Podcast on Gulf Almanac Lore
My podcast with Ahmed AlMaazmi and Tamara Fernando is posted online on the New Books Network.
Author: tabsir
Jere Bacharach
On April 9 the Middle East historian Jere Bacharach, emeritus professor at the University of Washington, passed away. He was an amazing individual, great scholar and friend. He…
17th Century Judaeo-Persian Manuscript
This is a beautifully illustrated text, a copy of a text first written in the 14th century. You can examine it at https://smarthistory.org/the-ardashirnama-judeo-persian-manuscript/?fbclid=IwAR2H…
Book Launch on Almanac Lore of the Arab gulf
I will be giving a book launch on my recent book on Gulf almanac lore via Zoom for the Qatar National Library on February 22, 2023. Details about…
Anti-Evolution in Turkey
This article is worth reading. An entire country bans the teaching of a scientific fact. Read it here.
A History of Food Production in Yemen
In October, 2022, I participated in the Food Sovereignty Workshop at Ohio State University and discussed the issue of sustainable agriculture and water resource use to improve the…
IAS Talk on Arabs before Islam
For more information and to register, click here.
Gulf Arabic Online
NYU/Abu Dhabi has created a website devoted to the dialects of the Arab Gulf. Check it out here.
19th Century Song called “Yemen”
In 1894 the composer Harry G. Martin wrote a piece of sheet music called “Yemen,” drawing on a stanza in the famous poem Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore.…
New CyberOrient Issue
The latest issue of CyberOrient is now available online: Joel W. Abdelmoez >> Good Tidings for Saudi Women? Techno-Orientalism, Gender, and Saudi Politics in Global Media Dis…
Picturing Palestine
This is a fabulous new book from the University of California Press discussing photographs from late 19th and early 20th century Palestine from seven notebooks by Wasif Jawhariyyeh…
Tower of Babel, Saudi Style
the official website is https://www.neom.com/en-us Long before Abraham/Ibrahim left Ur of the Chaldees for the promised land and became the ancestral icon of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there…
Biden’s trip to Middle East
There is an excellent analysis in Time Magazine of how President Biden’s trip to the Middle East could help with resolving the protracted war on Yemen. You can…
Omar Dewachi on Iraq
Omar Dewachi, an anthropologist who was an Iraqi physician during the Gulf War, has published an article from his forthcoming book, which is entitled “When Wounds Travel: Ecologies…
Seasonal Knowledge and Arab Gulf Almanacs
I am pleased to announce the publication of my new book: Seasonal Knowledge and the Almanac Tradition of the Arab Gulf. Details about the book, including a free…
Yemen Film 1973
This exquisite film was produced in 1973 and filmed in 1972, thus representing Yemen half a century ago. It is now available on Youtube. The filmmakers were Karen…
Source for Arabic pdfs
Here is a very useful source for downloading pdfs of Arabic texts on a wide range of subjects. Check it out here: https://ebook.univeyes.com/disciplines
Where are the Himyarite Kings?
The war that has dragged on in Yemen for seven years has created a major humanitarian disaster. Yemen has experienced war and conflict before since the early days…
The State of Agriculture in Late 13th Century Rasulid Yemen: Part 1
By Daniel Martin Varisco [In 2003 I attended a conference in Rome and gave a paper which was eventually published in Convegno Storia e Cultura dello Yemen in…
Plough in Tunisia
I am always intrigued by old photographs of traditional ploughs in the Middle East. The picture above is from a 1925 travel book by Norma Lorimer entitled By…
Cairo in Old Photographs
Check out this website for a number of photographs of Cairo in the early part of the 20th century.
Mesopotamian Potluck
If you are bored with what you cook, give this rather ancient set of recipes a try. Read all about it on the MyMet website.
Lebanese Music at Baalbek
This is a beautifully filmed and played Youtube video of Lebanese music performed in the ruins of a temple in Lebanon.
Islamic Science Fiction Writing
Check out an interesting podcast on Muslim writing on science fiction.