Stories by Gus W. Van Beek

Working with sun-dried mud brick and mud mortar, masons in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Levant built arches and vaults that were graceful as well as durable. Their methods are worth studying today

The Semitic kingdoms of southern Arabia waxed rich during the first millennium B.C. by controlling the trade in frankincense and myrrh. Why they waned a few centuries later is a question still under study