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…
Author: tabsir
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.
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.