Industrial use of Petroleum is not just a 20^th century phenomenon. The Nabataeans of the Arabian Peninsula exploited natural bitumen “fisheries” in the Dead Sea, and built an international trade on Egypt’s inexhaustible need for the product.

"Softly gliding through an infinity of misty blue," the Graf Zeppelin’s two pleasure cruises to Egypt and Palestine had their political aspects too. Germany and Britain were maneuvering for prestige, and Egypt for recognition of its nationhood.

Furnishings inlaid with mother-of-pearl are one of the glories of Middle Eastern art, flourishing opulently in the 16th and 17th centuries, and again in the 19th, when Europeans and Americans also fell under their gleaming spell.

He has earned all the honors and adulation a sports hero can hope for, including half a million fans to cheer him and his teammates at a parade through downtown Houston. But Hakeem Olajuwon’s foundations are set in the rock of his Muslim faith.

A million palms, half a million olive trees and cooling breezes make "gentle Jerba" a favorite place to visit for Tunisians and foreigners alike. But the island’s nearly 300 mosques, changing colors in the changing light, are the main attraction.