In its March 2013 issue, Antiquity Magazine reports on a partnership of several universities and organizations to use the latest developments in computer science and engineering to analyze archaeological sites. In this instance, they focus on the UNESCO World Heritage, Petra Archaeological Park.

The Western Science Center in Hemet, California is teaming up with La Sierra University to present Weapons & War in the Iron Age which "examines the important period of the 2nd millenium BC in the ancient Near East." The exhibit will open May 19, 2013.

Historical Glassworks creates handblown glass articles, specializing in historical reproductions. Available items include tools, feast gear, accessories, and decorative gifts. They also offer live demonstrations. View their calendar for a list of upcoming events in your area.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is playing host to masterpieces from Kuwait’s al-Sabah Collection, "one of the greatest collections of Islamic art in the world." The show runs until January 26, 2014. (photos)

Manly high heels date back centuries, worn by horsemen as well as powerful rulers.

Two years ago, the chance discovery of a collection of documents in a cave in Afghanistan gave experts a first ever glimpse of 11th century "religious, cultural and commercial life of the Jewish community in a central location on the trade route between China and the West."

In an attempt to lure in potential subscribers, History Today magazine has released a selection of its most popular stories from 2012 on its blog.

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. is currently playing host to Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an "unprecedented assembly" of artifacts which tell the story of of the trade routes across the Arabian Peninsula.

Greetings to the fair Kingdom of the East. Let it be known that the Shire of Quintavia is again opening its doors to host our annual Hafla. 

A Jewish prayer book, created in 15th century Spain, is a survivor. The book includes liturgies for the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement and managed to survive both the Inquisition and the Holocaust.

Falconers in Abu Dhabi have created a mini helmet cam designed to allow viewers to experience the flight and hunt of a falcon. A short video reveals what it's like to "fly like a falcon."

A joint team of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University and Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority have discovered "one of the largest gold coin hoards discovered in a medieval site in the land of Israel." The coins were determined to have circulated in the 13th century, the time Crusader occupation.

An olive press dating to the 6th – 8th century CE has been discovered at a road construction site near Hod HaSharon in Israel. The press "had been carved into huge building slabs that were sunk into the ground."

The Arabic Manuscripts Digital Library of Jerusalem reports that it will make thousands of Arabic language documents, dating to the early Islamic era, available to access on the internet.

"This is the first hoard of gold coins that we have in Israel that we can date to the Crusader period," said Oren Tal, director of the excavation of the 13th century Crusader castle of Arsur, where a hoard of 108 gold coins was recently discovered.

Stowe on the Wowld presents Alhambra Nights, a mediaeval feast of Moorish food. September 8, 2012.

“The Turin Shroud is only one of the many burial cloths which were circulating in the Christian world during the Middle Ages. There were at least 40,” said Antonio Lombatti of the Università Popolare in Parma, Italy. His paper on the subject is scheduled to appear in Studi Medievali.

Food historians have long debated the history of the pizza, and whether or not it was derived from manakish, a flat, baked dough covered with lamb and cheese, eaten in the Middle East.

Devout Muslims in Istanbul are calling for the re-opening of the historic 6th century Hagia Sofia as a mosque. The move would break a Turkish law prohibiting worship in the monument.

Israel Antiquities Authority deputy director Uzi Dahari reports that vandals, possibly ultra-Orthodox Jews, have damaged a rare 5th century mosaic in a synagogue in the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.

A team of archaeologists has discovered a "monumental" synagogue dating to the 4th or 5th centuries C.E. in excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee. The excavations revealed a "stunning" mosaic depicting Samson "placing torches between the tails of foxes." (photo)

Most tourists of Roman sites rave about the beauty of Rome or Hadrian's Wall, but most ignore Roman Morocco. In an article for The Star Online, Paul Schemm looks at several Roman sites in Morocco.

The PARSA Community Foundation is teaming up with the British Library and others to provide online access to the Library's 11,000 Iranian manuscripts, one of the largest and best known in the world. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

The Guilds of Middle Eastern Dancing and Cookery invite one and all to "An Evening in Palermo"

In a recent article for the New York Times Sunday Review, author and director of the Center for Byzantine Research at Oxford, Peter Frankopan,  discusses his new book The First Crusade: The Call From the East.

The World Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, England has a unique offering this year, a new take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet called Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad where the couple are not divided by family squabbles but by religious sects.

The recent Arab Spring, in North Africa and the Middle East, was not the first, according to a Deborah Amos report on NPR. The first was the conflict of culture between the Byzantine Empire and the new Islamic religion in the seventh century to the ninth centuries.

The Conference of the Birds, an epic Persian poem written by Farid ud-Din Attar in the 1100s, is being published as an artistic version of a graphic novel. The poem was adapted by Czech illustrator Peter Sis.

Modern scientists hope to study global weather patterns with the help of ancient scholars. Using writings from 9th and 10th century Iraq, a team of scientists from the Universidad de Extremadura hope to learn about climate change by comparing ancient and modern data.

Persians and Iranians have long been identified with their magnificent woven carpets. An article for Payvand Iran News traces the history of the Persian carpet from 500 BCE to the present, including documentation and artifacts. (photos)