year the 18th generational head of what is today called the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society received her title, prepared to teach a new generation devoted to Japan’s place in global falconry culture.

Street Food, Istanbul Style

Written and photographed by Eric Hansen — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 17:00:00 GMT

From an eggy morning menemen to an afternoon tantuni wrap to a late-night handful of roasted kestane and more than a dozen delectables all in between, a search for the very best proves why Istanbul claims title as the street food capital of the world.

The Great Migration of the Bani Hilal

Written by Caroline Stone // Illustrated by Ivy Johnson — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 18:35:29 GMT

In the 10th century, herders fled drought in Arabia, but the sultan of Egypt used them against his rivals. Their story went viral—oral-folklore style—as Sirat Bani Hilal, or the Romance of the People of the Crescent Moon.

Malika V: Nur Jahan

Written by Tom Verde // Art by Leonor Solans — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:41:06 GMT

Wife and mother, businesswoman, fashion designer, real estate developer, garden plan-ner, philanthropist devoted to women, battle commander, tiger hunter: For the woman with a royal name meaning “Light of the World,” those were all part of Nur Jahan’s main job—running the Mughal empire.

FirstLook: "Intersections"

Installation by Anila Quayyum Agha // Photograph by Nash Baker — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 00:15:48 GMT

Using a single light suspended from the ceiling to shine through a laser-cut sculpture
in wood that is painted black, Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha transforms the Rice Art Gallery in Houston into an allusion to Islamic sacred spaces where geometric ornamentation and patterns themselves allude to the infinity of creation.

The Sultan's Fountain

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 23:29:41 GMT

In 1759 the Ottoman sultan adorned a public water fountain and school along a canal in Cairo with some 2,500 tiles painted in Amsterdam. Recent restoration revealed a remarkable story at the sabil-kuttab of Sultan Mustafa III.

Hunting with Eagles

Written by Matthew Teller // Photos and video by Steve Shelton — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 00:36:00 GMT

He considers himself Japan's last traditional falconer. Hidetoshi Matsubara, 66, of Tamugimata village, some 320 kilometers north of Tokyo, has been living and hunting with his eagles for the past 40 years.

Forest of Tides: The Sundarbans

Written by Louis Werner Photographed by Shahidul Alam / DRIK — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:02:02 GMT

Nourished from the north by three rivers from two nations and from the south by the Bay of Bengal, the world’s largest mangrove forest brings together not only rivers and sea, but also hundreds of plant and animal species as well as some 4 million people who live and work in and around the Sundarbans. Protected by both India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is listed as a UN World Heritage Site, its name meaning “beautiful forest” in Bengali. As populations and sea levels continue to rise, so too do the challenges.

Epic Nation

Written by Alia Yunis — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 21:02:58 GMT

The script could have been lifted from one of Central Asia’s traditional oral epics: A nomad woman spends her 97-year lifetime defending, ruling and ultimately uniting dozens of tribes, losing a husband and a son to enemies while laying the foundation for a nation. But it’s true: Kurmanjan was her name, and her country is Kyrgyzstan, where a new film tells her story to the world.

More Than One Story: The Jameel Prize

Written by Juliet Highet — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 22:41:25 GMT

Open to artists of any background and awarded in June for the fourth time, the biennial Jameel Prize recognizes contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition, encouraging what one judge calls the “alternative modernities” that are “happening everywhere.”

FirstLook: Iftar Nights

Photograph and video by Johnny Hanson — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 17:02:37 GMT

Iftar means “fast breaking” in Arabic, and the socializing, sharing and community that goes along with it is a worldwide hallmark of the month of Ramadan.

Malika IV: Hürrem Sultan (Roxolana)

Written by Tom Verde // Art by Leonor Solans — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 08:14:05 GMT

Though her Turkish name Hürrem meant “laughing one,” she proved better at breaking barriers —ﬁrst by marrying the sultan, and later by directing more of the Ottoman Empire’s affairs than any woman before her.

How The Middle Eastern Irrigation Ditch Called Acequia Changed The American Southwest

Written by Gerald Zarr // Photography by Donatella Davanzo — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 14:45:52 GMT

When Spanish settlers came to America’s Southwest in the late 1500s, they brought a much older irrigation practice that both distributed water and organized communities: the acequia. Today, nearly 1,000 of them are still ﬂowing.

