Arab Semite

Sufi communities are "thriving" in Saudi Arabia since 2001. Previously, the House of Saud had done much to eradicate evidence of the Prophet Muhammad's existence, his burial site and those of his companions, house, and first Mosque in Medina by extensively "modernizing" the surrounding architecture. "Sufism had previously been predominant in Hejaz, the western region of Saudi Arabia, which includes Muhammad's birthplace, Mecca; Medina, where he is buried; and the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. Muslims prayed often at shrines where the prophet's daughter Fatima, his wife Khadija and his companions were buried. Mawlids were public affairs with entire cities decked out in lights, and parades and festivities commemorating the prophet's birthday and his ascension to Jerusalem." Companions of the Prophet Burial site early 1900's (left) . The tombs and mosoleums were destroyed in 1925 by King Saud. (right) The Prophet's Mosque in Medin...

Khaled Mashal, Hamas Political Bureau Chief , and former Physics Teacher, is based in Damascus. A Google News search shows Western and Israeli press villanizing him as an Iranian-style "Supreme Leader" of Hamas, and a seeker of "Jewish Blood." So what's he been up to lately?

Statue of Caliph Abu-Ja'far al-Mansur, founder of Baghdad, destroyed in Iraq.

A chart showing the progression of different semitic scripts, including Siniatic (pre-Canaanite).

From The Nestorian Church Website. Bordering the Arabian Gulf and containing the towns of Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Dammam, Qatif, Hofuf and Jubail, the Eastern Province is where oil was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. Near Jubail are the ruins of what was unearthed in the mid-1980s by a group of people attempting to dig their vehicle out of the sand. The ruins are known as the Jubail Church and are acknowledged by the Saudi bureaucracy who will not issue permits to visit it because "the site is being excavated." In any case, the ruins originally contained four stone crosses, which later went missing, though the marks where the crosses were are still visible. The ruins are thought to date from the 4th century, which make them older than any known church in Europe. Not much else is known but speculation is that it was in some way connected to one of the five Nestorian bishoprics which are known to have existed in this area of the Gulf in the 4th century.

There is a Wikipedia entry, albeit outdated, about Kamal Salibi now.

Hello out there-- I've finally broke down and created a blog. My main objective is to have a centralized repository of writings (my own and others), information, documents, and photos that discuss the status of Arab and Mid Eastern intellectual thought toward culture, history, archeology and current politics surrounding it. I have no idea where this will really lead but I've concluded it is the best option of a lot of bad options in organizing the myriad of information and readings I come across. I hope others find it useful too.