Middle East

Speechless (Women of Allah), 1996

Iranian Exile Shirin Neshat's New Exhibition Expresses the Power of Art to Shape Political Discourse

An exhibition of the artist's work at the Hirshhorn is an allegorical narrative framed against historical and political realities

Inside the Daily Lives of Iraq's Kurds

America's most important ally in the battle against ISIS is closer than ever to fulfilling their hope of founding a new nation

People Ate Pork in the Middle East Until 1,000 B.C.—What Changed?

A new study investigates the historical factors leading up to the emergence of pork prohibition

UN: Destroying the Ancient City of Nimrud Was a “War Crime”

Global outcry after ISIS razes 3,000-year-old archaeological site with bulldozers

A general view shows damaged buildings in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus in Syria on February 24, 2015.

Are Climate Change And the Conflict in Syria Connected?

A new study shows a link between the nation’s recent unrest and a major drought spurred on by global warming

Fighting in Aleppo in 2013

Can Antiquities Looting in Syria Be Stopped?

The Islamic State is selling antiquities to fund their fight, now a secretive group is trying to protect those cultural treasures

The aftermath of a bomb blast in Tel Aviv, 1996.

Living Under the Threat of Terrorism Might Shorten Lives

Constant fear of terrorist attacks is linked to elevated heart rates, which is a predictor of increased risk of death

"The Traveler's Eye: Scenes from Asia," at the Sackler Gallery through May 2015, features more than 100 mementos from travels around the Asian continent. This postcard is from early-20th-century China.

Before Instagram, Memorializing Asia’s Most Traveled Roads

From Moroccan postcards to Japanese scrolls, the Sackler Gallery explores five centuries of travel around the Asian continent

A Big Circle named J1 in Jordan stretches 1,280 feet in diameter and the center has been bulldozed

These Giant Circles in the Mideast Are One of the World's Last Mysteries

Archaeologists have found more than a dozen ancient circles in Turkey, Syria and Jordan—but don’t know why they were built

America's answer to Lawrence of Arabia, Wendell Phillips explored the east and uncovered ancient treasures. An exhibition at the Sackler Gallery looks at his life and work.

Unearthing America’s Lawrence of Arabia, Wendell Phillips

Phillips uncovered millennia-old treasures beneath Arabian sand, got rich from oil and died relatively unknown

Google Maps an Oasis in the Desert From the Back of a Camel

The desert is not the best place for a Street View car

Saudi Arabia Makes MERS Preparations for Hajj

MERS has killed over 300 people in the past two years

Protests in August, 2014 against the Libyan parliament's decision to ask the UN to intervene in the country's current conflict.

Libya’s Parliament Is Living on a Greek Ferry

Unrest in Libya has forced the government to take to the seas

A Persian calligraphy that developed in 14th-century Iran, nasta'liq, is the focus of a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery. The script in this work dates to the early 1600s.

Long Before Emojis, the Picassos of Persian Calligraphy Brought Emotion to Writing

The world's first exhibition devoted to <em>nasta’liq</em>, a Persian calligraphy, is now on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Social Media Fight Between the U.S. and ISIS Is Weirder Than You'd Imagine

The U.S. has decided to fight propaganda with propaganda

A closeup of jars, probably once filled with wine, at Tel Kabri in modern-day Israel.

Huge Wine Cellar Unearthed at a Biblical-Era Palace in Israel

Residue from jars at a Canaanite palace suggest the ruler preferred his red with hints of mint, honey and juniper

A humanitarian crisis is underway in Sinjar, Iraq, and the surrounding towns.

Thousands of Iraqi Refugees Are Trapped Without Food or Water on Mountains Surrounded by Militia

Delivering help by land or air is impossible, humanitarian aid experts say

If Certain Couples in Yemen Choose to Divorce, Their Siblings Must Get a Divorce, Too

"Swap" marriages dictate that both marriage vows and divorces must be evenly shared between siblings of two families

Clay tokens that Assyrians used for a simple bookkeeping system.

Some Ancient Assyrians Ignored the Advent of Writing for Thousands of Years

It took thousands of years for Assyrians to finally give up primitive record-keeping methods

The Middle East’s austere terrain lured Lawrence: “The abstraction of the desert landscape,” he wrote in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “cleansed me.”

The True Story of Lawrence of Arabia

His daring raids in World War I made him a legend. But in the Middle East today, the desert warrior’s legacy is written in sand

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