Fez Morocco donkeys

Africa & the MiddleEast

Morocco's Extraordinary Donkeys

The author returns to Fez to explore the stubborn animal's central role in the life of this desert kingdom
September 2009 | By Susan Orlean

Nairobi Kenya

Despite many travel delays, Smithsonian Secretary Clough arrives in Kenya ready to study the African wildlife at the Mpala Ranch
June 16, 2009 | By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Famagusta Walled City

Once located in the midst of high-volume shipping lanes, a forgotten city with multiple European influences could be lost forever without an intervention
March 2009 | By Helen Starkweather

Curator on roof of family library

The rapidly expanding Sahara Desert threatens a medieval trading center that also carries importance for Sunni Muslims
March 2009 | By Jeanne Maglaty

Church of the Nativity Bethlehem

The 1,700-year-old basilica, believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus Christ, has survived invasions, rebellions and earthquakes
March 2009 | By Abigail Tucker

City of Hasankeyf Turkey

A new hydroelectric dam threatens the ancient city, home to thousands of human-made caves
March 2009 | By Diane M. Bolz

Hazrat Ali, the most beautiful mosque in Afghanistan, dates to the seventh century and is open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

A writer and photographer crisscross a nation ravaged by a quarter century of warfare to inventory its most sacred treasures
February 2003 | By Rob Schultheis

New Kingdom customs rise triumphantly from the dead in "The Quest for Immortality," a dazzling display of treasures from the tombs of the pharaohs
July 2003 | By Doug Stewart

The Persian Gulf kingdom has embraced openness and capitalism. Might other Mideast nations follow?
October 01, 2003 | By Ken Ringle

Welcome to Lahore, where an explosion of art and media is offering a vibrant alternative to the strictures of religious conservatives and is transforming one of America's most important and most ambivalent allies
July 2004 | By Mohsin Hamid

The regime may inflame Washington, but young Iranians say they admire, of all places, America
March 2005 | By Afshin Molavi

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