Top of page

Category: Near East Section

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

Reimagining Home: Armenian Memorial Books at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

(The following is a post by Khatchig Mouradian, Armenian and Georgian Specialist, Near East Section, African and Middle Eastern Division.) The destruction of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian population during World War I severed the connection of survivors and their descendants from their ancestral homes in what is today the Republic of Turkey. Scattered around the …

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

A Regional and Thematic Approach to Web-Archiving: Collaboratively Capturing Official, Non-Governmental and Cultural Websites from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

The Library of Congress offers two digital collections for public access: the Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan Elections web archive; and the Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan Government web archive. The two archives cover 2005 to 2016 and contain roughly 530 websites from the four countries, many in English and others in Farsi, Dari and Tajiki. The archives also include websites in Urdu, Pashto, Arabic and Russian.

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

Middle East and North African Government Institution Websites Digitally Preserved

Posted by: Muhannad Salhi

The Middle East and North African Government Institution Web Archive collects websites from Bahrain, Mauritania, Qatar, Turkey and Yemen, representing national financial ministries and banks. The archive is especially valuable as to demonstrate transparency and the conditions in the country/region during a time of global economic change, and, in some cases, while embroiled in conflict. The content preserved is valuable for understanding the application of Islamic banking and finance at the national level.

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

Gas Balloons, Continental Maps and an 18th Century Armenian Engraver

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

This blog tells the story of Father Elia Endasian, an engraver, mapmaker, and a keen follower of the scientific advances of his time. The 6 maps (world, continental, and regional) Endasian engraved within 4 years (1784-1787) made an indelible mark on Armenian cartography. The Library of Congress houses these maps and many works by Endasian.

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

Written in Istanbul: Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy Sheets at the Library of Congress – Part 3

Posted by: Muhannad Salhi

This blogpost introduces Ottoman Turkish calligraphic styles. This is the third installment of a three-part series that examines the various styles of Arabic calligraphy used in the Arab and Islamic world. The Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Calligraphy collection is housed in the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress.

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

On the Wings of a Flight of Geese: Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy Sheets at the Library of Congress – Part 2

Posted by: Muhannad Salhi

This blogpost introduces Persian calligraphic styles: Ta'liq, Shikastah, and Nasta'liq. This is the second installment of a three-part series that examines the various styles of Arabic calligraphy used in the Arab and Islamic world. The Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Calligraphy collection is housed in the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress.

Large metal hollow globe on a metal frame with metal orbit trails surrounding it

Saʻdī and His Mystical Humanist Literature at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

The Library of Congress is home to a collection of rare Persian language manuscripts, among which 10 unique volumes hold the writings and poetry of the master of words, Sa’di of Shiraz, who was a mystical humanist and anecdotal story teller and lived in medieval Persia from the city of Shiraz, but traveled far and wide throughout the Islamic world and wrote about the unity of mankind.