Using simple hives of terracotta or plywood, nomadic beekeepers in one of Yemen's little-known valleys have learned over centuries the secrets of producing some of the world's most sought-after—and most expensive—honey.

George Orwell came to Morocco on doctor's orders, but his six-month stay in Marrakech marked a turning point in his growth from compassionate novelist to one of the 20th century's most powerful political writers.

As Dr. Michael DeBakey approaches another breakthrough—the first permanent artificial heart—he discusses the influence of his Lebanese-American family on his remarkable career.

In a small studio hidden in Jerusalem's Old City, Marie Balian's tile paintings of trees, flowers and animals keep alive a hundred-year-old family business and breathe new life into an art that dates back more than 4000 years.

Early Muslims developed the technology of refining crude oil, readily available from natural sources known from antiquity, into "water-white naphtha," a volatile distillate that physicians used to heal and rulers used to conquer.

Within the palace at the heart of the Ottoman Empire stood treasuries large and small, filled with the wealth of nations. Today the Topkapı Treasury is arguably the greatest among surviving imperial collections in East or West.