Download or read book In a Fertile Desert written by Denys Johnson-Davies and published by American Univ in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here, for the first time, is a volume of short stories from this commercially and culturally vital and vibrant center of the Arab world. Life before oil in this region was harsh, and many of the stories in this collection by both men and women from all corners of the country tell of those times and the almost unbelievable changes that have come about in the space of two generations. Some tell of the struggles faced in the early days, while others bring the immediate past and the present together, revealing that the past, with all its difficulties and dangers, nonetheless possesses a certain nostalgia. Contributors: Abdul Hamid Ahmed, Roda al-Baluchi, Hareb al-Dhaheri, Nasser Al-Dhaheri, Maryam Jumaa Faraj, Jumaa al-Fairuz, Nasser Jubran, Saleh Karama, Lamees Faris al-Marzuqi, Mohamed al-Mazroui, Ebtisam Abdullah Al-Mu'alla, Ibrahim Mubarak, Mohamed al-Murr, Sheikha al-Nakhy, Mariam Al Saedi, Omniyat Salem, Salma Matar Seif, Ali Abdul Aziz al-Sharhan, Muhsin Soleiman, 'A'ishaa al-Za'aby.
Download or read book The Fertile Desert A History of the Middle Euphrates Valley until the Arrival of Alexander written by Anas Al Khabour and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-05-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book attempts to reconstruct the history of the Euphrates Valley between the mouths of the Balikh and the Khabour. Several surveys, archaeological expeditions, and interventions of the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities, have made a significant amount of data available which contribute to an improved overview of the region.
Download or read book When the Sahara Was Green written by Martin Williams and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The little-known history of how the Sahara was transformed from a green and fertile land into the largest hot desert in the world The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, equal in size to China or the United States. Yet, this arid expanse was once a verdant, pleasant land, fed by rivers and lakes. The Sahara sustained abundant plant and animal life, such as Nile perch, turtles, crocodiles, and hippos, and attracted prehistoric hunters and herders. What transformed this land of lakes into a sea of sands? When the Sahara Was Green describes the remarkable history of Earth’s greatest desert—including why its climate changed, the impact this had on human populations, and how scientists uncovered the evidence for these extraordinary events. From the Sahara’s origins as savanna woodland and grassland to its current arid incarnation, Martin Williams takes us on a vivid journey through time. He describes how the desert’s ancient rocks were first fashioned, how dinosaurs roamed freely across the land, and how it was later covered in tall trees. Along the way, Williams addresses many questions: Why was the Sahara previously much wetter, and will it be so again? Did humans contribute to its desertification? What was the impact of extreme climatic episodes—such as prolonged droughts—upon the Sahara’s geology, ecology, and inhabitants? Williams also shows how plants, animals, and humans have adapted to the Sahara and what lessons we might learn for living in harmony with the harshest, driest conditions in an ever-changing global environment. A valuable look at how an iconic region has changed over millions of years, When the Sahara Was Green reveals the desert’s surprising past to reflect on its present, as well as its possible future.
Download or read book The Desert Between Us written by Phyllis Barber and published by University of Nevada Press. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2020 Reading the West Book Awards, Longlist for Fiction 2020 Association for Morman Letters Finalist, Fiction The Desert Between Us is a sweeping, multi-layered novel based on the U.S. government’s decision to open more routes to California during the Gold Rush. To help navigate this waterless, largely unexplored territory, the War Department imported seventy-five camels from the Middle East to help traverse the brutal terrain that was murderous on other livestock. Geoffrey Scott, one of the roadbuilders, decides to venture north to discover new opportunities in the opening of the American West when he—and the camels—are no longer needed. Geoffrey arrives in St. Thomas, Nevada, a polygamous settlement caught up in territorial fights over boundaries and new taxation. There, he falls in love with Sophia Hughes, a hatmaker obsessed with beauty and the third wife of a polygamist. Geoffrey believes Sophia wants to be free of polygamy and go away with him to a better life, but Sophia’s motivations are not so easily understood. She had become committed to Mormon beliefs in England and had moved to Utah Territory to assuage her spiritual needs. The death of Sophia’s child and her illicit relationship with Geoffrey generate a complex nexus where her new love for Geoffrey competes with societal expectations and a rugged West seeking domesticity. When faced with the opportunity to move away from her polygamist husband and her tumultuous life in St. Thomas, Sophia becomes tormented by a life-changing decision she must face alone.