Yarrow Mamout: Freedman

Written by Ramin Vellotti — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 15:11:25 GMT

Born in West Africa, fluent in Fula and Arabic, he endured 44 years as a slave. In 1800 he bought a house in Georgetown, on the edge of Washington, the United States’ new capital, on a site where archeologists recently dug in hopes of adding to his remarkable American story.

Malika III: Shajarat Al-Durr

Written by Tom Verde  Art by Leonor Solans — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 12:14:05 GMT

First woman to claim an Egyptian throne since Cleopatra, Shajarat Al-Durr won an Ayyubid sultan and then a crusader war; founded a Mamluk dynasty and ruled as sultana de facto far longer than de jure— until her storied, violent end.

At Home with Harisa

Written, photographed and video produced by Deana Sidney — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:49:44 GMT

Harisa has been widely popular in North Africa for 500 years, ever since dried peppers crossed the Atlantic and met olive oil. It’s easy to make on your own—but make enough to share with friends. One taste and you’ll know why.

Beirut Sounds Like This

Written by Lina Mounzer Photos and video by George Azar — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:48:58 GMT

An alchemy of creativity and adversity, the Lebanese capital’s indie/alt music scene feels ripe for global gold. Find some of our starter tracks on page 22 to listen to while reading and decide for yourself.

Running for the Royal Cup

Written by Matthew Teller Photos and video by Steve Shelton — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 11:46:02 GMT

An Arabian thoroughbred’s track performance in 1989 in Tokyo spurred the creation of a two-nation symbol of friendly relations: Japan’s annual Saudi Arabia Royal Cup, whose 18th trophy winner recently claimed victory by no more than a nose.

What's so Funny About Lucian the Syrian?

Written by Robert Lebling // Illustrated by Ivy Johnson — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 20:22:16 GMT

Renowned and often notorious, Lucian wrote in Greek under the Roman Empire. Inspiring and famously satirizing, he conjured the source tale for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” penned the first space-travel science fiction novel and coined a term that became a beloved modern superhero.

FirstLook: Kitab al-Filaha

Photograph by Tariq Dajani — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 19:58:24 GMT

“Of Planting the Quince Tree” (chapter 8, article 36): It is said that the quince tree is called the Almond of India. One of the species casts a large round fruit, the other small, while another is long and is called a monhad. Of these there are both sweet and sour fruit. According to the book of Ibn Hajaj, place the quince tree in low ground where moisture and humidity lie. Labathio said sandy ground is suitable too, provided it is manured and watered regularly.

FirstLook: Aswan, Egypt, May 14, 1964

Photo by Tor Eigeland — Tue, 10 May 2016 22:08:53 GMT

In 1966, a Norwegian-born, Mexico-educated, Beirut-resident photographer and journalist named
Tor Eigeland took his first assignment for this magazine. Since then, his byline has appeared more
than 50 times on some of our most popular stories from around the globe. This is his story of one of his earliest assignments in the Middle East.

The Islamic Roots of Modern Pharmacy

Written by David W. Tschanz — Wed, 04 May 2016 15:51:25 GMT

Testing, producing and refining from as early as the seventh century CE, alchemists in the Middle East who championed empirical methods developed, over some 500 years, the foundations of chemistry, pharmacology and the modern drugstore.

50 Years Behind the Lens

Photographed by Tor Eigeland Interviews and video by Jeroen Wolf — Sun, 01 May 2016 16:06:35 GMT

In 1966, a Norwegian-born, Mexico-educated, Beirut-resident photographer and journalist named Tor Eigeland took his first assignment for this magazine. Since then, his byline has appeared more than 50 times on some of our most popular stories from around the globe. Now living in England, he reflects on a few of his—and the editors’—favorite images.

Malika II: Radiyya bint Iltutmish

Written by Tom Verde  Art by Leonor Solans — Sun, 01 May 2016 05:35:42 GMT

Deftly symbolizing an aggrieved citizen’s quest for justice, the rightful heir to the Sultanate of Delhi donned a red robe on the eve of battle. She won the people’s support for four years of prosperous rule, but her rivals proved insatiable.

