Cultural heritage

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Qlaile as pictured from nearby Tyre in southern Lebanon on April 7, 2026. The Israeli military said on April 7 that it had completed the deployment of ground troops along a "defence line" in southern Lebanon, where it is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. The military has not given any geographical details on the furthest point to which its soldiers have advanced into Lebanese territory. (Photo by Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Tyre, Lebanon’s ‘Queen of the Seas,’ devastated by Israeli bombing: What to know

A series of Israeli strikes near ancient ruins in the Phoenician port city has raised concerns about potential damage to historical landmarks.

Zain JAAFAR / AFP via Getty Images

Between heat and war, Saudi Arabia seeks incident-free Hajj

Mecca's temperature reached a high of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday and is expected to hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) on Wednesday.

A picture shows a section of the external wall and towers of the Saladin Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Syria's Latakia province on March 7, 2023.

Culture

Syria advances cultural revival with nine new heritage listings

Nine heritage sites have been added to list of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which restored Syria’s membership last year after a 14-year suspension.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto during a reception at the State House ahead of the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi on May 10, 2026.

Analysis

Pushed out of Sahel, Macron turns to Egypt and Africa's anglophone countries

Following the French retreat from the Sahel amid growing Russian influence, President Emmanuel Macron is turning to anglophone Africa to rebuild France's diplomatic and economic footprint on the continent.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist , Rosaleen Carroll

Latest News

Culture

Despite war, Lebanon reopens film archive celebrating cinematic history

Vehicles move past a giant mural on the side of a building showing an image of the late Lebanese actress and singer Sabah (1927-2014) along Beirut's Hamra street on June 20, 2024.

Culture

How ‘dog mom’ vacuum cleaner ad sparked culture war in Turkey

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

A picture taken near Kars on Feb. 28, 2024 shows the ruins of a bridge over Arpacay river, the natural border between Turkey and Armenia.

Culture

Lebanon's churches, mosques and archaeological sites damaged in Israeli strikes

A man sits watching as Lebanese first responders search for human remains among the rubble the day after a house was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, on May 1, 2026.

A large mosaic is pictured at the archaeological site of the St. Hilarion Monastery, one of the largest Christian monasteries in the Middle East, in Tell Umm al-Amr close to Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on March 19, 2013. The earliest building dates back to the fourth century and is attributed to St. Hilarion, a native of the Gaza region and the father of Palestinian monasticism. Abandoned after a seventh-century earthquake and uncovered by local archaeologists in 1999, today the settlement asp

New archaeological discovery in St. Hilarion Monastery

In cooperation with Palestinian experts, a French antiquities mission found graves dating back to the Byzantine era at the site of St. Hilarion in the western Gaza Strip.

Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conservator Tanya Bitler displays recently-discovered 2000-year-old biblical scroll fragments from the Bar Kochba period, after completion of preservation work at the authority's Dead Sea conservation lab in Jerusalem, on March 16, 2021. - Israel described the find, which includes a cache of rare coins, a six-millennia-old skeleton of a child and basket it described as the oldest in the world, at over 10,000 years, as one of the most significant since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dead Sea Scrolls unearthed by Israeli archaeologists in desert cave

The Israeli project also discovered the remains of a mummified child and what's believed to be the world's oldest basket.

This picture taken on August 18, 2019 shows restoration works ongoing at the historic "Le Palais Hindou" (also known as the "Baron Empain Palace") built by in the early 20th century by Belgian industrialist Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Empain, in the classical Khmer architectural style of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, in the Egyptian capital Cairo's northeastern Heliopolis district. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

How Cairo’s Heliopolis heritage managed to remain uncovered

The residents of Cairo's Heliopolis neighborhood have succeeded in stopping a government decision to build a new bridge in the heart of its historical and heritage area.

Egypt unveils restored Isis Temple 150 years after its discovery

Egypt inaugurates the restored Temple of Isis in Aswan as part of the government’s efforts to revive the tourism sector.

Iran offers to help Iraq reconstruct damaged archaeological masterpiece

Iran has expressed interest in helping repair the Taq Kasra, the remains of a pre-Islamic Persian palace in Iraq with a historically significant archway.

Palestine’s 'techno queen' scapegoated by politicians trying to escape responsibility

Misinterpretations of a music video shot in the area of a West Bank holy site cause anger, an arrest of the DJ and the burning of furniture to be used for the development of cultural tourism at the location.

Egyptians await procession of royal mummies to their new home

Some 22 royal mummies will be transported in a major royal procession from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

Netflix to show first movie about Iraq battle against Islamic State in Mosul

“Mosul,” an Iraqi film production on one of the stories of the battle to liberate the city, is set to be shown on Netflix this month.

UK to return 5,000 ancient artifacts to Iraq

Included in the repatriation is a 4,000-year-old Sumerian relic discovered in an online auction.

Egypt’s city of Esna is slowly regaining its glory amid renewed interest in its heritage

The Ministry of Antiquities and an urban development company, with US funding, are advancing a major project to revive tourism in the city of Esna in Luxor governorate, by not only promoting its ancient heritage but also by implicating the locals.

Egypt caves to popular pressure, displays controversial French statue

After years of tension and popular pressure, Egypt has decided to move the statue of French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was behind digging the Suez Canal, from the Port Said governorate to exhibit it at the headquarters of the Suez Canal International Museum in Ismailia governorate.

Palestinian man builds vintage car in his own garage

A Palestinian owner of a car showroom in the West Bank manufactured his own vintage vehicle in a small workshop during the coronavirus lockdown.