When I was researching the etymology of various place names in the Iberian penninsula, that have Arabic names, I came across the town of Almeida.

This town seems to derive its name from the Arabic word المائدة meaning "the dining table". In Muslim sources, it is said to have been a relic claimed by Iberian Christians to be the dining table of King Solomon.

In this article, I try to collect all historical references on this mysterious relic dining table.

As if it is not enough that some Americans want to move to Canada, now an entire state wants to join as well!It is ironic that the 11th state of the union, Vermont, wants to secede and join Canada.

Molokheya, also known as Jew's Mallow, is one of Egypt's national dishes, as well as other countries in the Middle East region.

Abu Muhammad Dia' al-Din Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Al-Baytar al-Maliqial-Andalusi أبو محمد ضياء الدين عبد الله بن أحمد بن البيطار المالقي الأندلسي. (b. 575 A.H./1179 C.E. d. 646 A.H./1248 C.E.). He was a famed physician, herbalist, pharmacist, and botanist.

While reading a recent issue of the Canadian Geographic, I came across a news item mentioning two Canadians in Thailand, who run a magazine targeted for Westerners, called Farang. The similarity of this term to the Arabic ones piqued my interested, so I did some research on it.

Locust swarms have infested large swaths of Africa, north and south of the Sahara.Locusts have been reported as far west as the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic, Mauritania, Northern Nigeria, Chad

Yesterday and today, we had a feel of what is to come this winter. There was some freezing rain that made for a spectacular show today.

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Walid ibn Khalaf al-Fihri al-Tartushi أبو بكر محمد بن الوليد بن خلف الفهري الطرطوشي (b. 451 A.H./1059 C.E. - d. 520 A.H/1127 C.E.) was a famous jurist originally from Tortosa طرطوشة, in Muslim Spain.

One of famous Andalusian figures in Muslim Spain is Abu al-Walid Sulaiman ibn Khalaf ibn Saad ibn Ayub al-Tujaibi al-Maliki al-Baji أبو الوليد سليمان بن خلف بن سعد بن أيوب التجيبي الأندلسي الباجي الفقيه المالكي (b. 403 A.H. - d. 474 A.H.). This is a collection of sources on him.

Cranes in migration is a sight to behold.I recall seeing cranes in Istanbul Turkey in the early 1990s, circling and calling over the city. Also, in Jeddah, I saw cranesseveral times, where it is a stop on their route from Eurasia to Africa. Jeddah must be a conspicuous marker on the Red Sea coast, and among the Hijaz mountain range, and the deserts around it. They are seen over the al-Andalus district (Palestine Road), and the Old Airportarea. I have a video tape of them somewhere.