This recording contains a series of discussions referencing North Africa and the Middle East. Discussions include: Helbeck discussing the earliest cultivation of barley in ancient Mesopotamia; description of the marshy ruins of an ancient Babylonian ziggurat; description of the music and encampments of gypsy nomads near Basra in Iraq; description of efforts to irrigate and cultivate arid regions; description of archaeological evidence of past cultivation and irrigation of arid regions; a description of the assumed burial place of the biblical figure Jonah; an interview with David Oates, the leader of the British School of Archaeology's excavation of the ancient city of Nimrud in Iraq; Becker reading ancient Sumerian text; description of ancient and contemporary uses of the palm tree; a description of the Temple of Sheikh Adi; observations about the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek in Lebanon; a description of the Crusader castle in Byblos in Lebanon; a discussion of the ancient cedar forests of Lebanon; a description of ancient canals in Damascus in Syria; a discussion of uses of the baobab tree; a discussion of efforts to encourage rainfall using silver iodide and salt; and a description of the geography where the White Nile and Blue Nile meet. North African and Middle Eastern music is dispersed throughout, including music by Abdel Wahab.