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
Turkish and Turkic collections
Over 25,000 volumes of printed books, periodicals and newspapers, more than 4,000 manuscript texts, and other materials
Judeo-Persian
The British Library has a small but important collection of Judeo-Persian manuscripts and printed books
Ethiopian collections
The Ethiopian collections include over 600 manuscripts in addition to recent monographs and serials

View all related guides

Help

Readers at desks in the Asian and African Reading Room

Asian & African Studies Reading Room

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Blog posts

Stories of the Prophets: an illustrated Persian manuscript by Nishapuri

Monday, August 8, 2022

Fig. 1. Nuh (Noah) in the ark (British Library, Add MS 18576, f. 19v) Tales of the prophets (Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʼ) form a popular literary genre based on stories adapted from the Qur’an and other Islamic literature. Since accounts of the...

Ibrāhīm al-Najjār al-Dayrānī: Doctor of Lebanon

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

In late 1837, an eager fifteen-year-old named Ibrāhīm ibn Khalīl ibn Yūsuf al-Najjār al-Dayrānī travelled from his home in a mountainside town outside Beirut in order to study medicine in Cairo. 'Principal square in Grand Cairo, with Murad Bey's palace'...

A Historical Narrative of the Kaʿba and the Hajj Season Reflecting on the Visual Materials Found in the IOR

Monday, July 4, 2022

The India Office Records (IOR) contain some fascinating visual materials, mainly photographs capturing the Kaʿba and the Hajj Season (pilgrimage) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. These visual materials are provided with short descriptions without any further elaboration...

Dining with style: the East India Company’s communal table at Mocha

Monday, June 27, 2022

In August 1720, the East India Company’s Council in Bombay received a letter from their factors and merchants based in the city of Mocha. They had expected this letter for some time. It was the practice for the factory’s staff...