In 2015, when ISIS took control of major parts of Syria, along with millions of people killed, one major casualty was the ancient ruins of Palmyra. As it became clear that the city was going into the hands of ISIS, Qassim Abdullah Yehya and Khaled al-Asaad, the custodians of the archaeological artefacts of the city, evacuated the city museum and shifted many of these valued objects of heritage to another location.

Paraman was one such regular, the street violinist, who had positioned himself between an artist and a beggar. In our culture, the members of the Pulluva community, to which he belonged had the traditional role of creating exquisite music using two delightful musical instruments- a single-string local fiddle and a round mud pot with a tight wire wound across it.

The United Nations and the International Court of Justice that functions under it have certain jurisdiction over settling border disputes between the countries. There are international laws to assist them in such matters. There are many border treaties in place globally, many adhered to, and many breached on a routine scale. There are also borders in place in the seas and the skies. Maritime borders are often contested, breached, and heavily guarded too.

For generations, Aleppo was a peaceful trading hub. Reaching Aleppo, the Silk Route entered the Mediterranean Sea, rendering it a special status among such trade centres....However, invaders began to arrive centuries ago.

For the mothers on both sides, the soldiers are children, their children. They grieve separately and by design within the parameters of an imagined nationhood, oblivious to the same kind of suffering of the mothers on the other side of the fence. 

Cellular memory is an emerging field of science, and evidence suggests that the heart possesses some of the capabilities traditionally attributed to the brain. Perhaps it is time to consider the heart's role in our emotions and intellect, challenging the traditional dominance of the brain.

St Thomas Basilica, Mylapur, Chennai, which is believed to be the original burial place of St Thomas. Although numerous Christian sects in India hold the belief that St. Thomas traveled to India and converted their ancestors to Christianity, this narrative is considered apocryphal. Research involving facts, fiction, and historical documents has not yielded definitive proof of such a journey by St. Thomas. Nonetheless, the absence of evidence has not deterred the Christians of

The Apollo temple in Delphi, on Mount Parnassus, was the home of Pythia, the extraordinary oracle of Apollo, the god of light, knowledge, and harmony. Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus, Euripides, Plutarch, Ovid and many more Greek thinkers and writers have sung her praise.

The cost of developing this new rose breed was about three million British pounds, and it took him fifteen years to complete. But after all that work, he sold it for an almost unbelievable five million dollars, garnering a profit and making it the most expensive flower.

Is ‘good’ really good? Is ‘bad’ really bad? Well, Friedrich Nietzsche emphatically said ‘no.’ Why? Because he went to the source of these concepts, to their origins in history and language, and revealed the disturbing truth about them.

If you visit India, your experience of this country will never be complete without visiting Chandni Chowk, also known as Dureeba. This is the ancient market built by the Mughal princess, Jahanara Begum, the unmarried scion of the great Emperor Shah Jahan, and an intelligent and industrious woman who wanted to leave her mark as an efficient and strong princess.

Omari Mosque was the oldest mosque in Gaza and the largest. On December 9, 2023, news came out of Gaza that the mosque was destroyed in the Israeli bombing. As a place of worship, this mosque and the land on which it stands have a deep and layered history.

The facts and views about America’s economic interests in any war have been exhaustively discussed in the public domain. During the Afghan and Iraq wars, the problematic premise of US interests in global conflicts were put under scrutiny like never before. Less known is how these interests evolved in the succeeding decades.

Many scholars have explored the connections between war, peace, and basic human nature, achieving varying degrees of success. All of them beat their brains out trying to figure out the root causes of war and where its dateline begins in human history. The resulting theories shed light on many nuanced aspects of war, peace, and human nature.

Rome and Greece, one must remember, have had strong traditions of sculpture and art to depict their heroes and leaders. Why is there still no description of Jesus?

Now science has opened up the possibility of eating meat without the guilt of killing an animal. The magic word is stem cell meat.

From the colossal library in Alexandria of ancient times to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the Bamiyan Buddhas of present-day Afghanistan, to Palmyra razed to Earth by ISIS, the loss of monuments and buildings, culturally invaluable to humanity, transpires in all the small and big wars we fight.

Paper allows all kinds of specifications and abstractions for our understanding of the world, life, and beyond- paper money, prayers imprinted on paper, talismans written on paper, secrets kept on paper, history documented on paper, maps drawn out on it, and all of our emotions and knowledge poured out on paper by scholars, poets, writers, scientists, etc. and common people. How did such a perishable object become the keeper of everything valuable to us?

All the crucial journeys of an individual begin and end by walking them. For example, one's first walk to the school, the first journey for a job interview, and the first walk home with a special friend.

Bedouins are Arab Muslims, and their recorded history goes back to 2500 BCE, much before the advent of Islam.