The term Islamic is used here to define the art and material culture of those lands where the dominant religion is Islam, the religion revealed to the prophet Muhammad in seventh century Arabia. The Islamic lands have encompassed at...

Fifty masterworks from the Metropolitan's collection of Islamic art are on display, grouped by object type to aid comparative analysis. Includes curators' notes, along with detailed views. Stunning examples of Islamic art and calligraphy...

This teaching unit is based upon a "teacher trek" to the area in 2000 and focuses on essential questions of community. Activities are offered to help students explore the religion and culture of this country. The plans are tied to...

A great country profile that takes you on a virtual trip to Yemen in the Middle East. A background overview is given on its art, culture, people, environment, geography, history, economy, and government. There are numerous links...

Read about the history of the Romiosini, or Greek Middle Ages and the development of the Greek-Roman east. The article is divided into two different sections. The first section includes the foundation of Constantinople as a means to...

Great reference guide that takes you on a virtual trip to the Middle East nation of Palestine. Background overview is given on its art, culture, people, environment, geography, history, tourism, economy, and government. There are...

In March 2007, collaborative artists Lyndell Brown and Charles Green travelled for six weeks through the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf as the Australian War Memorial's official war artists. Their works of art record the...

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, view an excellent online exhibit of artwork created during the Middle Byzantine period from 843 to 1261. Religious influences during this time were the inspiration for art, and this exhibit provides a...

Jordanian artist and architect Ammar Khammash displays his work and the work of his firm on this site, along with articles that he has written for the English-language "Jordan Times" on places of interest in the Middle East. Opens eyes...

A lengthy article about the Yarmukian culture in Israel Read about the pottery, stone tools, burial customs. and art objects of this Neolithic culture.

The Jewish Museum of New York City presents the "Jewish and Muslim Connection" a curriculum guide for the study of cultural and historical connections between two religions.

The Mbeere live in Embu District in the Eastern Province of Kenya, East Africa. The name "Mbeere" means "first," referring to their belief that they were the initial occupants of their territory. Aesthetics center on the verbal arts,...

"Edo" is the name that the people of the Benin Kingdom give to themselves, their language, and their capital city and kingdom. Renowned for their art of brass and ivory and for their complex political organization, the Edo Kingdom of...

The Rukuba live in central Nigeria, on the High Plateau at some 30 kilometers west of the town of Jos, capital of Plateau State. They are one among the numerous small groups inhabiting the region. These groups are, by African standards,...

"Sara" is the term employed by outsiders to refer to a group of non-Muslim tribes in southern Chad, all of whom speak mutually intelligible dialects. Each tribe is a distinct geographic, political, and endogamous entity. Major tribes are...

The Ndembu inhabit the western portion of Mwinilunga District in Zambia's Northwestern Province. The Ndembu, numbering about 40,000 in Zambia, constitute about 1 percent of the total population. Some 40 percent of Ndembu are now...

The Qashqa'i are tribally organized, Turkic-speaking, nomadic pastoralists and agriculturists who live in southwestern Iran. They are Shia Muslims, unlike most of Iran's other minorities, who are either Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews,...

The Maasai comprise a federation of tribal sections whose economy is based on nomadic pastoralism. Because each tribal section is effectively autonomous, both economically and socially, there is a considerable diversity in custom between...

Nandi; about one-third of all Kalenjin and second-largest of the Kalenjin subgroups, they are geographically the most centrally located. The Kalenjin live mainly in the highland of western Kenya, although the Sebei and some Pokot are...

Soldiers of the Persian bodyguard. From frieze in the audience hall of Darius at Susa.

Raising a large army [Kudur-Lagamer] advanced up the Euphrates, and thence westward against the Caanitish tribes, who under their kings gathered in the valley of the eastern invader. Here was fought one of the first greatest battles...

Battle fought between two brothers, Cyrus the Younger and Arsaces. Cyrus managed to collect eleven thousand Greek soldiers, and went into battle for the Persian throne his elder brother had recently occupied.

A large group of travelers in boats sailing on to the discovery of Lebanon.

The name of a gold coin issued by the califs of Damascus: it was also applied to the gold coins of various Arab dynasties and soon became the generic term of all arab gold coins.