A medieval German traveler once described Granada, in Moorish Spain, as the “Ornament of the World.” A video posted on the Moroccan Design website showcases the beauty and enlightment of the region.

Archaeologists are working on the excavation of the 11th century church at Banganarti, in the Sudan. Live Science has created a slideshow of some of the finds during the excavation, and provides a 3-D view of the church. (photos)

A series of well-preserved medieval churches in central Sudan are giving researchers new information into the world of medieval pilgrimages and veneration. Inscriptions at one site show that pilgrims came from as far away as Catalonia.

A three-year research project, sponsored by the Prehistory Institute of Poznan University and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan, has begun at the Hosh esh-Sheitan strongold in the Nile Valley. Archeologists have already found one or more medieval settlements.

A theology student has discovered the second-oldest known Ethiopic Old Testament at Saint John’s University in Minnesota (USA). The manuscript dates to the 6th century.

Archaeologists have feared the worst for Libya's Roman cultural heritage during the recent unrest in the country, but so far, sites such as Leptis Magna the "jewel in the crown" of Libya's Roman legacy, are unharmed.

An exhibition on sculpture from the Nigerian kingdom of Ife is coming to the United States. The works date from the 4th through 15th centuries and are made of stone and metal.

Researchers have dated the Garima Gospels to between 350 and 650 CE, making it the oldest known illuminated Christian Bible.

Recent analysis of a Roman burial in the city of York show that the remains belonged to a "high status" woman of African origin. Dubbed the "Ivory Bangle Lady," the woman was buried in the late 4th century along with "items including jet and elephant ivory bracelets, earrings, beads and a blue glass jug." (photos)

Archaeologists working on a site near the village of Yikpabongo in the western African country of Ghana have discovered dozens of clay figures depicting people and animals dating from the 7th to 13th centuries. They believe the artifacts are evidence of a pre-Islamic society.

Italian archaeologists have discovered a buried Roman city near the city of Tobruk in Libya. Remnants of the city were found beneath sand dunes, leading experts to believe that a large part of the city sank.

Research shows that the Roman guards who occupied Hadrian's Wall came from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, from northern to eastern European. Recently, evidence has shown that a fair number came from the Middle East.

It took weavers in Madagascar four years to complete a golden 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk. The only one of its kind in the world, the tapestry is kept safe in a glass case in the American Museum of Natural History. Christopher Joyce of NPR has an audio story.

Looking for ideas for a new appetizers? Try a recipe from the past - way past - with The Philosopher’s Kitchen: Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook by Francine Segan.

A researcher believes a site in Connecticut is an early Christian church, built by Byzantine monks who fled from North Africa during the 5th Century, in the wake of the Vandal invasions.

The World Digital Library, Unesco's project to "promote curiosity and understanding across cultures," has launched its website with 1,200 documents ranging from a" 1,000-year-old Japanese novel to the earliest known map to mention America by name."

Archaeologists are working furiously to save the wreck of a 16th century Portuguese ship discovered recently on the Namibian coast. "This is perhaps the largest find in terms of artefacts from a shipwreck in this part of the world," said project manager Webber Ndoro.

Archaeologists working at Newtwopothouse, a site near Cork, Ireland, have discovered African beads among the medieval artifacts, showing that the Irish were carrying out trade with North Africa at the time.

Geologists from De Beers, the diamond company, have discovered the wreck of a late 15th or early 16th century ship loaded with Spanish and Portuguese treasure behind a seawall in Namibia.

Recent study of a pair of lion skulls discovered during excavations of the Tower of London reveals that the lions originated near the Barbary Coast of Northwest Africa. The skulls, which dated from the 13th or 14th centuries, were carbon dated and tested for DNA.

Legend says that the churches carved into the red rock of Lalibela, Ethiopia were built with the help of the angels. Now tourists have discovered one of the country's holiest sites.

The recent discovery of ancient books stored for centuries in leather trunks beneath the dry streets of Timbuktu has many scholars excited. A project to collect many of the books into a world class resource library is now being funded by contributions from around the world.

Due to the climate, it's common to find ancient documents in boxes or caves, or even hidden beneath the sand of Timbuktu, but now a push is on to save many of these precious manuscripts.

Medievalists.net features an interview with Dr. Natalie Zemon Davis, Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University, who currently teaches at the University of Toronto. Davis is the author of nine books and more than 80 articles, "many of which focus on the social and cultural history of 16th century France.

A team of French archaeologists have discovered three towns in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia which they believe are part of the "lost" Islamic kingdom of Shoa. The Muslim stronghold was an important stop on the trade route from the 10th to the 16th centuries.

Soon a new exhibition will be on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna: Benin — Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria.

In an article for the Spring 2007 issue of Skin Deep, a publication for bookbinders, Mark Winstanley discusses Tsbook [Tigrinya for Good] - The Gospel of Abba, a 6th century Ethiopian Gospel and its repair project.

A silver denarius minted in 32 B.C. shows that the fabled image of Cleopatra is not what she really looked like.

Ethnic diversity in ancient Egypt appears to have existed in all levels of society, even the highest.

On June 14, 1325, Ibn Batuta left his native Tangier on pilgrimage to Mecca. He was not to return for 29 years.