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…
Author: tabsir
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.
Wahhabis in the Dustbin?
This is a fascinating analysis by Hassan Hassan of the Saudi royal family trying to rewrite its past. It is available on the New/Lines website. Here is the…
Bulldozing Islamic Jeddah
mid-19th century view of Jeddah from Richard Burton’s travelogue The current de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, MBS, has promoted a major development scheme entitled Vision 2030. This…
Aden in the mid-19th Century
James Vaughn, a physician stationed in British-controlled Aden in the mid-19th century, published an article in 1853 in the British Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (12:226-229,385-388), w…
Old Photos of Mandate Era Jerusalem
There is a fascinating Facebook site on old photographs of Jerusalem. Below is one of the images. Note the Victrola.
Old Algiers
a century old postcard of Algiers
Travels in Arabia
One of the books I picked up over the years was a summary of early travelers to Arabia by Bayard Taylor, a noted traveler and poet. The 1892…
January in Yemen’s Agricultural Calendar
From the Facebook site of al-Amth?l al-zir?‘iyya f? Tih?ma.
The Syrian Mark Twain
Read the article here.
Who Owns the Holy Land?
As another year draws to a close, it is hard not to think in larger terms of the course of the last century. The world has seen two…
Loti on Palestine
First English translation of ‘La Galilée’, an account of Pierre Loti’s travels in the Holy Land from Jerusalem to Beirut, via Damascus and many other interesting places, in…
Iranian Art Exhibition
The James Simon Galerie of the Staatliuche Museen zu Berlin has an ongoing exhibition on Iranian art. Click here for details.
Catching a Looter
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has conducted a major investigation into an antiquities dealer who bought looted materials from archaeological sites and museums. Read about it here…
With Pierre Loti in Persia
My friend, the historian G. Rex Smith, has recently translated into English a marvelous travel diary by the French military official and traveller Pierre Loti (1850-1923). It is…
Tim MacIntosh Smith
Read the article about Tim, whose writing on Yemen is terrific.
Democracy Denied in the Middle East
An excellent analysis of U.S. policy in the Middle East by Juan Cole.
Researching Islamic Manuscripts
Mahmoud Zaki has assembled a major resource on sources for the study of Islamic manuscripts, including links to major digital collections and publications. It can be accessed here.…