Middle East and North Africa - Primary Sources - History - Library Research Guides at Wellesley College

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 Manuscripts Online
The Arabic manuscripts collection of the Wellcome Library (London) comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine.
Avestan Digital Archive
The Avestan Digital Archive (ADA) seeks to be a digital archive containing all Avestan manuscripts spread all over the world.
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.
Center for Jewish History Digital Collections
Includes photos, manuscripts, archival materials, and more from the Center for Jewish History.
Digital Library of the Middle East
Find texts, images, maps, sound, video, and more from 622-1924 CE. Browse by Islamic or Gregorian date or by keyword.
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.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Foreign Policy Historical Documents
"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. "
Krikor Guerguerian Archive: Armenian Genocide
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.
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.
Internet Jewish History Sourcebook
Primary sources from ancient, medieval, and modern Jewish history.
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook
Primary sources from ancient, medieval, and modern Islamic history.
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.
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.
Palestine: Freedom Archives
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.
Middle East Since 1944 Sourcebook
Primary sources from Israel and Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Iran, and the Kurds. Primary focus on Israel.

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
Formerly confidential government documents issued by the UK's Foreign & Colonial Office concerning its colonial holdings in the Middle East from 1839-1969.

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1971-1981
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.

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1922: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
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.
Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971 This link opens in a new window
More than 130 searchable newspapers from the Balch Collection, published by members of many influential American ethnic groups in 25 U.S. states.

Church Missionary Society Periodicals
"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.
Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers
15 newspapers from 1902-1972, half in English from Iraq and Morocco.
Qatar Digital Library
"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.
Nashriyah: Digital Iranian History
Newspapers from the 1950's-2010's.

British Library Digital Collections
Virtual books that you can interact with, including audio summaries and descriptions in English.
Manuscripts of the Muslim World
"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."

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.
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.
Hoover Institution Political Poster Collection
Over 30,000 political and cultural posters primarily from the mid-20th century, including hundreds of Middle Eastern and North African posters.

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 This link opens in a new window
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.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Over 3000 educational films and documentaries on history, music, and dance.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Large 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.

Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire
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.

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.
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook
Links to primary texts, online archives, and more from the pre-Islamic Arab and Persian worlds to present.
AMIR
Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources, a blog-format website that links to online resources.
Hathi Trust
Thousands of digitized books available and many full-text searchable.
Medieval Islam
Scroll to find a page with resources and sources on Medieval Islam.
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.
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.
Medieval Slavery
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 - History: Middle East and North Africa