Ancient Persians were visually oriented and close to nature. Artefacts that only narrowly escaped theft are now on show for the first time outside Iran. The German exhibition reveals the origins of present-day Iran. By Sabine OelzeMore
For Palmyra, Assad is just as bad as IS. Completely rebuilding Palmyra's destroyed cultural treasures would turn it into a kind of Disneyland, says archaeologist Annie Sartre-Fauriat. Interview by Sabine OelzeMore
Since the outbreak of war in Syria, the entire Lebanese border has become a red zone: travellers from the West are advised by their governments to give it a wide berth. Yet once in the field, only the odd military checkpoint serves to remind travellers that tensions in the area remain high. In the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah – the Party of God – holds sway. Wielding considerable political, military and social clout, this powerful Shia Islamist organisation is government, parliament and welfare state rolled into one. By Eric Lafforgue
The German Islam Scholar Lamya Kaddor
Why I as a Muslim Woman Don't Wear a Headscarf
Jordan and the influx of refugees
The true Samaritans
Muslims in Liberal Democracies
Why the West Fears Islam
The Decline of Islamic Scientific Thought
Don't Blame It on al-Ghazali
The Media and ''The Innocence of Muslims''
Against the Islamisation of Muslims
Junaid Jamshed
"I Was a Sinner for Years"