Download or read book Sowing Seeds in the Desert written by Masanobu Fukuoka and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that the Earth's deteriorating condition is man-made and outlines a way for the process to be reversed by rehabilitating the deserts using natural farming.
Download or read book Cadillac Desert written by Marc Reisner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1993-06-01 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I’ve been thinking a lot about Cadillac Desert in the past few weeks, as the rain fell and fell and kept falling over California, much of which, despite the pouring heavens, seems likely to remain in the grip of a severe drought. Reisner anticipated this moment. He worried that the West’s success with irrigation could be a mirage — that it took water for granted and didn’t appreciate the precariousness of our capacity to control it.” – Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times, January 20,2023 "The definitive work on the West's water crisis." --Newsweek The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. In his landmark book, Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West. Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--an Eden that may only be a mirage. This edition includes a new postscript by Lawrie Mott, a former staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, that updates Western water issues over the last two decades, including the long-term impact of climate change and how the region can prepare for the future.
Download or read book By Steppe Desert and Ocean written by Barry W. Cunliffe and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the peoples of Eurasia, from the birth of farming to the expansion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century. An immense historical panorama set on a huge continental stage, this is also the story of how humans first started building the global system we know today.
Download or read book Fertile Bonds written by Suzanne E. Joseph and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A portrait of a group of Bedouins in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, a population with the highest fertility rate in the world.
Download or read book Mountain Berries and Desert Spice written by Sumayya Usmani and published by Frances Lincoln. This book was released on 2017-04-06 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this eagerly awaited follow up to Pakistani cookbook Summers Under the Tamarind Tree, food writer and cookery teacher Sumayya Usmani continues her journey of discovery through the exotic cuisine of her native Pakistan. Mountain Berries and Desert Spice introduces home cooks to Pakistani desserts and explores their unique significance in the country’s culture and traditions. The 70 authentic and family recipes travel from the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in the north (where berries and fruits grow in abundance), via the fertile Punjab (with its rice- and grain-based desserts) to the Arabian sea in the south, where saffron- and cardamom-laced sweet recipes are a favourite. From the sweet snacks shared between friends over coffee to sumptuous desserts fit for lavish weddings, Sumayya tempts the reader with beautiful, easily achieved recipes that anyone can savour.
Download or read book Desert Silver written by Sigrid van Roode and published by Kit Pub. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of the oldest civilizations in the world originated along the fertile banks of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have been cultural melting pots ever since. The trade routes adopted by the regione(tm)s nomads linked colorful cultures and time-long traditions like so many beads on a string. And indeed it is in the regione(tm)s jewelery that its many-layered history of tribes and empires, nomads and villagers is perhaps best seen. From an archaeological point of view, decorative details and motifs can be traced back centuries, sometimes even millennia. This book, Desert Silver, explores the social, economic and religious background of this jewelery. The traditional silver jewelery of the region combines a variety of aspects of desert life. As the unalienable property of a woman, it has practical, economic value; it serves as a social indicator and reveals where the wearer comes from, how rich she is and her status as a wife and mother. Perhaps more importantly it is frequently worn as a powerful amulet. Jewelery plays a subtle role in everyday society as communicator, messenger and bank account, and all of these aspects are discussed in the book and illustrated with rich examples, from Palestinian wedding necklaces made from fragrant cloves to the brightly enamelled bracelets of the Maghreb. The different functions fulfilled by jewelery are rooted deep within society, so changes within that society inevitably impact its jewellery. Now that traditional societies are changing fast, what does the future hold for the traditional silver jewellery of the Middle East and North Africa, jewelery that has remained unchanged for centuries?
Download or read book Studio Joy Works written by Rick Joy and published by Princeton Architectural Press. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rick Joy's reputation as one of the country's most gifted designers, whose mining of materials and site create transcendent, even poetic buildings, was established in his first book, Desert Works. This follow-up, Studio Joy Works, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of his firm's founding and continues the careful documentation of the growing body of his important work, including houses in Vermont and California, his first public project, a train station in Princeton, New Jersey, and residences abroad in Mexico and Turks and Caicos. The projects in this book are further contextualized with an essay by Joy and spectacular photographs.
Download or read book The Desert Spear written by Peter V. Brett and published by Random House Digital, Inc.. This book was released on 2010 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continues the adventures of reluctant savior Arlen Bales, who wonders at the identity of a spear-wielding figure that emerges from the desert and leads a vast army intent on a holy war against the demons that have forced humankind to seek the refuge of powerful spells.