Our Story of Dhaka Muslin

Written by Khademul Islam — Sun, 01 May 2016 05:30:46 GMT

Along the fertile banks of a few rivers in Bengal, there once grew the world’s finest cotton. From it were woven the original, gossamer cloths called muslin, prized by Mughal emperors, envied by British industrialists and, by 1900, forgotten by all. Until now.

The Poetics of Suspense

Interview by Piney Kesting // Photographed by Bear Gutierrez — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 18:57:11 GMT

Author Ausma Zehanat Khan talks about her debut duo of detective novels that show up dressed as classic thrillers, but between their covers they turn out to be packing heavy on history, human rights, multicultural dilemmas and even classical Islamic poetry.

FirstLook: Lavender Flowers Near Maimana

Photo by Luke Powell — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 02:14:03 GMT

This photograph was made in the spring of 1978 on my 10th visit to Afghanistan. I was 31, and I had two degrees in religious studies. In Afghanistan there was a word for a traveling religious scholar. Christians and Jews had been among these travelers for centuries; I was welcomed almost everywhere.

A Is For Arab

Written by Jonathan Curiel Photos and video by David H. Wells — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 02:00:00 GMT

Media scholar Jack Shaheen spent more than 50 years not only studying the us entertainment industry’s depictions of Arabs and Muslims but also collecting them. Now archived at New York University, the Jack G. Shaheen Collection shows graphically why stories, words and pictures matter.

Morocco’s New Wave

Written by Brian E. Clark Photos and video by Toni Öyry — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 01:55:00 GMT

“Big, small, technical and dangerous waves ... no limit” is how one globe-surfing pro describes more than 3,000 kilometers of his native Morocco’s Atlantic coast. Surfing indeed may be the country’s fastest-growing sport: Officials estimate that as many as a million surf-seekers from Morocco and abroad now hit the waves each year, and from among them, a few young champions are starting to ride high.

The Gown That Steals Your Heart

Written by Kay Hardy Campbell Art by Leela Corman — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 01:45:57 GMT

Elegantly designed in almost as many patterns as there are regions of the Arabian Peninsula, the amply cut, flowing, colorful and often elaborate women’s thobe—a word that means “garment” in Arabic—is enjoying a fashion revival.

Tasting Trinidad

Written by Ramin Ganeshram Photos by Jean Paul Vellotti — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 13:20:31 GMT

Start with one verdant Caribbean island; add the foodways of three colonial powers to those of slaves and workers from three continents; mix for five centuries; spice periodically with new arrivals, many from the Middle East.

Returning Treasures to the Kingdom

Written by Arthur P. Clark — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 11:32:43 GMT

Time was that a picnic in any of Saudi Arabia’s deserts might turn up an ancient pot or other artifact. Since 2012 more than 100 people have given back thousands of informally gathered artifacts in a uniquely successful, goodwill-based antiquities preservation campaign.

Arwad, Fortress at Sea

Written by Robert W. Lebling  Photographs and video by Kinan Ibrahim — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 23:13:03 GMT

Three kilometers offshore from Tartus, Syria, lies Arwad, the sole island along the Eastern Mediterranean coast, a tiny rocky fastness with an outsize history.

The Unlikely Sisterhood of Seattle and Tashkent

Written by Piney Kesting  Photographs and video by Steve Shelton — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 23:08:41 GMT

In 1973, the us port renowned for rain and the Soviet-run capital in semi-arid Central Asia could hardly have appeared more different, but what began then as the first us-Soviet sister city pairing has blossomed into 43 years of mutual enrichment and heartfelt friendship—at first despite the Cold War, and later boosted by Seattle’s economic growth and Uzbekistan’s independence.

Malika I: Khayzuran & Zubayda

Written by Tom Verde  Art by Leonor Solans — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 20:12:13 GMT

One born destitute, the other to opulence, two malikas, or queens in Arabic, open our six-part series on some of the most notable historic women leaders in Muslim lands.

In Fragments from Fustat, Glimpses of a Cosmopolitan Old Cairo

Written by Pamela D. Toler  Photographs courtesy of The Oriental Institute — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 20:11:01 GMT

Founded in 641 CE as Egypt’s first Islamic capital, Fustat was much like the modern Cairo it helped give rise to: polyglot, multi-confessional and, in its time, prosperous.

