Sallim! Why Is Arabic Music Full of Greetings?
“Wa in la-akum habibi, sellimouli alayh… It was on an evening train from Leipzig to Berlin that I was bopping my head to the chorus of Abdel Halim Hafez’s “Sawah”. Crossing over from Egypt to Lebanon, the next song that came on shuffle was by Melhem Barakat. After a beautiful instrumental intro, he started to sing: Sallim alayha ya hawa… Piecing together the meaning of these lyrics with my beginner-level Arabic, I realized both songs made use of the same motif – that of greeting.”
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Curated Recommendations
Every time a guest joins us on one of our podcast series, they leave us with breadcrumbs to further explore some of the topics that they covered in the episode. Browse through some of the best recommendations for films, books, and music from the Arab world.
Staff Pick: Podcast Episode
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi
We did a deep dive into this episode of our This Is Not a Watermelon podcast with the author of "An Impossible Friendship: Group Portrait, Jerusalem Before and After 1948," professor Sonja Mejcher-Atassi.
Tsawwar
Tsawwar is a visual series enclosed monthly in our Daftar Digest and explores the stories behind a photograph taken in the region or by an Arab photographer.
The Orontes River: On Water Imageries and Local Knowledge
The Orontes stands out as the sole perennial river in Western Asia, meandering northward from Lebanon through Syria before merging its waters into the Mediterranean Sea. This geographical feature – having long held profound historical significance as a boundary marker since antiquity – has witnessed a series of shifts, embracing and bidding farewell to various attributes that have sculpted its being over time.
Beit Hammad — Al-Nabulsi Castle — The History of a Family Home
Mohammed Hammad writes about his family home in Nablus — Beit Hammad — sharing its history and its present.
What Exactly Are Bahrain's Dilmun Burial Mounds?
A cultural and archaeological history of Bahrain’s Dilmun Burial Mounds written by Zeina Alkhaja former archives assistant at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities who now works at the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage. Image via Dilmun Mounds UNESCO nomination text
Tsawwar... Dina Al-Makhrami
Our new series, Tsawwar, explores places, people and moments in time through the eyes of photographers and their photos. This week’s features a photo and blurb by Dina Al-Makhrami.
QUARTERTONES MIXAPEThis mixtape is a collaboration with music creator and producer DJ Bonita (Farah A Bishara) who writes: "The short timespan between 2005 and 2008 holds tons of memories for Khaleeji music…”
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