Middle East

A visitor at the reopening ceremony for Syria's National Museum, in Damascus, Syria.

Forced to Close by Civil War, the National Museum of Damascus Re-Opens Its Doors

The museum’s collections were among 300,000 artifacts hidden by officials as violence spread in Syria

Europe's First Dogs Disappeared After Neolithic Farmers Arrived With Their Own Pups

Genetic analysis shows ancient canines from the Near East slowly replaced indigenous dog populations of that period

The inscription, as found on a column drum unearthed during the dig

2,000-Year-Old Stone Inscription Is Earliest to Spell Out 'Jerusalem'

In ancient times, a shorthand spelling was typically used

During World war II, the original Monuments Men rescued more than five million works of art, including Jan and Hubert van Eyck's 1432 "Ghent Altarpiece"

British Army Revives Monuments Men to Salvage Art in War-Torn Countries

The 15-person squad, formed to combat loss of cultural heritage in the Middle East, will specialize in art crime, engineering and archaeology

Two stonecutters at work.

Ancient Comics Line This Roman-Era Tomb in Jordan

Some of the nearly 260 figures depicted in the paintings are given speech captions reminiscent of modern comics

A long exposure of the Treasury at night illuminated by candlelight

Zooming In on Petra

How digital archaeologists are using drones and cutting-edge cameras to recreate the spectacular 2,000-year-old ruins in Jordan

Ancient beer wasn’t exactly the crisp, cold beverage we know today. Researchers think it probably looked more like thin porridge or gruel.

Traces of 13,000-Year-Old Beer Found in Israel

According to the authors of a new study, the discovery marks the earliest-known evidence of beer production among ancient peoples

Palmyra's Temple of Baalshamin, which was targeted by ISIS.

Ancient City of Palmyra, Gravely Damaged by ISIS, May Reopen Next Year

Between 2015 and 2017, militants wreaked havoc on the site’s ancient treasures

How an Artist Is Rebuilding a Baghdad Library Destroyed During the Iraq War

“168:01,” an installation now on view at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, encourages visitors to donate books to the University of Baghdad

One of the known Pablo Picasso works held in collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.

Ten Picassos Discovered Amid Tehran Museum’s Hidden Collection of Western Art

The Picassos will be included in a major exhibition of works that have been held in storage since Iran’s 1979 revolution

Knights of the SMOTJ wear the red cross pattée, believed to have been first used by the Knights Templar in 1147.

Meet the Americans Following in the Footsteps of the Knights Templar

Disbanded 700 years ago, the most famous of the medieval Christian orders is undergoing a 21st century revival

Standing Rock #2: Oil-pipeline protester Mychal Thompson in North Dakota, in November 2016. Her quote, in Navajo, reads, “To be of the people means you must have reverence and love for all of the resources and all of the beauties of this world.”

Pushed to the Margins, These Brave People Are Pushing Back

From the American West to the Middle East, the powerless face stark choices when confronted by the powerful

Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921

Einstein’s Travel Diaries Reveal His Deeply Troubling Views on Race

“It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races,” the iconic scientist writes

Top contenders include King Ahab of Israel, King Hazael of Aram-Damascus and King Ethbaal of Tyre

Could This Sculpted Head Depict a Little-Known Biblical King?

Archaeologists uncovered the enigmatic two-inch head at Abel Beth Maacah, site of an ancient crossroads

The first blue whale ever seen in the Red Sea.

Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time

The massive mammals typically spend their summers in polar waters, but are known to occasionally migrate further

Nuclear material in drums in a storage area of Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in 1991.

How Saddam and ISIS Killed Iraqi Science

Within decades the country’s scientific infrastructure went from world-class to shambles. What happened?

A scene from Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan.

Teaching Refugees How To Map Their World Could Have Huge Benefits

A pilot project trained Syrian refugees at a Jordan camp to create maps—an invaluable tool in a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis

Archaeologists Discover They've Been Excavating Lost Assyrian City

Cuneiform tablets revealed the site in Iraqi Kurdistan is the legendary city of Mardaman

Ramin Haerizadeh, He Came, He Left, He Left, He Came, 2010, mixed media and collage on canvas, The Farook Collection, Dubai.

Exhibition Shows How Iran's Present and Past Merge Through Art

The new show at LACMA features 125 works of art from more than 50 artists, some of whom couldn’t make it to the opening because of the travel ban

The Legendary Sultan Saladin Was Likely Killed by Typhoid

Reviewing historical accounts of his death, doctors and historians believe his sweating fits and weakness were brought on by the bacterial infection

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