FirstLook: Youth of the Nation

Photographs by Ayesha Malik and Abduljalil Nasser — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 20:13:27 GMT

For a week in December 2009, Abduljalil and I created a studio-style “photo booth” for kids at the Saudi Aramco Oil Exhibit Eid Program in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Saving Sarajevo’s Literary Legacy

Written by Tom Verde Photographs and video by Boryana Katsarova — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 23:00:42 GMT

Braving sniper bullets, Mustafa Jahi and friends carried the historic volumes of the Gazi Husrev-beg Library from one hiding place to another throughout the three-year Siege of Sarajevo. Last year, the library found a new, permanent haven—close to where it was founded nearly 500 years ago.

FirstLook: Learning from the Pattern-Masters

Photo by Richard Doughty Video by Richard Doughty and Johnny Hanson — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 17:09:15 GMT

Welcome to FirstLook, which kicked off in the November/December 2015 print edition. We start in Fez, Morocco, as blue dusk settles in minutes after maghrib, or the sunset call to prayer. Find all FirstLook images amid others @aramcoworld on Instagram, as well as on our Facebook page.

Stories My Father Told Me

Written by Helen Zughaib with Elia Kamal Zughaib Art by Helen Zughaib — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 14:25:56 GMT

A daughter’s lifetime of hearing her father’s tales and anecdotes about growing up in 1930s and ‘40s Syria and Lebanon inspired a collaborative oral history and art project.

Capturing the Light of the Nile, Egypt's First Photograhs

Written by Jeff Koehler — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 13:58:24 GMT

The announcement in 1839 of Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre’s formula to fix a camera’s image on a metal plate set off a race to be the first to produce daguerrotypes of the world’s great monuments. High on the list–Egypt.

The Art of the Dowry Chest

Written by Caroline Stone — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 13:24:23 GMT

Wooden chests have been carved, painted, studded with metals and inlaid with colorful woods and mother-of-pearl for centuries, producing heirlooms from West Africa to the Middle East, India and Indonesia. Many of the most elaborate ones were produced to hold a woman’s dowry.

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part VI: The Double Lives of Ibn al-Khatib

Written by Louis Werner and Hamid Triki Art by Belén Esturla — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 12:01:40 GMT

Minister in the Nasrid court of Granada both before and after exile in Morocco, Ibn al-Khatib was a poet, a polymath and an insomniac whose writings earned him renown and a prominent inscription on a wall at the Alhambra.

In Search of Ibn Battuta’s Melon

Written and photographed by Eric Hansen — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 12:00:30 GMT

Peel of green, flesh of red and sweetness extreme, the 14th-century traveler’s five-star food review from Central Asia led, 681 years later, to a market-by-market journey, from a farmer’s field in California to melon stands along the road from Tashkent to Khorezm, Uzbekistan: Yes, Central Asian melons are that good.

2016 Calendar: Mosaics

Sun, 01 Nov 2015 11:26:56 GMT

Exuberant, eclectic and recently conserved, more than two dozen mosaic patterns dating from the early eighth century lie largely intact in the ruined Umayyad palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar near Jericho, unsurpassed masterpieces of their era.

Now Playing: Jordan, Credit: Nadine Toukan

Written by Matthew Teller Photographs by George Azar — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 13:56:21 GMT

A decade ago, Nadine Toukan led Jordan’s Royal Film Commission and founded a workshop that launched a generation of Arab and especially Jordanian filmmakers. Often credited on screen as a producer, she likes to think of herself as “a connector.”

King of the River of Giants

Mon, 14 Sep 2015 17:26:07 GMT

What do you do after you discover a dinosaur that swam, clawed and chomped its way to the top of the Cretaceous food chain? Paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim wants to display it where he found it—in Morocco.

A Legation Turns to Education

Written by Alia Yunis Photographs and video by Tor Eigeland — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 13:22:17 GMT

Strategic and even glamorous at times over 196 years, the American Legation in Tangier, Morocco, is today a neighborhood cultural center where young and old improve reading and writing and learn new skills.

