Kunya-Urgench is situated in northwestern Turkmenistan, on the south side of the Amu Daria River. Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached...

Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca, have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West. The influences of Asia and Europe have endowed the towns with a specific multicultural heritage that is both tangible and intangible. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate...

There are several dozen parks located within the desert southwest area of the US in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. They protect everything from historically significant rivers, urban memorial parks, battlefields, flint quarries, scenic lakes and mountains, wildlife, caverns, ancient cliff dwellings and cactus. This program features several dedicated National Park rangers, responsible for protecting our national parks and the history, natural resources,...

Tse-ven Soong was born in Shanghai. He graduated from St. John’s University, earned a master’s degree at Harvard University, and received a doctoral degree at Columbia University. In 1923, he worked for Sun Yat-sen as an English-speaking secretary, and because of his academic background, he soon was in charge of finance for the Kuomintang. In 1924, he was made governor of the Central Bank of China. In 1925, his remarkable achievements enabled...

While the Viking raids have come one after another in the Occident for almost a century, in November 885, hundreds of Scandinavian boats sailing towards Burgundy present themselves before the walls of Paris and besiege the city. The stubborn resistance of Count Eudes makes it possible for the besieged to resist until the arrival of Emperor Charles the Fat, who, in exchange for a large amount of money, obtains the withdrawal of the Scandinavians. To...

"The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick : Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's ten-part, 18-hour documentary series, The Vietnam War, tells the epic story of one of the most consequential, divisive, and controversial events in American history as it has never before been told on film. Visceral and immersive, the series explores the human dimensions of the war through revelatory testimony of nearly 80 witnesses from all sides -- Americans who...

The antecedents of modern Indian culture can be traced back to the Harappan civilization, which flourished between 2300 and 1500 BC in what are now Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Aryan tribes from the Russian steppes invaded the subcontinent in 1000 BC, bringing their language and culture. The resulting synthesis between the Aryan and Indian civilizations brought forth a unique society that included a caste system, which soon became entrenched. This...

The Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine stands at the foot of Mount Horeb where, the Old Testament records, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The mountain is known and revered by Muslims as Jebel Musa. The entire area is sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The Monastery, founded in the 6th century, is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function. Its walls and buildings are of great significance...

Founded in 1519 by the conquistador Pedrarías Dávila, Panamá Viejo is the oldest European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. It was laid out on a rectilinear grid and marks the transference from Europe of the idea of a planned town. Abandoned in the mid-17th century, it was replaced by a "new town" (the "Historic District"), which has also preserved its original street plan, its architecture and an unusual mixture of Spanish, French...

We delve into the world of contemporary Arab art through the inter-connected stories of one man, three museums. We look at his art, his protégés and the people who collect it. From exhibitions in London's British museum to the region's largest ever retrospective to an Arab artist in Qatar, this episode of Inside The Middle East gets to know artist Dia Azzawi.