Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Luba of Shaba
The patrilineal Luba of Shaba differ in their descent system from the Eastern Luba by their culture and language, they are distinct from the Western Luba. Most live in southern Zaire. The Luba practice slash-and-burn agriculture; fields...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Shilluk
The Shilluk are the most northern Nilotic-speaking people in modern Africa. Shilluk country covers approximately 320 kilometers on the west bank of the White Nile. Most of Shilluk country is open savanna and free from the annual floods...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Bemba
The Bemba are the largest ethnic group in the Northern Province of Zambia. Seventeen or eighteen ethnic groups in this general area of Zambia comprise the Bemba-speaking peoples, and they form with the Bemba a closely related culture...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Aimaq
In western Afghanistan and far eastern Iran, "Aimaq" means "tribal people," which distinguishes the Aimaq from the nontribal population in the area, the Persians (Fariswan) and Tajiks. Most of the population of live in Afghanistan; those...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Mbeere
The Mbeere live in Embu District in the Eastern Province of Kenya, East Africa. The name "Mbeere" means "first," referring to their belief that they were the initial occupants of their territory. Aesthetics center on the verbal arts,...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Somalis
The Muslim Somalis of the Horn of Africa speak the Somali language and live in the Somali Democratic Republic (Somalia). There are also substantial numbers of Somalis in neighboring countries: the southern half of Djibouti, the eastern...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Igbo
Igbo-speaking peoples can be divided into five geographically based subcultures: northern Igbo, southern Igbo, western Igbo, eastern Igbo, and northeastern Igbo. Each of these five can be further divided into subgroups based on specific...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Bamileke
Bamileke is a collective term referring to a loose agglomeration of some 100 kingdoms or chiefdoms of the eastern Grassfields in the Western Province of Cameroon. These kingdoms have similar cosmology and social and political structures;...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Assyrians
Ancient Assyrians were inhabitants of one the world's earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia, which began to emerge around 3500 B . C . The Assyrians invented the world's first written language and the 360-degree circle, established...
The British Museum
British Museum: Explore World Cultures: Islamic Middle East
Learn about Islamic art of the middle east in this historical overview with accompanying image gallery of relevant object images from the British Museum collection.
Other
Wilson Middle School: The Impact of Tradition and Cultural Diffusion
Throughout history, people, products, and ideas have moved from one place to another. Read about which factors caused these movements within the Eastern Hemisphere. Study cards are included to help review the concepts covered.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Circassians
The Circassians are a people indigenous to the northwestern Caucasus who are also found today as minority communities in four Middle Eastern countries: Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. They call themselves "Adyge," the term...
American Forum for Global Education
American Forum for Global Education: Spotlight on Muslim Identity [Pdf]
This downloadable booklet is a comprehensive teacher's guide you can use to help students' understand Muslims and their countries and cultures of origin. 100 pages include background information and teaching tips, activities and...
The British Museum
British Museum: Explore World Cultures: Phoenicians
Learn about the art of the ancient Phoenicians in this historical overview and image gallery of Phoenician art with detailed descriptions, from the collection of the British Museum.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Chaldeans
Today the term "Chaldean" is used to refer to a branch of the Nestorian Orthodox church that became affiliated with Rome while preserving its liturgical language and ecclesiastical customs. For example, Chaldean priests, unlike their...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Lunda
"Lunda" is the most widely used English term to refer to literally hundreds of social groups whose oral histories link them in varying ways to a far-flung empire that controlled trade and tribute in much of Central Africa from the...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Jacobites
The Jacobites, today numbering some half a million, adhere to a branch of Christianity that is most commonly known as the Jacobite church. They are to be found mostly in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The Jacobites were one of...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Nestorians
The designation "Nestorian" connotes both a religious rite and a linguistic minority, a phenomenon that is often misunderstood. Nestorians today, some 100,000 of them, have found a lasting home in the mountains of Kurdistan, the...
Middle East Policy Council
Middle East Policy Council: Teach Mideast
TeachMideast, a comprehensive instructional portal home to a variety of resources on the Middle East and Islam, considers this region of the world from seven thematic perspectives: stereotypes, geography, history, language, religion,...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Anthropology of the Middle East
Introducing culture-based performances from the Middle East into Western cultures and the translations and response can be enhanced with these resources.
Nations Online Project
Nations Online: Qatar
Useful guide to a country profile of the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar featuring background details and numerous links to comprehensive information on the nation's culture, history, geography, economy, environment, population, news,...
Nations Online Project
Nations Online: Israel
A great destination guide that takes you on a virtual trip to the Middle Eastern state of Israel. Find general information on its culture, people, environment, geography, economy, and government. There are numerous links available that...
Other
Ammar Khammash: Architecture and Artwork From Jordan
Jordanian artist and architect Ammar Khammash displays his work and the work of his firm on this site, along with articles that he has written for the English-language "Jordan Times" on places of interest in the Middle East. Opens eyes...
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Byzantium
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, view an excellent online exhibit of artwork created during the Middle Byzantine period from 843 to 1261. Religious influences during this time were the inspiration for art, and this exhibit provides a...