History, Geography and Culture of the Middle East

History, Geography, Politics and Culture

When the Middle East comes up in American conversation conventional wisdom usually has it that Arab civilization was great at one time, but not now. Is this a fair statement??

We don't think so. A good way to start is to focus on what the Middle East is, and not what it lacks. Whether it's the deep spirituality of Islam, the bustling entreprenurial energy of a souk (market), or the close ties of family and community, it's a pretty strong contrast to our fast connect/fast disconnect way of living.

Religion is such a strong part of the region that it really belongs on this page, but in the interests of ease of use we have given it a separate (following) page. This page together with Religion starts to address an essential core of values and energy that come from the area, and are not necessarily evident on casual viewing.

Don't overlook visiting our publications, where there is original writing dealing with these topics.

OUR CHOICES

It's what it says it is: an Arab Gateway. Well organized, wide ranging, it covers many aspects of all Arab countries (from the UK).
Learn about an individual country: team its US State Department profile with a map and you have a starting point for learning.
Its interface is bland but the content is not: the Arab Social Service Research Library has links to each country, with information often not duplicated elsewhere.

Subject outline for this section

Comprehensive Regional Information

Country-Specific Information

For Countries Not Listed Yet

Exploring Middle Eastern Culture

Literature

Visual Arts

Music

History and Archaeology

Geography and Maps

For More ...

Comprehensive Regional Information

Arab Gateway Started in 1998 by Brian Whitataker (at the time a UK PhD candidate working on Yemeni politics), this site is an introduction to the Middle East and its culture. Started as a personal interest of Whitaker's, it has rapidly become an excellent source of information about the Middle East. Whitaker hasn't finished his thesis, but he is now Middle East editor for the Guardian (UK)!

University of Texas We like and use the University of Texas as almost a one-stop source of wide-ranging information about the Middle Eastern and related topics of interest in Europe and North America.

Arab Social Science Research Library Excellent, wide-ranging research information for all Middle Eastern countries. AISC is active in Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine. It was founded in 1998 by a group of senior social scientists from various regional leading institutions to promote social science and policy research, develop research organizations, and assist researchers.

Cornell University You can find lots of information organized here in a variety of ways. There are compilations of important articles which are available on line too, pulling in material from many publications. The bibliographical information is especially valuable if you're looking for book recommendations.

Princeton University Princeton has a subject-based system (e.g. Economics, Politics, Religion, Travel) that links to large collections on Middle Eastern studies (academic, governmental, and ngo's). Off-the-beaten track here means mostly academic. The listings are generally solid.

Country Profiles The US State Department maintains up-to-date information on foreign countries, though not without poltical bias. Each country's profile represents a broad summary of economic, political, historical, and social information.

Country-Specific Information

Palestine

Palestinian Websites Birzeit University was the first college established in Palestine. This site has good links to institutions in Palestine, arranged in outiline fashion.

Lebanon

Lebanese contemporary and historical Al Mashriq links and contains everything Lebanese! Archeology, history, facts and general information, food, maps, pictures, refugees, social welfare...and much more. Good external resources linkpage too. Really interesting, and a model of how this can be done. Al Mashriq started in 1993 as a voluntary effort of Professor Børre Ludvigsen (Østfold College, Norway).

United Nations in Lebanon Nine UN organizations are active in Lebanon; this is their collective website.

Lebanese government Most of the information here is in Arabic, French with some English. The Lebanese government is relatively transparent on the Net so one can snoop around, though some of the linked governmental agencies are pretty thin. Though hosted in Lebanon, this site was developed by SUNY Albany.

Syria

Syria profile (Arab Gateway) Facts, news, and background on Syria. The best overall source of current information on the country.

Syrian history and other resources Syria is thin on the net. The information here is contributed through the efforts of Professor Børre Ludvigsen (Østfold College, Norway).

Australian Society for Syrian Studies This information centers on political and historical writing about the Fertile Crescent, including Syria. There is a strong bias to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, founded by Antun Sa'adeh.

Economy, government, news and media, social science Since Syria is so hard to find information about, we list as an on-going source the University of Texas.

Iran

Popular contemporary Iranian site Iran has a strong cultural identity that projects through sites like this one.

Official Iranian News Agency IRNA is a well run arm of the Iranian government. For the government view it's articulate, and all available in English.

History, contemporary society, and much more A good place to start when looking for Iranian info (University of Texas).

Pictures from Iran This site is different: it's daily photographs from Iran. Some of the content is by subscription, but still it's interesting to have a little window into the country. The photographs are searchable by keyword.

Israel

Judaism and Jewish Resources Andrew Tannenbaum, who lives in Brookline MA, keeps this extensive site which lists links to the Jewish world and Israel. Well done with brief descriptions.

Jordan

United Nations Development Program in Jordan Covers UN human development programs for Jordan, including poverty and gender projects, governance, environment, human rights, and communications and technology. Contains interesting information about the country and its people. Programs on the West Bank are handled from Amman too.

For Countries Not Listed Yet

Arab Gateway Already reviewed above (under comprehensive sources).

University of Texas Sources of information for all Middle Eastern countries (see above).

Exploring Middle Eastern Culture

Literature

Arab literature A concise, interesting overview of the rich world of Arabic Literature, including sections on Pre-Islamic literature, the development of Arabic prose, Folk literature, Poetry, Maghreb writers, Modern literature, and Palestinian literature.

Arab calligraphy A short and fascinating introduction to Arabic writing and calligraphy.

Arabic Poets A fine way to browse contemporary Arabic poetry. Jehat Al Shear gives you a list of the foremost Arabic poets, from Adonis to Darwish and many others, with several examples of each one's work and, in most cases, a biolography of the poet.

Visual Arts

Arab art and architecture Recommended books and links for the world of Arab art and architecture, both historical and contemporary.

Fondation Arabe pour l'Image This Beirut Foundation is primarily concerned with the preservation and exhibition of historical and contemporary photographic images of the Arab World, including a project on the visual record of 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations of people of Middle Eastern heritage in the diaspora.

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre A major center for contemporary Palestinian art, located in Ramallah. Visit the website to view current and past exhibitions and to get a sense of how the Intifada is affecting modern artistic expression.

Music

Arab music Overview and links to every aspect of Middle Eastern music.

Maqam Music Specialists in Near- and Middle Eastern music and instruments.

History and Archaeology

Photography Archive Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago. A wonderful archive of early photographs of the Middle East.

Arab-Islamic history Not an overview, but essentially a fine bibliography with pictures of recommended books on all aspects of Arab and Islamic history.

Biblical Archaeology Review Does the archaeological record support what we read in scripture? What was King David's Kingdom really like? Did Exodus really happen? What's the status of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Written in plain English and illustrated with excellent photography, BAR is a good place to enter the controversial world of biblical archaeology.

Geography and Maps

Maps of the Arab world Links to an extensive array of contemporary and historical maps, showing both physical and cultural aspects of the Arab and Islamic world

Dimensions of Empire From Princeton.

Topical maps Le Monde diplomatique - good "Middle East" section (you have to page down to it).

For More ...

Publishers and Bookstores Columbia University maintains this list of Middle Eastern sources.

Middle East Bibliographies From Cornell, this bibliography is extensive (though a bit haphazard). Interesting material throughout, and a good resource.

Last Updated: 8/21/02 9:49:12 AM

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