Human beings are excellent at detecting patterns. It is a primeval skill vital for survival. A man-eating lion is watched carefully. With time, the watchers become familiar with its basic behavioural habits and prepare a trap to kill it. Because human beings mastered the skill of pattern identification they taught it to computers which can do it much better and on huge scale involving super-fast...
Both sexes have to be prepared for the coming huge social turbulance that could test humanity (1 of 5) Like seasonal migratory birds, thousands of boys and girls of many nationalities flock to the Islands of Malta in the summer to celebrate their youth. Almost empty during the months of winter, a small bay in the northern part of the Island begins to overflow with fresh life. Like arteries, the...
THE STORY OF NATURAL ARABIC NUMBERS* The second greatest gift of Ancient Arabs in Southern Arabia to humanity after the alphabet We have two stories to tell in The History of Arabic Numerals, both of which have never been told in a book before. Because they are naturally simple, they may sound outrageous. This should not be of concern, since shocking one’s readership with simple facts is one...
Scene: Amman, Jordan: Wissam’s aunt houseOne week later Haytham had to lower his head in order to look inside the taxi that had just pulled over in the middle of the road, right in front of his house. He then ran, opened a metal gate, crossed a large terraced garden and shouted, “Mama! Wissam’s arrived.” He went back to the taxi and waited for Wissam to finish paying the driver.“Haytham!” Wissam...
The 10th International Symposium on: The Moriscos and the Mediterranean in the 16th and 17th Centuries Fondation Temimi – The Temimi Foundation (Tunis, Zaghouan – 9-12 Mai 2001) Abduljelil Temimi, Senen Horensa Ambassadeur d’Espagne, Luce Lopez Baralt A. S. Bishtawi , Taoufik Hajaiej, Louis Imperiale, Luce Lopez Baralt, Joseph V Ricapito, Maria Elvira Sagarzazu, (not recognised...
Cordova, a photo by Danny Bishtawi Featured image is at Sevilla Flight of the Blackbird Robert W. Lebling Jr. Illustrated by Norman MacDonald If you eat asparagus, or if you start your meal with soup and end with dessert, or if you use toothpaste, or if you wear your hair in bangs, you owe a lot to one of the greatest musicians in history. He was known as Ziryab, a colloquial Arabic term...
A Search for Traces of Spain’s Islamic Past Tor Eigeland* I set out on my trip to photograph the traces of Spain’s Moorish past by driving south, down the coast from my home near Barcelona. Valencia In Valencia and its satellite towns of Manises and Paterna I saw some interesting ruins, though in my opinion they are among the ugliest towns in Spain.One attractive aspect of Manises...
Palace at Sevilla. Photo by Danny Bishtawi Names and place names in Spain I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago when I found myself able to trace the route taken by the famous 12-13th century Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubair (1144-1217) – (apparently mount Etna was as active in his times as now) on his return to his native country from a three-year extensive trip to the Arab east just by...
The Palace at Sevilla. Photo by Danny Bishtawi And so it is said… “As to their vanishing from the face of Earth, they have shared the fate of many nations, cultures and languages. It seems useless to speculate if they deserved a destiny different from that of Zoroastrians, Sumerian, Parthian, Mayan, Charrias or Abipones, all of which had their own aims and reasons to survive...
SUSAN BARBARA BISHTAWI Painter (Maiden name Susan Galea Borg) Jewellery Designer Book Cover Designer Susan at Medina, Malta; Susan with close friends. Highlights from an interview with Susan Bishtawi by Hussam-ul-Deen Mohamed, author, Managing Editor of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, London, England, and one of the outstanding literary critics in the Arab World ■ (Q) You are British, your father is...