MAY JUNE 2019 6 Cedrus libani Forever? 14 Astrolabe 8SJUUFOBOEQIPUPHSBQIFECZ Sheldon Chad Tech Made … The cedars of Lebanon are symbols of the country itself, a living metaphor of both majestic Not So Easy beauty and endurance that has been tested by empire after axe-wielding empire. But few 8SJUUFOCZ Lee Lawrence cedars remain, and their survival is challenged by warming temperatures and the insects that 1IPUPHSBQITBOEWJEFPCZ David H. Wells follow. Reforestation is bringing new trees to higher, colder altitudes as activists work to *MMVTUSBUJPOTCZ Ivy Johnson extend preserves and biologists look to genetics for adaptations. Even our author pitches in and volunteers a handful of 24-year-old cedar seed cones for analysis—all to keep Cedrus libani About the size of a tablet computer, growing in the hills as well as in the hearts of Lebanon. astrolabes were tools of astronomers, surveyors and navigators, to name a few. But using them took a lot more than typing, tapping and swiping. OnlineCLASSROOM GUIDE 2FIRSTLOOK 4FLAVORS We distribute AramcoWorld in print and online to increase cross-cultural understanding by broadening knowledge of the histories, cultures and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their global connections. aramcoworld.com Front Cover:&BDIBTUSPMBCFTGSPOUQMBUFJTFUDIFEXJUIMJOFTUIBUIFMQDBMDVMBUFTVOSJTF May/June 2019 TVOTFUBOEDFMFTUJBMDPPSEJOBUFTCZSPUBUJOHUIFDBMJCSBUFESFUFPWFSUIFN1IPUP"MBNZ Vol. 70, No. 3 /BWBM.VTFVNPG.BESJE Back Cover:*OUIFNPVOUBJOTPG-FCBOPO DFEBSTEFQFOEPOUIFDPMEPGXJOUFSUPCSFBLPQFO UIFJSTFFET1IPUPCZ(FPSHF"[BS 22 The Extraordinary 26 The Mystery of 32 The Storyteller Ordinary Cairo’s Magnificent of Tangier #everyday Mamluk Carpets 8SJUUFOBOEQIPUPHSBQIFECZ Jeff Koehler 8SJUUFOCZ Mae Ghalwash 8SJUUFOCZ Rosamond E. Mack Founded by journalists to look beyond Few survive, and some of those are in As a child, Mohammed Mrabet ran away headlines to the kaleidescope of daily life, fragments: In the late 15th century, the from school and never learned to read The Everyday Projects comprises more Mamluk sultan in Cairo built up the city’s or write. But he could tell spellbinding than 50 Instagram feeds from Africa and carpet workshops, and the expansive stories. A friendship with writers Jane and Asia to the Middle East and the Americas. masterpieces they produced soon graced Paul Bowles got him published in more Their photos capture a mosaic of life palaces—notably in Italy and al-Andalus, than a dozen languages. Today he is from just about everywhere, every day. Muslim Spain. known also for his painting and drawing. 38 REVIEWS 40 EXHIBITIONS 1VCMJTIFS AramcoSaudi Arabian Services Oil Company Company | |1SFTJEFOUBOEDF 1SFTJEFOUBOEDF P PBasil Amin A. Abul-HamayelH. 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On this day he was joined by his two-year-old son, Tria Ramadhan. Together they handed out donated books to the students. As a photographer I did this story because I was also born in a village with difficult access to books. I believe in the power of books, and I know what Mr. Sururi is doing is important. —Putu Sayoga www.putusayoga.net www.arkaproject.com @putu_sayoga @arkaproject 2 AramcoWorld May/June 2019 3 FLAVORS This dish truly represents Somali and East African culture, using ingredients that can be easily found. Afro Steak I learned the power of food from my father, who used herbs and spices as medicine to help others. Dinner He first taught me the importance of using fresh ingredients and treating them with respect. In Somalia, goat meat is fairly common, while beef is somewhat of a delicacy because of the high Recipe by Moussa Doulaeh value of cattle. This dish includes tasty portions of spiced beef with grilled vegetables. Aromatic Somali rice, bursting with sweet and savory flavors, is a natural match. There will be enough rice Photograph courtesy for leftovers or large appetites, but you can easily halve the recipe, if preferred. Ricky Rodriguez/ Ricarius Photography (Serves 4 to 6) 1 t cumin 2 lb (1 kg) sirloin steak, thickly sliced Rice 5 c (1.2 liters) chicken stock or water, or a 2 t berbere spice mix 2 T vegetable oil combination ½ t adobo seasoning 2 garlic cloves, minced 1½ t salt, or to taste 1 t chicken-stock powder 1 cinnamon stick 3 c (1¼ lb / 560 g) long- grain white rice 1 medium onion, sliced 