Precious jewels have been symbols of wealth and status for thousands of years. From rubies to sapphires to emeralds, societies all across the world have desired these stones for their use in...
There is perhaps no piece of clothing in history that has caused more controversy than the veil. Currently, protests to raise awareness of the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a lady who died after being...
The ruins of a Christian monastery dating back to the sixth or seventh century have been discovered on sandy Siniyah Island (Al Sinniyah Island), which is located in the southern Persian Gulf just...
The death of British Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year provoked retrospectives on her reign, as well as reflection on the rule of other female monarchs. Many powerful women leaders of the West are...
A low-cost, high-risk drug hiding in plain sight – in your kitchen cabinet! This is a highly aromatic spice that can change the trajectory of your food, and is sometimes used as a healing agent in...
The short story Rip Van Winkle , written in 1819 by the American writer Washington Irving, is about a man who woke up after a sleep of more than two decades. Although such a work of fiction is a...
A power vacuum caused by an extreme drought 1,500 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula led to political unrest, war, and societal change. These were the preconditions that led to the development and...
Most people will recognize Mecca as the name for the Holy City of Islam. Do you know where the Holy City is? Do you know where it should be? Did it get lost? Was it ever found? Believe it or not,...
With the accelerated pace of climate change and global warming wreaking havoc on the ice sheets of the world, particularly Greenland, new evidence emerges from the ice-capped country. Greenland was a...
Four Umayyad inscriptions inscribed on limestone and marble blocks have been discovered among the ruins of the 2,600-year-old city of Knidos in western Turkey. The four Umayyad inscriptions, from...
The history of Cyprus is very colorful and shaped by diverse ancient cultures and modern civilizations. As such, it proves time and time again that it is a true treasure trove of historical sites...
“In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...” The concept of a Trinity or triadic nature of the divine has been a part of our psyche for thousands of years, and has appeared in creation...
It is an irony of history that the three great religions of Europe and the Middle East, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, did not originate there but rather had their genesis, like the human species...
The island of Sicily is not somewhere most of us would immediately associate with having been a powerful Islamic kingdom. However, between 841 and 1091 AD, the Emirate of Sicily was a key political...
Almost everyone at the Istanbul Topkapi Palace was a slave, but this is not the only curious attribute the palace had when ruled by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Everyone was forced to learn and...
The imperial harem of the Ottoman era was the collection of wives, servants, and concubines of the Sultan, who sometimes numbered in the hundreds. Some were mere playthings or used for the production...