Study was not enough: He had to see it. So the celebrated novelist explored the land whose past he was trying to describe. Despite prejudices, his historian's sense and his eye for detail brought clarity and light to Salammbô .

Starting with the natural beauty of the Wadi Hanifa and long study of residents' needs, landscape designers in the Diplomatic Quarter crafted gardens, parks and landscapes that ally utility with beauty.

With her brushes and her vision, Martyl shows Egypt's antiquities in a new light. Her art - ranging from precise excavation documents to evocative abstractions - also revives and renews the role of the archeological illustrator.

Carved out of the desert in a decade, the bright new addition to Saudi Arabia's capital city is the setting for a cluster of architectural gems. It is also home to a growing number of Saudi and foreign residents.

History itself was a surplus crop at the Siwa Oasis, a lovingly tended low spot in Egypt's western desert. Its oracle advised pharaohs and confirmed Alexander's crown; now new roads and new ways are ending its isolation.