Middle East

Our Middle East collections comprise manuscripts, printed books, newspapers and journals from countries in today's Middle East as well as from Iran and Central Asia from the 5th century AD to the present day.

Collection guides

Arabic collections
Printed books, periodicals and newspapers, manuscripts and a range of other materials
Persian collections
Over 40,000 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers, more than 11,000 manuscripts, and a range of other materials.
Hebrew collections
Manuscripts copied over 1,000 years ago to the most recent monographs and serials
Ethiopian collections
The Ethiopian collections include over 600 manuscripts in addition to recent monographs and serials
Judeo-Persian
The British Library has a small but important collection of Judeo-Persian manuscripts and printed books
India Office Records: Resources for Iran
Archival sources for the study of Iran

View all related guides

Help

Readers at desks in the Asian and African Reading Room

Asian & African Studies Reading Room

Find information on the shelves
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If you need help, just ask our Information Specialists at the Reference Enquiry desk or contact the Asian & African Studies Reference Team.

We offer a range of free Reader sessions and 1-2-1 consultations to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

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Mon: 10.00 – 17.00
Tue – Sat: 09.30 – 17.00
Sun & English Public Holidays: closed

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Blog posts

The Garden of Aden: The Experimental Vegetable Garden at Aden

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Ill-health plagued the East India Company Army in the 19th century. Army rations consisted of bread and meat, supplemented by other items which the soldiers bought for themselves. Despite the work of Dr James Lind on scurvy a century before,...

The Courtesan and the Preacher: The Romance of Mahsati, an Early Female Persian Poet

Monday, March 1, 2021

The opening of the anonymous romance of the female poet and musician Mahsati and Amir Ahmad the preacher’s son. Copy dated Rabiʻ I 867/1462 (British Library Or.8755, f. 22v) Mahsati was one of the earliest female poets of classical Persian...

Patchwork for a Prince: Exploring Persian Anthology British Library Or.13193

Monday, February 22, 2021

Many Persian poetry anthologies – particularly those produced during the 15th and early 16th century - display a kaleidoscopic use of decorated papers, and reveal an engaging celebration of color with every turn of the page. This ‘patchwork’ approach calls...

Investigating Instances of Arabic Verb Form X in the BL/QFP Translation Memory

Thursday, February 11, 2021

The Arabic language has a root+pattern morphology where words are formed by casting a (usually 3-letter) root into a morphological template of affixed letters in the beginning, middle and/or end of the word. While most of the meaning comes from...