1 jalapeño pepper, whole ¼ c (½ oz / 15 g) chopped ½ medium green bell ½ medium onion, finely cilantro pepper, sliced chopped 1–2 T golden raisins ½ medium red bell ½ small or ¼ large green (optional) pepper, sliced bell pepper, finely sliced Steak Sauté ½ c (120 ml) puréed ½ small or ¼ large red tomatoes bell pepper, finely sliced 1–2 T vegetable oil 1 t chopped cilantro, ½ t curry powder 2 garlic cloves, finely plus more to garnish chopped First, make the rice: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, cinna- mon stick and jalapeño and sauté for a few seconds, until fragrant. Add the onion and peppers and sauté until the onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cumin. Add the stock or water, salt and bring to a boil. Add the rice and cilantro, and bring back to a boil. Then reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, until the rice has absorbed the water, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes with the lid on. Then fluff with a fork, remove the jalapeño and mix in the golden raisins, if using. To make the steak sauté: Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic followed by the steak and sear the meat for about 30 seconds on each side. Season the meat in the pan with the berbere spice, adobo and chicken-stock powder. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and mixed peppers and cook until the vegetables have softened and the liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato purée and cilantro and cook until the steak is prepared to your liking and the liquid has reduced to a sauce consistency, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve the meat atop the rice, garnished with chopped cilantro. Moussa Doulaeh is executive chef and co-owner of Afro Deli, a fusion restau- Reprinted with rant with locations in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. At Afro Deli, he permission from combines the cuisine of his native East Africa with the many flavors learned The Immigrant from his formal culinary training in top Canadian and American kitchens, or Cookbook gathered from cooking with friends from around the world. In April 2017 Afro Deli initiated the Dine Out for Somalia campaign, a fundraiser with 50 partici- Leyla Moushabeck, ed. pating restaurants, to support famine-relief efforts. 2018, Interlink Books, 978-1-56656-038-2, $35 hb, www.interlinkbooks.com. FROST EVAN 4 AramcoWorld PDF-1 May/June 2019 5 Cedrus libani WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY SHELDON CHAD Here I wait in line at passport control at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. Under Cedrus libani grows exclusively in my arm is a cardboard box I have carried halfway across the planet. Inside it: six cedar the mountains of the cones, souvenirs of a visit to Bsharri, site of Lebanon’s most famous cedar forest, a northeastern Mediter- ranean: in Lebanon, quarter-century ago. Over the years, as news stories began to make clear the stress the eastern Syria and trees are facing from climate change, I got to wondering whether my old cones could southwestern Turkey. In Lebanon the trees somehow be useful. Could they “speak” to scientists or conservationists today? When a once covered an esti- mated half of the Lebanese plant geneticist agreed that analysis of their dormant seeds might shed light modern country. Now on future environmental threats to the cedar, it was enough for me. While my cones get they cover a mere one percent, just 2,000 their investigation I’m going to learn what is being done to ensure that the trees survive. hectares, if you add up all the scattered n 1833 French writer Alphonse de Lamartine hyper- parcels. This qualifies bolized, “The Cedars of Lebanon are the most famous Cedrus libani for the International Union for the Conservation natural monuments in the universe.” of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species—a lamentation for Something like that could have been written in hier- our time written in the clinical prose of science. Ioglyphs or cuneiform 5,000 years ago and in languages near No more cedars in Lebanon? and far ever since. But in a contradictory and all-too-human It’s happened before, or so says the oldest story in human way, from the Phoenicians onward, the same civilizations that history, the Epic of Gilgamesh.