Fashioning a Dialogue

Written by Piney Kesting Photography and video by David H. Wells — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 16:45:26 GMT

Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, 19-year-old Somali-American designer Sahro Hassan has won awards as well as acclaim in her hometown of Lewiston, Maine, for “modest fashion” that can appeal to Muslim and non-Muslim women alike.

Reviving the North Aral Sea

Written by Larry Luxner Photographs by Carolyn Drake — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 13:11:01 GMT

A decade after Kazakhstan completed a dam, fish are returning to the northern reaches of the inland sea that became a global icon of environmental collapse.

Via Egnatia to Rome and Byzantium

Written by Louis Werner Photography and video by Matthieu Paley — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:13:31 GMT

Paved with stones that, according to one Roman writer, “give the appearance not simply of being laid together ... but they seem to have actually grown together,” the Via Egnatia joined East and West under empires both Roman and Ottoman. Much of its 1,100-kilometer length can still be walked and driven, from original-stone footpaths in Albania to a superhighway in Greece.

Six Degrees of Suriname

Illustrated and written by Norman MacDonald — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 16:05:51 GMT

Independent since 1975, Suriname began as an English and then a Dutch colony. Now among the western hemisphere’s most culturally diverse countries, it also lays claim to the hemisphere’s highest percentage of population identifying as Muslims: 14 percent. Our Canada-born, Amsterdam-based, award-winning illustrator-author paid a visit to sketch and listen.

Ferozkoh: Renewing the Arts of the Turquoise Mountain

Written by Lee Lawrence Photographs courtesy of Turquoise Mountain Institute — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 14:31:19 GMT

After 15 woodworkers, painters, calligraphers and jewelers from Afghanistan visited the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, they produced an exhibit in which the classical inspired the modern. Now, the artists themselves are helping to inspire the renewal of a deep—and too-little-known—artistic heritage.

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part V: Ibn Hazm’s Journeys of Exile and Love

Written by Louis Werner Art by Belén Esturla — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 02:06:37 GMT

Socially acerbic, survivor of 11th-century politics that drove him from three homes, Ibn Hazm wrote prolifically on many subjects, but he is remembered most of all for his bittersweet classic, Tawq al-Hamama, or The Ring of the Dove.

The Fabled Flatbreads of Uzbekistan

Written and photographed by Eric Hansen — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 17:35:28 GMT

Stamped with patterns that beautify, identify and aid baking in a clay oven, the flatbreads—non—from the heart of Central Asia make art of one of the world’s most ancient staples.

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part IV: al-Ghazal: From Constantinople to the Land of the Vikings

Written by Jesús Cano and Louis Werner Art by Belén Esturla — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 13:30:23 GMT

Good looks and a fleet wit gave Al-Ghazal his name, which means “gazelle,” and in later years the poet and courtier of Córdoba proved a reluctant though dutiful envoy both east and, more notably, north.

Coins of Two Realms

Written by Clive Foss Photographs courtesy of the author — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:10:19 GMT

When Arab Muslims came to rule formerly Byzantine lands in the mid-seventh century CE, they continued using local coins and only gradually issued their own: The story was similar in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia. Viewed through a numismatist’s magnifying glass, it was an age not only of conflict and change, but also of accommodation and pragmatism.

Brill’s Bridge to Arabic

Written by Tom Verde Images courtesy of Brill — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:04:44 GMT

It started out as many successful businesses do: with a bit of vision, a prime location and some family connections. From its first Arabic text in 1732 to today, Brill’s books helped build the scholarship of what is today broadly called Middle East and Asian studies.

If I Forget You, Don’t Forget Me

Photographed and written by Manal AlDowayan — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 13:30:00 GMT

To reconstruct memories of her late father’s generation, the artist and author interviewed her father’s peers and made artifact-based portraits of his “unique generation that saw Saudi Arabia at its poorest and later at its richest,” a generation that understands “what it means to build your dreams from scratch.”

