Library Guides: History Research Guide: Middle and Near East

General Resources

Middle East Studies Internet Resources
maintained at Columbia University and provides an on-going compilation of electronic bibliographic resources and research materials on the Middle East and North Africa.
Qatar Digital Library (QDL)
The Qatar Digital Library (QDL) is making a vast archive featuring the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region freely available online for the first time. It includes archives, maps, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs and much more, complete with contextualised explanatory notes and links, in both English and Arabic.
Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts Online
The Arabic manuscripts collection of the Wellcome Library (London) comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine. For the first time this website enables a substantial proportion of this collection to be consulted online via high-quality digital images of entire manuscripts and associated rich metadata.
Arabic Manuscripts in the Bologna University Library Online
The Bologna University Library hosts 450 Arabic manuscripts, now digitalized, belonging to the collection of Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1658-1730). The codices are in Arabic, rarely including Turkish texts, and date between the 13th and the second half of 17th century CE.

Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)
Represents the efforts of an international group of Assyriologists, museum curators and historians of science to make available through the internet the form and content of cuneiform tablets.
The Middle East 1916-2001 : A Documentary Record
Full-text of documents, including United Nations, organized by time period. From Yale University Law School.
Islamic Heritage Project
Digitized Islamic manuscripts, maps, and published texts from Harvard’s library and museum collections.
TIMEA: Travelers in the Middle East Archive
TIMEA provides online access to texts, maps, and images documenting travel to the Middle East (primarily Egypt) between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Al Bawaba: Middle East News
A well-organized site with easy access to information about various Middle Eastern countries as well as current national and international news
Internet History Sourcebook: Middle East since 1944
A collection of short articles and resources related to the history of the Middle and Near East, from 1944 to present day.
Syrian Arab Republic Humanitarian Response (UN OCHA)
Statistics, rreports, and documents related to Syria from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Yemen Humanitarian Response (UN OCHA)
Statistics, reports, and documents related to Yemen from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
UNRWA Film and Photo Archive
"A historical testament to the resilience and steadfastness of Palestinian refugees," this collection of photos covers the daily lives and histories of Palestine refugees, from the 1940s through the 2000s.

Accessing Muslim Lives
Explore the lives of men and women in the Muslim world – from the sixteenth century to now – through their autobiographical and travel writings.
Islamic Heritage Project
A digital collection of Islamic manuscripts, published texts, and maps from across Harvard's libraries and museums.
Islamic Manuscripts (Cambridge Digital Library)
These manuscripts, from the 1630s onward, shed light on many aspects of the Islamic world, its beliefs and learning.
Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage
A comprehensive and easily accessible website devoted to the information relating to Israel, Jews, and Jewish culture sponsored by the American-Israeli Cooperative.
Jewish History Resources
These collections, curated by the Leo Baeck Institute, include links to archives, libraries, museums, and other collections related to Jewish History available online.
The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization
An ongoing project to gather literature, art, and translate primary sources from biblical times to the 21st century. The goal is to make this unprecedented collection, revealing Jewish creativity, diversity, and cultural contributions around the globe, easily available in English to all.

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Subjects: Anthropology, History, World Languages & Cultures