Unique old manuscripts and rare printed books smell of history in the Khalidi Library. Acrid fresh plaster and new-sawn wood smell of restoration and renewal. Behind these smells is the quiet but unhushed voice of a people with a past and future.

Prizes, publicity, excitement and sheer fun lifted scores of hot-air balloons, and the spirits of their crews, over the colorful crags of Jordan's Wadi Rum. During the three-day international meet, both the thermals and the competition heated up.

The flash and crackle of human interaction is what television director Asaad Kelada strives to capture on videotape each week. His ability to do that has brought him hits like "Who's the Boss"—successes earned by years of thoughtful honing of his craft.

Outmanned and on the defensive, the crusaders built some of the strongest fortresses of their era, well sited and planned. Though they fell in the end, it was more often by ruse than by assault.

With a drumroll and a flash of ermine, East met West in 1721, when the Ottoman Empire's first ambassador arrived at the court of Louis XV. Frenchmen and Turks found they had much in common, including surprise at each other's habits.

America's first Egyptologist was not only a scholar and a successful popularizer and fund-raiser, but also organizer of scientific expeditions all across the ancient Near East. The institutions and publications he founded are still important in the field.