The extravagant Hajj caravans of the sultans’ wives

Through extravagant processions led by palace women, the Mamluk state projected a message of power and prestige at home and abroad, turning the Hajj obligation into a soft-power tool

Yasmin Abdallah

Egypt Mourns Pope Shenouda

[caption id="attachment_55230035" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Egyptian Coptic Christians carry the coffin of Coptic Pope Shenouda III"][/caption] As he followed the ambulance carrying…

Alastair Beach

The Met’s Bold New Galleries

[caption id="attachment_552298" align="aligncenter" width="495" caption="Reception Room (Qa'a), dated A.H. 1119/A.D. 1707Syria, Damascus (Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)"…

Noam Schimmel

A Tribute to Adonis

[caption id="attachment_55229696" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="(Photo credit: Torstein Blixfjord)"][/caption] One of the Arab world’s premier poets is currently being celebrated at the…

Noam Schimmel

Qatar Goes to the Movies

[caption id="attachment_55229610" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Antonio Banderas on the red carpet at the Doha Tribeca Fim Festival 2011"][/caption] The Doha Film Institute (DFI) offers a…

Noam Schimmel

Qat, Guns and Jihad

Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes Victoria Clark Yale University Press 2010 Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes is the kind of book that keeps you awake at night. Its British author, Aden…

Jacqueline Shoen

Against Cynicism

[caption id="attachment_55229554" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Anthony Shadid"][/caption] The veteran American reporter Anthony Shadid died on Thursday while on assignment in Syria for…

Majalla: The Leading Arab Magazine

Cinema After 9/11

[caption id="attachment_55229322" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2012)"][/caption] How’s this for a trick question: which European actor received an…

Nicholas Blincoe

Hajj: Journeys to Britain

[caption id="attachment_55229222" align="aligncenter" width="594" caption="Jabal al-Rahma (The Mount of Mercy) at Arafat, photo by Reem al Faisal"][/caption] Walking around the exhibition for the…

Juliet Highet