LibGuides: History: Middle Eastern History

Primary Sources, Art, Images, and Maps

Image source from Maps of the Islamic Middle East

Keep in mind that as you begin to develop a specific research topic there may be more pertinent primary source archives for you to utilize, the below resources are just jumping off points.

Archnet A portal to images, and scholarly resources on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture and conservation issues relating to the Muslim World.
The Avalon Project: The Middle East 1916-2001, A Documentary Record The Avalon Project mounts digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government and link to supporting documents expressly referred to in the body of the text.
British Museum: Explore Collections Searchable, browsable database of over two million of artifacts in the British Museum, including 674,000 images. Entries includes an enlargeable photo, description, related objects, and bibliographic references.
Brooklyn Museum Middle East Objects Digital images of objects in the Brooklyn Museum collection from the Middle East.
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
Islamic Heritage Project Through the Islamic Heritage Project (IHP), Harvard University has cataloged, conserved, and digitized hundreds of Islamic manuscripts, maps, and published texts from Harvard’s library and museum collections.
Islamic Medical Manuscripts Here you can learn about Islamic medicine and science during the Middle Ages and the important role it played in the history of Europe. This site, with its biographies, colorful images, and extensive historical accounts of medieval medicine and science is designed for students and everyone interested in the history of Islamic and European culture.
Israel's Foreign Policy: Historical Documents This collection of documents is intended to provide readers with first-hand knowledge of basic documents on Israel's foreign relations since the pre-state period (1947).
Manar Al-Athar The Manar al-Athar website, based at the University of Oxford, aims to provide high resolution, searchable images for teaching, research, and publication. These images of archaeological sites, with buildings and art, will cover the areas of the former Roman empire which later came under Islamic rule, such as Syro-Palestine/the Levant, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The chronological range is from Alexander the Great (i.e., from about 300 BC) through, the Islamic period to the present.
Middle East Maps: University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection Offers a list of links to historical maps (including the Middle East) on other Web sites. You can also see their "historical maps from our collection." Keep in mind that some links may not work.

Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations, 1917-1970 This link opens in a new window Original source material from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office, and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through the Black September war of 1970-71. Includes major policy statements, minor documents, and marginalia covering the creation of the State of Israel, British diplomacy in Israel and the Arab states, the Palestine Mandate, the Border wars of the 1950s, and the formation of the United Arab Republic. Key government documents chronicling politics, policy and administration from the National Archives of the UK are included, as well as over 130,000 images. Scope: Israel, Palestine, Great Britain. Dates: 1917 to 1970.
Middle East Online: Iraq, 1914-1974 This link opens in a new window Provides access to reports, policy statements and other primary source materials on all topics including: the War in Mesopotamia, introduction of the British Mandate, the British administration in Baghdad, the Arab Uprising of 1920, the Cold War and Soviet intervention in Iraq, the war in Kurdistan, oil concessions and oil exploration, the USSR-Iraq Treaty of Friendship in 1972 and Iran-Iraq relations. Search through original documents (policy, administrative and government documents) on this chapter of Middle East history. Scope: Iraq, Great Britain. Dates: 1914 to 1974.

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. TIMEA offers electronic texts such as travel guides, museum catalogs, and travel narratives, photographic and hand-drawn images of Egypt, and historical maps of Egypt and Cyprus. In addition, TIMEA provides educational modules that set the materials in context and explore how to conduct historical research.
World Cultures & History Digital Collections from Library of Congress World Cultures & History Digital Collections from Library of Congress includes collections such as the Abdul Hamid II Collection, Egypt 2008 Web Archive, and the Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection. These document historical images of the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, and more.
World Digital Library: Middle East and North Africa This project from the Library of Congress and UNESCO, makes 11,000 items from over 190 countries between 1200 BCE and 2000 BCE freely available. This section is specifically dedicated to items from the Middle East and North Africa.

See the Primary Sources page to gain a better understanding of what a primary source is.

Suggested Databases

Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Material cited in the Index Islamicus includes not only work written about the Middle East, but also about the other main Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, plus Muslim minorities elsewhere. Over 3,000 journals are monitored for inclusion in the database, together with conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews. Journals and books are indexed down to the article and chapter level. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1906 to present.
Britannica Online (Encyclopedia) This link opens in a new window Online encyclopedia with over 100,000 new and revised articles written by Nobel laureates, historians, curators, professors and other experts. See “Media Browse” for short videos and images on a wide variety of topics. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window Ethnic NewsWatch contains and searches as one both Ethnic NewsWatch, which is a current collection, and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which is an historical collection. Ethnic NewsWatch, the current file, covers 1990 to present and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, covers 1959-1989. Includes newspapers, magazines, and journals of ethnic, minority, and native presses. Scope: United States and Canada. Dates: 1959 to present.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. This authoritative database provides indexing of more than 2,300 academic historical journals in over 40 languages. Scope: Worldwide (excluding the United States and Canada) Dates: 1953 to present (some titles back to early 20th century).
Religion and the Law This link opens in a new window Contains thousands of unique titles and more than a million pages, including books, periodicals, and bibliographies. This collection provides a research platform for the development, history, organization, and fundamental principles of various world religions. The collection also includes the Christian Legal Society publications, an assortment of Canon Law, and rare historical bibles. Scope: Worldwide Dates: Varies

Librarian Tip: When searching for names of people and/or places be sure to include alternative spellings to capture all pertinent results. Additionally, if searching across multiple languages think about how different languages refer to the person, place, or thing and utilize all terms.

Subjects & Keywords

There are a multitude of Subject Terms you might want to use depending on your topic, but here are a few to get you started.

Examples of specific regions Subject Headings:

Territory, National Egypt History.

Examples of specific time periods and topics Subject Headings:

Egypt Politics and Government 19th Century.

See our Keyword and Subject Searching box (on this guide) for more information.