Download or read book Desert in the Promised Land written by Yael Zerubavel and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2018-12-25 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A complex and fascinating portrait of Israel . . . .an engaging book that combines anthropology, culture, and history.” —Anita Shapira, author of Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel At once an ecological phenomenon and a cultural construction, the desert has varied associations within Zionist and Israeli culture. In the Judaic textual tradition, it evokes exile and punishment, yet is also a site for origin myths, the divine presence, and sanctity. Secular Zionism developed its own spin on the duality of the desert as the romantic site of Jews’ biblical roots that inspired the Hebrew culture, and as the barren land outside the Jewish settlements in Palestine, featuring them as an oasis of order and technological progress within a symbolic desert. Yael Zerubavel tells the story of the desert from the early twentieth century to the present, shedding light on romantic-mythical associations, settlement and security concerns, environmental sympathies, and the commodifying tourist gaze. Drawing on literary narratives, educational texts, newspaper articles, tourist materials, films, popular songs, posters, photographs, and cartoons, Zerubavel reveals the complexities and contradictions that mark Israeli society’s semiotics of space in relation to the Middle East, and the central role of the “besieged island” trope in Israeli culture and politics.
Download or read book Bulletin written by United States. Bureau of Plant Industry and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Desert Is Fertile written by Helder Camara and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2005-06-08 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A most believable tract. A most convincing homily. A lovable reading experience. 'The Long Island Catholic' This is a beautiful little book in both content and format. Photographs show Dom Helder in action with people. Poetry alternates with prose to get across his message. This is a good way to become acquainted with the thought and the personality of a dynamic Brazilian archbishop noted for his espousal of the cause of poor people everywhere but especially in his native country. 'Concern' You give more than a book when you give this book-jewel to a friend. You give a deep insight into life's real meaning. 'Religion Teacher's Journal' Camara's brief essays and poems are arresting for their simplicity and depth of vision, and are encouraging because of the realistic yet quietly hopeful tone with which they argue for sustained action toward global justice. 'Commonweal'
Download or read book Ecology of Desert Systems written by Walter G. Whitford and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-08-20 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly one-third of the land area on our planet is classified as arid or desert. Therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of such arid ecosystems is essential to managing those systems in a way that sustains human populations. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. This book details the relationships between abiotic and biotic environments of desert ecosystems, demonstrating to readers how these interactions drive ecological processes. These include plant growth and animal reproductive success, the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation and animals, and the influence of invasive species and anthropogenic climate change specific to arid systems. Drawing on the extensive experience of its expert authors, Ecology of Desert Systems is an essential guide to arid ecosystems for students looking for an overview of the field, researchers keen to learn how their work fits in to the overall picture, and those involved with environmental management of desert areas. - Highlights the complexity of global desert systems in a clear, concise way - Reviews the most current issues facing researchers in the field, including the spread of invasive species due to globalized trade, the impact of industrial mining, and climate change - Updated and extended to include information on invasive species management, industrial mining impacts, and the current and future role of climate change in desert systems
Download or read book The Solace of Fierce Landscapes Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality written by Belden C. Lane and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-25 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Kathleen Norris, Terry Tempest Williams, and Thomas Merton, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes explores the impulse that has drawn seekers into the wilderness for centuries and offers eloquent testimony to the healing power of mountain silence and desert indifference. Interweaving a memoir of his mothers long struggle with Alzheimers and cancer, meditations on his own wilderness experience, and illuminating commentary on the Christian via negativa--a mystical tradition that seeks God in the silence beyond language--Lane rejects the easy affirmations of pop spirituality for the harsher but more profound truths that wilderness can teach us. There is an unaccountable solace that fierce landscapes offer to the soul. They heal, as well as mirror, the brokeness we find within. It is this apparent paradox that lies at the heart of this remarkable book: that inhuman landscapes should be the source of spiritual comfort. Lane shows that the very indifference of the wilderness can release us from the demands of the endlessly anxious ego, teach us to ignore the inessential in our own lives, and enable us to transcend the false self that is ever-obsessed with managing impressions. Drawing upon the wisdom of St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhardt, Simone Weil, Edward Abbey, and many other Christian and non-Christian writers, Lane also demonstrates how those of us cut off from the wilderness might make some desert in our lives. Written with vivid intelligence, narrative ease, and a gracefulness that is itself a comfort, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes gives us not only a description but a performance of an ancient and increasingly relevant spiritual tradition.