Capital of Baklava

Written by Gail Simmons Photographed by George Azar — Sat, 02 May 2015 13:00:00 GMT

In a city where baklava chefs train for 10 years, you know dessert- making is being taken seriously. Add competition from 500 other baklava specialists, and you can only be in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part III: Ibn al-Shaykh and the Lighthouse of Alexandria

Written by Maria Jesús Viguera Molins and Louis Werner Art by Belén Esturla — Fri, 01 May 2015 15:43:52 GMT

Over his 90-year lifetime, this chronicler of fact and unabashed fancy trekked, sailed, caravanned, studied and traded from the far Arab West to the northern- and easternmost reaches of the 12th-century Islamic world.

Cave Artists of Sulawesi

Written by Graham Chandler Photographs and video by Meridith Kohut — Fri, 01 May 2015 12:30:00 GMT

When a hand stencil-painting in the caves on this island recently dated to 39,900 years ago, Indonesia took a place alongside France and Spain as a site of the earliest known representational art. Now we must ask not only how and why we began making pictures, but how and why we did so on two continents, at the same time.

Dubai Melting Pot

Written by Felicia Campbell Photography & video by Celia Peterson — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 15:53:36 GMT

Beyond the shadows of Dubai’s skyscrapers lies working-class Satwa, and along its main drag Al Diyafah, a treasure-trove of restaurants serves up a hemisphere-spanning selection of Asian and Near Eastern home-cooking.

Sea Change Comes to Bagamoyo

Written by Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein Photography by Mariella Furrer — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 13:35:28 GMT

Under Arab, Portuguese, German and English rule, commerce and the town’s strategic location on East Africa’s coast made Bagamoyo a leading port from the 1300s to the late 1800s. Now Tanzania has unveiled a 30-year plan to transform the town and environs into the largest seaport the coast has ever seen and link it, once again, to the rest of the Indian Ocean and China.

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part II: Abu Hamid Al-Garnati’s World of Wonders

Written by Ingrid Bejarano Escanilla and Louis Werner Art by Belén Esturla — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 15:43:05 GMT

Travelers of Al-Andalus, Part 1: The Travel Writer Ibn Jubayr

Written by Daniel Grammatico and Louis Werner // Art by Belén Esturla — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:06:15 GMT

Our six-part series begins with a two-year pilgrimage by one of the great founders of the literary genre of rihla, or travelogue. Over later centuries, his style was widely emulated (and plagiarized), and today the rihla of Ibn Jubayr uniquely illuminates a 12th-century Mediterranean world of paradoxical complexity.

The World's Fastest Scientist

Written by Andrew A. Sicree // Photographs by Nik Wheeler — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:28:31 GMT

Born in the Nile Delta, Ahmed Zewail became the first scientist to record molecules while they were undergoing chemical reactions that take place in a few millions of a billionth of a second. This established the field of femtochemistry and earned him the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In November 2009, he was appointed one of the first three US Science Envoys to the Middle East, and he passed away on August 2, 2016.

I Witness History: I, Pillar of Justice

Written by Frank L. Holt // Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:04:28 GMT

At first, you humans used us rocks for fighting and tool-making. Then I evolved, showing how we can actually mediate your incessant quarrels. In Akkadian cuneiform dictated by Hammurapi, my royal Babylonian collaborator, I formed of my stony flesh not weapons, but words; not tools, but rules.

I Witness History: We, The Syndicate of Troy

Written by Frank L. Holt // Illustrated by Norman MacDonald — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:12:52 GMT

We are about a thousand years old when we heard the brazen clash of the Trojan War – muffled by meters of earth above us – but when the Boss pulled us out of the ground in 1873, he made us say we'd been on the battleground. What a joker! The Boss was chasing fame, not truth, and we've been locked up ever since. So here we are to set the record straight, all 9000 of us, in your court of public opinion.

Humanitarian to a Nation: Abdul Sattar Edhi

Written by Richard Covington Photos by Shahidul Alam — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 23:00:53 GMT

He was arguably the most widely admired man in Pakistan, yet throughout his 88-year life, which ended on July 8 and was followed by a state funeral, Abdul Sattar Edhi remained little known abroad. Starting in 1951 with a free pharmacy in a poor neighborhood of Karachi, by deeds more than words he inspired the growth of a nationwide charitable organization of ambulances, clinics, orphanages, asylums, shelters, mortuaries, hospitals, schools and kitchens. In recognition of his legacy, we are reprinting our story "Humanitarian to a Nation," which appeared on our November/December 2004 cover.