http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/default.htm Saudi Aramco, the oil company born as an international enterprise 75 years ago, distributes Saudi Aramco World to increase cross-cultural understanding. The bimonthly magazine's goal is to broaden knowledge of the cultures, history and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their connections with the West. Saudi Aramco World is distributed without charge, upon request, to interested readers worldwide. en-us © 2005 Aramco Services Company. All Rights Reserved. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/risotto.s.roots.htm Today’s signature rice dish of northern Italy was developed in the Po River Valley, where rice arrived some 900 years ago, probably from Sicily. It was part of the long list of crops the Arabs brought to the northern Mediterranean. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/sons.of.the.wind.htm Intent on documenting the final days of commercial wind-powered sailing, Australian mariner and photographer Alan Villiers in 1938 boarded a traditional merchant ship of the Arabian Peninsula—a dhow—for a voyage from Aden down the East African coast and back, then up the Arabian Gulf to Kuwait. His photographs are a respectful and loving testament to centuries of maritime skills. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/shodo.arabi.htm Japan is home to one of the world’s great traditions of calligraphy, and in Japanese shodo means “the way of writing.” In recent years, a few Japanese calligraphers have tried their hand at Arabic, creating what master calligrapher Fuad Kouichi Honda calls shodo ‘arabi—”the way of Arabic writing.” Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/the.life.of.omar.ibn.said.htm About one in five African slaves brought to the New World between 1500 and the mid-19th century was Muslim. Of them, only Omar ibn Said is known to have written a brief autobiography in Arabic. Remarkable for their humble eloquence and generosity of spirit, Said’s handwritten pages live in the memory of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201002/the.living.desert.htm A gaudy seasonal visitor to be admired more for plumage than diet, a bee-eater ruffles its colors on a spring morning in eastern Saudi Arabia, where it drops in from its migratory route to become a colorful accent amid a surprising variety of permanent residents. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT