Library Research Guides: MES 310: Resist and Dissent in North Africa and the Middle East: Find Primary Sources

Akkasah Photographic Archive
The Akkasah photographic archive at NYU Abu Dhabi is drawn from around the Middle East and North Africa. Our historical collections range from the nineteenth century to the late twentieth. Akkasah commissions and supports documentary photographic projects focused on the Middle East and North Africa.

Artstor
Digitized images of art, architecture, and other forms of visual culture from around the world, from museums, archaeology, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference works.
Dates: BCE to present

Travelers in the Middle East Archive
The Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA) is a digital archive that focuses on Western interactions with the Middle East, particularly travels to Egypt during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Includes images, documents, and maps.
Abdul-Hamid II collections of photographs of the Ottoman Empire
These photographic albums portray the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. They highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included.
Al Mashriq The Levant
Thousands of images of Lebanon and the Levant.
Arab Image Foundation
The ongoing research and acquisition of photographs include so far Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, Argentina and Senegal. To date, the collection holds more than 600,000 photographs, some of which are online.
Saudi Aramco World
Search more than 40,000 images in one of the world's largest archives specializing in historic and current images of the Middle East and the Islamic world.
Middle Eastern Posters 1970-90
Some posters digitized, links in the finding aid.
American Center of Oriental Research Photo Archive
The American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman, Jordan, is a non‑profit, 501(c)(3) academic institution dedicated to promoting research and publication in the humanities and social sciences, with a particular focus on issues related to Jordan and the broader Middle East.
The American University in Cairo Digital Collections
"The Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library at the American University in Cairo supports research and teaching in the arts, culture, and society of Egypt and the Middle East by providing online access to unique cultural heritage resources."
Getty: Ottoman-Era Photographs
Over 3700 photos from the Ottoman Era.

Maps and Geographic Data Library Guide
Al-Bab Maps of the Arab World
General maps of the Arab world, sorted by country.

Perry Castañeda Library Map Collection
Over 44,000 map images of the Library's 250,000 map collection have been scanned. From the University of Texas. This link is to the Middle East maps.
David Rumsey Map Collection
Historical map collection with more than 27,000 maps and images; focus on rare 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps. This link is to images of the Middle East; browse the whole collection using the search bar on the top-right corner of the page.
Old Maps Online
A useful search interface for many map repositories (Castaneda, Rumsey, ICC, etc)
American Memory Map Collections
Charting North America
Over 1,000 maps of North America from the earliest printed portrayals to the close of the 19th century.
Yale University Library Map Collections
Digitized versions of maps from the collections: World War I, Victorian-Era Maps of Great Britain, George Washington's atlas of maps of North America, The Mitchell map of North America, and Venetian Cartography.

British Library Maps
Hundreds of maps have already been georeferenced, and the library is using crowdsourcing to get more maps georeferenced.

Iranian Oral History Project
The collection provides scholars and practitioners the opportunity to listen to and read the personal accounts of many of Iran's former political leaders as they recall the times and events that shaped their lives and the life of their country.
Nakba Archive
The Nakba Archive is an oral history collective established in Lebanon in 2002. Since it’s inception, the Archive has recorded over 650 video interviews with first generation Palestinian refugees in Lebanon about their recollections of life in Palestine and the events that led to their displacement.

Includes English subtitles to video interviews.
Memory of Modern Egypt
This site documents the history of modern Egypt from the rule of Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1805 until the end of the presidency of the late President Mohamed Anwar Sadat in 1981, where the site presents many articles related to the history of Egypt during the past hundred and sixty-seven years.

Includes audio and video, as well as photos and documents.

Naxos Music Library
Audio streaming service for Western art music from the middle ages to the present.
Naxos allows a limited number of simultaneous users. Please select [?? Log Out at the top left of the screen when you are finished.
Films on Demand
Video streaming service for educational films and documentaries, focusing on history, music, and dance.
Kanopy
A streaming video collection, including feature films and documentaries from PBS, BBC, Criterion, and more.
Please see this list of films Wellesley is currently licensing from Kanopy for title information.
Wellesley College students are also able to use Kanopy via the Wellesley Free Library in town. Students automatically have library cards there and are able to download six films a month. To activate your account, follow these instructions:
1. Call the Wellesley Free Library at 781-235-1610 ext. 1104 during their open hours.
2. Verify your name, Wellesley College mailing address, and college e-mail.
3. They will provide you with your card number and PIN.
4. Download and install the app, available for phones and tablets (you can also watch on a computer at wellesleylib.kanopy.com).
5. Input your card number and PIN.
Wellesley College staff and faculty also are able to use Kanopy via the Wellesley Free Library. If you are not already a patron there, you can get a temporary card online at wellesleyfreelibrary.org/library-card-application.

