Middle East

Israel's Dig for History

Keith Feldman explores the multi period sites in northern Israel dating from the Iron Age to the late Byzantine era.

The Syrian Cuckoo: Rome and the Unconquered Sun

Running after foreign gods - Richard Stoneman explains how Rome's Syrian rival, the city of Palmyra, and her formidable queen Zenobia influenced the religion and mores of the later Empire - and brought us in the process Christmas Day.

Kuwait Exhibits Islam

Kuwait has enjoyed wealth far longer than the other oil producing states of the Middle East and is proud to spend its riches on its heritage, as Philip Mansel explores here.

The Fight for Oil: Britain in Persia, 1919

British-Russian rivalry over the control of Persia had, by the beginning of the twentieth century, a long history. Donald Ewalt shows how this conflict was greatly intensified by the discovery of oil and a growing realisation of its importance.