Photo Essays

The "Arab Spring" has led to a revision of our picture of the Arab woman: they've been on the streets, playing an active role in the protests, demonstrating their strong commitment to democracy, human rights and rights for women – and that has surprised and impressed many onlookers. But now that the dictators have been overthrown and new political structures are in the process of being created, many fear that women will once more be pushed out of the public space. But their courageous stand in favour of justice has shown: women are by no means the weaker sex. Arab women won't give up, and they plan to carry their revolution into the future.

What is ancient Italian glass doing in the southern Arabian desert, how did Roman hair fashion look under date palms, and why were ancient Egyptian art styles found beside West Iranian ceramics at Arabian caravan stations? The exhibition "Roads of Arabia", currently on show in Berlin, Germany, presents spectacular artefacts from prehistory and early history, as well as from ancient Saudi Arabia: This pre-Islamic archaeological heritage, long blanketed by sandstorms and eradicated from the collective memory of the "motherland of Islam", has been the subject of research by Saudi universities, in cooperation with international colleagues. Qantara.de presents some of the most unique exhibits in this slide show.

Journalist Martin Gerner has made several trips to Afghanistan since 2004, reporting for various German radio stations and print publications. The photographs he has taken in the country represent an attempt to capture the everyday life of children in Afghanistan.

These days, mosques in Germany are as diverse as the Muslim communities they represent. There are those that reflect the architectural tradition of classical Ottoman mosque design, but Germany has in the meantime also become home to several modern and innovative mosques such as those in Penzberg or the Cologne district of Ehrenfeld. Every year on October 3, the mosques operate an open-door policy for interested visitors. But in actual fact, it's possible to visit a mosque at any time.

He seized power with force and wanted to lead Libya into a golden age of popular government. But his megalomania became his doom. On October 20, 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, for decades one of the most piercing figures in the league of Arab despots, was killed following fighting in Sirte.

The Arab Spring raised hopes that women in the region would get more rights. They're now standing up for themselves. With Islamist parties winning elections, some fear that women's rights will be reduced again. By Andreas Gorzewski

Photojournalist Sean Gallagher traveled through the Islamic region of China in autumn of 2005. His photos show a vibrant Islamic society which nevertheless always feels threatened by China's centralized power structure.

The city of Reyhanli situated on the southern border of Turkey currently represents a haven for numerous refugees from Syria. Some of them have already started to build a new life there, developing creative business projects. Impressions by Gaia Anderson

50 years ago, in 1963, Iranian women secured the right to vote. Fahimeh Farsaei looks back at five decades of progress and setbacks for the women's movement there.

The January Revolution and the toppling of the Mubarak regime left conspicuous marks on numerous facades in the cities and towns of Egypt. The provocative messages of graffiti artists and activists were almost exclusively political in nature and focused on issues such as repression, violence and arbitrary police conduct.