The Orontes stands out as the sole perennial river in Western Asia, meandering northward from Lebanon through Syria before merging its waters into the Mediterranean Sea. This geographical feature – having long held profound historical significance as a boundary marker since antiquity – has witnessed a series of shifts, embracing and bidding farewell to various attributes that have sculpted its being over time.

Mohammed Hammad writes about his family home in Nablus — Beit Hammad — sharing its history and its present.

A cultural and archaeological history of Bahrain’s Dilmun Burial Mounds written by Zeina Alkhaja former archives assistant at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities who now works at the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage. Image via Dilmun Mounds UNESCO nomination text

What are the most important buildings in Kuwait city’s skyline? Who are the architects that built the urban fabric of this gulf city? A quick guide to some of K

For any architecture nerds looking for some weirdly and wonderfully shaped buildings from across the region, here are 5 buildings that have a unique form or structure.

Image via Pinterest.

What to read if you want to learn more about architecture and urban planning in the Gulf, as recommended by Roberto Fabbri on the afikra podcast.

Northern Mauritania’s Chinguetti is said to be the seventh holiest city in Islam, home to some of the world’s most important medieval Quranic texts. Image via Reddit.

A history of Sudan’s Nubian pyramids and why they look different from their counterparts in Giza. Image via Intro Africa.

A brief look at the Tripoli International Fair (Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center), an unfinished relic of modernist architecture from the 1960s built on southern Tripoli’s orange orchards. Image via Anthony Saroufim & Design Boom.

A brief history of Kuwait City’s iconic water towers — looking at their architectural design that brings together local and international aesthetic with functional purpose.

A look at Casablanca’s colonial-era architecture and its main figures.

A vibrant personal essay and travelogue that transports us to Aleppo’s iconic Baron Hotel, weaving together its history with its present.

A look at the crucial work that Dearborn’s Arab-American National Museum does in preserving and showcasing the history of Arab-America.