The archaeology of Star Wars
‘A long time ago in a galaxy far away’ these words are so familiar as to be short hand for the beginning of a grand adventure! Much like the immortal words ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ they are arresting and instantly significant. For generations they have peaked the interest of the movie-going public and almost like a mass pavlovian experiment, we can scarcely stop ourselves from re-playing the grand opening phrases of John Williams’ iconic score in our heads – perhaps making raspy lightsaber noises with pursed lips as we thrash our arms about… Just like a ‘real’ Jedi.
Source: Tabsir
The first printed Ottoman map of Palestine, 1804
Mahmud Raif Efendi (d.1808) is well known to Ottoman history buffs, but few others. He was behind the publication of the first Ottoman printed map of Palestine. Raif Efendi was a Reis ül-Küttab, or Foreign Minister, as well as the first Ottoman diplomat stationed in London.
Raif Efendi penned a world Atlas in French sometime in the early 19th century, a genre of literature that did not exist in the Ottoman world. His original French manuscript has since been lost, but we do have its Ottoman translation, produced by the Greek Ottoman polyglot, Iakovos Argyropoulos (a.k.a Yakovaki Efendi d.1850) at the behest of the Ottoman government and published in Istanbul (Üsküdar) as El-Ucaletü l-coğrafıyye in 1804.
Source: The Afternoon Map
Entrepreneurs and collective spaces are making Bahrain a hub for underground music
Tiny Bahrain has been making a lot of noise lately. The island kingdom in the Persian Gulf, with its liberal policies toward entertainment (at least compared to its strict neighbors) and diverse populace, has long been a regional focal point for musicians from all genres. But over the past few years, entrepreneurial Bahrainis have launched a crop of new performance spaces, as well as artist collectives and record labels with built-in support tools that have pushed the underground music scene toward more records, more performances, and more public renown in and out of the region.
Source: Your Middle East
