Cultural heritage

The heavily damaged Shahid (Martyr) Mosque is pictured in Khartoum's Muqrin neighbourhood on March 22, 2025. Sudan's army and allied armed groups seized the country's presidential palace on March 21 in the ongoing war against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries, which the RSF had used since the start of the war to house elite forces and stockpile ammunition. The military has since launched a clearing operation to push the RSF out of the city centre, retaking on March 22 several strategic state ins

Khartoum accuses RSF of looting and destroying Sudan's heritage: What to know

The Sudanese government accused the Rapid Support Forces of looting and destroying cultural heritage sites, including the Sudan National Museum, during their occupation of Khartoum, calling the actions war crimes and pledging to work with UNESCO and Interpol to recover stolen artifacts.

Muslims perform the morning prayer around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, early on March 30, 2025.

In photos: Muslims celebrate Eid el-Fitr across the Middle East

Muslims in the Middle East came together on Sunday and Monday to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

ultra-Orthodox

Israeli army escorts ultra-Orthodox Jews to religious site in south Lebanon: What to know

The Israeli military allowed hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israeli civilians into southern Lebanon to visit a religious site, meeting condemnation from Lebanon's army.

Pigeons fly in front of the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al-Aqsa mosques compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, ahead of the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on Feb. 28, 2025.

Muslims across Middle East welcome Ramadan despite war, inflation

Amid fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon and shifting dynamics for Iran, Syria and others, the region is preparing for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

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Feature

Christians in Syria hopeful but wary of Sharaa’s intentions

church

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

In search for Cleopatra's tomb, Egypt claims new discoveries

A visitor views the busts of Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator.

Egypt: Archaeologists unearth 2,100-year-old temple in ancient village

The newly discovered chamber in the north tower of the temple at Athribis is pictued in this undated photo.

Analysis

In Morocco, France's Macron dangles Western Sahara concessions to mend ties

France's President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco's King Mohammed VI

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Dancers with El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe perform during the opening night of the Palestine International Festival, Ramallah, West Bank, July 2, 2009.

Palestinian dancer jailed in Israel

Palestinians are accusing Israel of arbitrarily cracking down on cultural expression.

In this handout picture released by the Turkish presidential press office, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the building's first official prayers after being reconverted into a mosque on July 24, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Erdogan is MENA’s most popular leader, Arab Barometer finds

Turkey's promotion of cultural heritage, including through its tourism and entertainment sectors, is one reason for Erdogan's popularity. However, the perception of the Ottoman legacy is gradually shifting from one of praise to one of condemnation toward Turkish policies.

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.