Maps and power aren’t often paired, but in Africa’s story, they’ve always walked hand in hand. Lines were drawn not to guide, but to divide and rule. Before colonialism, Africa was a thriving continent of kingdoms, empires, and autonomous nations, each governing its affairs according to its customs, laws, and

To map Egypt, the British began to map what was not Egypt. Here, villages were divided, and imaginaries were created. But how did Rafah come into play as the final point – and when did we begin to treat this division as reality? Two soldiers stand under an olive tree

“Bayt al-Hikmah”, “House of Wisdom”, is a central institution in Islamic intellectual history. Some think that it represents the mental transformation that took place in the Islamic world. Bayt al-Hikmah flourished within the Abbasid caliphate between the 8th and 10th centuries. This center played an important role in the intellectual

It might be surprising to hear that what is now home to beach resorts and mega projects was once a World War II battle ground. El Alamein, a city along the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, approximately 100 km west of Alexandria. Today it is flocked to by holidayers, concert goers, government

وأنا صغير، كان عندي هواية غريبه نوعاً ما وهي إني دايمًا أتابع شريط توقعات درجات الحرارة اللي بيظهر على التلفزيون، واللي كان بيستعرض أحوال الطقس في مختلف مناطق مصر. وسط كل الأسماء اللي كانت بتعدّي، كان في منطقتين دايمًا بيلفتوا انتباهي وبيثيروا فضولي جدًا. وإحنا أطفال، كنا دايمًا فاكرين إن

In the hills of Jabal Nafusa, the streets of Zuwara, and the oasis towns of Ghadames and Awjila, the Amazigh flag waves once again. For decades, Libya’s indigenous people were silenced under the Arab nationalist regime. Today, they are slowly writing themselves back into the history of Libya. But what

A promised land is a place that people, belonging from a particular community, believe was created for them. This belief often comes from religious stories or traditions passed down through generations. These lands are seen as sacred and essentially as a gift from a higher deity. In the Bible, for

There’s a reason why we get homesick; we tend to form emotional attachments to the places we’ve lived all our lives.  That’s because our homes are more than just buildings; they are part of who we are. We grow fond of the streets we walk, the markets we shop in,

In early 2025, a rapid escalation of fighting occurred in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The M23 (“Mouvement du 23 Mars”), having occupied large areas in North and South Kivu for years. In January 2025, they captured the city of Goma, a key regional hub on the