AMEEL
Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library, a web-based portal and a digital collection of information for the study of the Middle East.
Arabic Collections Online
Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 10,242 volumes across 6,427 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries.
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.
Archives de l'Afrique Équatoriale Francaise (Brazzaville)
Digitized material of the colonial archives of French Equatorial Africa (AEF), including Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, the Central African Republic, and Chad. 1930-46.
Avestan Digital Archive
The Avestan Digital Archive (ADA) seeks to be a digital archive containing all Avestan manuscripts spread all over the world.
British Library Digital Collections
Virtual books that you can interact with, including audio summaries and descriptions in English.
Center for Jewish History Digital Collections
Includes photos, manuscripts, archival materials, and more from the Center for Jewish History.
Digital Persian Archive
The Database includes "public" and "private" documents: royal decrees and orders, official correspondence, and shari'a court documents, such as contracts of sale and lease, vaqf deeds, marriage contracts, and court orders.
Gertrude Bell Archive
Diaries, letters, photos, and ephemera from a woman's travels through the Middle East in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Matson Photograph Collection
This collection is a rich source of over 22,000 historical images of the Middle East. The majority of the images depict Palestine (present day Israel and the West Bank) from 1898 to 1946.
MENADoc Digital Collections
The Specialised Information Service hosts several Digital Collections with a focus on the Middle East and Islam in its MENAdoc Repository. They are comprised of Digitised Materials and Born Digital Publications and are made available in Open Access.
The Middle East 1916-2001: A Documentary Record
A digital project from Yale University relevant to law, history, and politics.
NYPL Digital Collections
Many photos and ephemera from the Middle East and North Africa.
U Mich Islamic Studies Websites
A great list of links to Islamic manuscripts from east Asia to Africa.
Wilson Center Digital Archive
Declassified foreign government documents on 20th century international relations & diplomacy
Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran
Explore the lives of women during the Qajar era (1796-1925) through a wide array of materials from private family holdings and participating institutions.
World Digital Library
Digitized books and manuscripts from the Middle East and North Africa.

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969
British government documents concerning UK colonial holdings in the Middle East and North Africa, covering the mandate in Palestine, Western economic ties to the region, Cold War conflict, and more.
Dates: 1839-1969 CE
Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971
More than 130 newspapers published by and for American ethnic groups, with German-American, Irish-American, and Japanese-American papers forming the bulk. English language news is predominant.
Dates: 1799-1971 CE

Afghanistan Digital Library
The Afghanistan Digital Library will retrieve and restore works published in Afghanistan between 1870 and 1930; the long-term objective is to collect, catalogue, digitize and provide access to as many of this period's publications as possible.
AMIR
Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources, a blog-format website that links to online resources.
ArchNet
Archnet is an open access, intellectual resource focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture, and conservation issues related to the Muslim world. Archnet’s mission is to provide ready access to unique visual and textual material to facilitate teaching, scholarship, and professional work of high quality.
Arab.org NGO Directory
Arab NGO Directory, home of the World’s largest & most concise listing of Civil Society Organizations operating in Arab States. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can either be Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or charitable and non-profit organizations (NPOs). Search for an organization by topic (eg animals, environment) or country.
Hathi Trust
Thousands of digitized books available and many full-text searchable.
ShariaSource
SHARIAsource includes primary sources and scholarly commentary on Islamic law from the earliest periods of Islam to the modern era, covering both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts.
The Freedom Archives: Palestine
This collection includes a wide range of audio tapes and English publications about the Palestinian struggle for self determination, the colonization of Palestine and Zionism.
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan Government Web Archive
This collection consists of official government websites for Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and provides an overview of the political, economic, administrative and social situation in these three countries.

The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version
In the summer of 1967, just after the Six-Day War brought the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli control, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) supervised a census in these territories.
Arab Barometer
The Arab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of ordinary citizens across the Arab world. Data 2006-present.

Includes in-browser data visualizer with downloadable charts as well as prepackaged infographics on various topics.
ICPSR
The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) maintains and provides access to an archive of social science data.

Data includes IPUMS International (harmonized data from 1960-present, covering 397 million people in 185 censuses).
IMF Data
Itemized financial data from 1948 for more than 200 countries. Data can be downloaded in Excel, tabbed text, etc.
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR)
PSR is an independent nonprofit institution and think tank of policy analysis and academic research. PSR was founded with the goal of advancing scholarship and knowledge on immediate issues of concern to Palestinians in three areas: domestic politics and government, strategic analysis and foreign policy, and public opinion polls and survey research. Site includes data and some summaries of findings. Data 2000-present.
United Nations Statistical Database
We compile and disseminate global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.
Woman Stats Project
Qualitative and quantitative information on over 300 indicators of women's status in 174 countries. First time users must register. Use the codebook to define the variable.
World Development Indicators
Includes more than 500 time series indicators for 207 countries plus regional and income groups; retrieves and exports the data in popular spreadsheet formats. 1960+ .
World Income Inequality Database
World Pop
Population datasets (format: GeoTiff) for Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South & Central America
World Values Survey
World's most comprehensive investigation of political and sociocultural change. Includes some, but not all, MENA countries.

al-Ahram Weekly
English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt.
Al Jazeera English
The English-language version of a major news outlet reporting on world news but specializing in the Middle East.
Arab News
Saudi Arabian-based English-language Arab news.

Nexis Uni
Legal, business, and news sources. Includes law journal articles, legislation, regulations, court cases, company information, SEC filings, U.S. and foreign newspapers, and more.

Dawn
DAWN is Pakistan's oldest, leading and most widely read English-language newspaper.
Haaretz
English-language Israeli newspaper founded in 1918.
Hurriyet Daily News
Leading English-language news source for Turkey and the region.
Tehran Times
An English-language newspaper that was called the, "voice of the Islamic Revolution and the oppressed people in the world."

Find Primary sources on AM Explorer

This database has dozens of mini-databases with thematic collections of primary sources. Watch the video to learn more!

Collections of Resources

Try one of these sites to explore still more resources on the Middle East!

Library of Congress
Sources for Historical Photographs of the Middle East: Holdings at Selected Repositories
University of Washington Guide to MENA Resources

Try this guide for more general sources of images, audio, and video to use in your research.

Media for Use in Course Projects
by Wellesley College Research & Instruction Staff Last Updated Jun 10, 2025 14 views this year