The Arabic manuscripts collection of the Wellcome Library (London) comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine.
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.
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.
"Many of the documents were translated from Hebrew into English mainly by the English Publications Division of the Government Press Office. There has been virtually no editing of texts, and the documents are reproduced as they first appeared. "
The Krikor Guerguerian Archive consists of documents collected by Guerguerian throughout his life, starting from the 1930s until his death in 1988. Though only portions of the digital archive are in English, more is being translated all the time. Materials include Ottoman trials, Guerguerian's personal notes, and materials from other countries.
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.
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.
Explore the lives of women during the Qajar era (1796-1925) through a wide array of materials from private family holdings and participating institutions.
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. Includes Palestinian and Western perspectives and voices in serial publications, audio, pamphlets, and more.
Formerly confidential government documents issued by the UK's Foreign & Colonial Office concerning its colonial holdings in the Middle East from 1839-1969.
It addresses the policies, economies, political relationships and significant events of every major Middle East power. Conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution are examined in detail, as are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers like the United States and Russia.
Historical documents including correspondence, intelligence reports, agents’ diaries, minutes, maps and newspaper excerpts offering insights into the impact of Great Power politics on the region, as well as the region’s peoples, cultures and societies.
"Forming a prominent feature of British religious philanthropy from the late eighteenth century onwards, missionary societies served as employer and community to missionaries far from home." Missions went to the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Asia.
"This growing archive covers modern history and culture of the Gulf and wider region, available online for the first time." A little less than half of documents in English.
"Manuscripts of the Muslim World will include digital editions of more than 500 manuscripts and 827 paintings from the Islamicate world broadly construed. Together these holdings represent in great breadth the flourishing intellectual and cultural heritage of Muslim lands from 1000 to 1900, covering mathematics, astrology, history, law, literature, as well as the Qur'an and Hadith."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Classical and world music in streaming audio. Comprehensive, including most of the classical repertoire—over one million tracks from Naxos, Chandos, EMI, Nonesuch, and hundreds of other labels. Free mobile app available.
This resource allows a limited number of simultaneous users. Please log out via the log-out button at the top left of the screen when you are finished.
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:
Call the Wellesley Free Library at 781-235-1610 ext. 1104 during their open hours.
Verify your name, Wellesley College mailing address, and college e-mail.
They will provide you with your card number and PIN.
Download and install the app, available for phones and tablets (you can also watch on a computer at wellesleylib.kanopy.com).
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.
This website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online. Middle Eastern films include Iraq, Transjordan, Egypt, Palestine/Israel, and more.
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.
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.
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.
Sources on slavery in the Medieval period across the world, browsable by region and century. Includes digitized resources on the site as well as a bibliography of sources found elsewhere.
Primary sources search tip
One way to find translated primary sources in books is to use the catalog to search for your topic AND (documents OR sources)
