Research Guides: HIST 290: The History of the Modern Middle East: Primary Sources

Recommended Primary Sources

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Homeland: Oral histories of Palestine and Palestinians
Publication Date: 1994

This collection of oral histories captures the stories of generations, from those in the occupied territories to the diaspora. Through travels across Israel and refugee camps, Homeland shares voices of loss, exile, and memory.
The Israel-Arab Reader
Publication Date: 2008
Israel in the Middle East
Publication Date: 2007

Offers key documents on the Zionist movement (1882–2006) and Israel’s domestic and foreign policies, including political, economic, cultural, legal, and social aspects.
Women in Islam and the Middle East
Publication Date: 1999

Extracts from a range of sources dating from the early Islamic period until today. The readings cover various aspects of women's experience--legal, domestic, political, religious and cultural.
Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Publication Date: 2006

Carefully selected documents, maps, photographs, and chronologies provide context for the narrative, and its up-to-the-minute coverage of developments captures readers' interest and helps them better understand the latest news in the region.
Liberal Islam: A Source Book
Publication Date: 1998

Presents the translated work of 32 Muslims who are concerned with the separation of church and state, democracy, the condition of women, the rights of minorities, freedom of thought, and the future of human progress

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The Contemporary Middle East
Publication Date: 2007

Features over 120 primary source documents on key events shaping Middle Eastern history and politics since WWI. Organized thematically, it includes letters, agreements, and UN resolutions, with introductory essays providing context.
A Documentary History of Modern Iraq
Publication Date: 2012

Highlights the voices of ordinary Iraqis, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Jews, and women. Using diverse sources like short stories, speeches, and memoirs, it brings overlooked perspectives to light.

The Palestine Papers
Publication Date: 2011

examines 1,600 leaked documents from Israel-Palestine peace negotiations (2006–2011), revealing the complexities behind statements from both sides. It includes key texts on settlements, Hamas rockets, Gaza, refugees, and Israel's identity, with commentary on their significance for Middle East peace efforts.
A Documentary History of Modern Iraq
Publication Date: 2012

Highlights the voices of ordinary Iraqis, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Jews, and women. Using diverse sources like short stories, speeches, and memoirs, it brings overlooked perspectives to light.
The Middle East and North Africa
Publication Date: 2024

This book explores secularity in the Middle East and North Africa, highlighting regional connections and links to global discussions. Featuring previously untranslated texts, it showcases shared themes and diverse perspectives.
A Guide to Documents on the Arab-Palestinian/Israeli Conflict: 1897-2008
Publication Date: 2009

Non-partisan compilation designed to provide relevant legal and historical source material about this conflict.
Material Evidence and Narrative Sources
Publication Date: 2015

This book demonstrates the effectiveness of creative interdisciplinary research, applied to historical, cultural and archaeological problems in the study of the Middle East. Photographs from many archaeological sites.

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The Modern Middle East
Publication Date: 2006

Offers translated sources from 1700 to the present, including archives, press, memoirs, literature, and official reports. Each document is annotated by experts, helping students explore its historical context and broader themes like state power, gender roles, nationalism, and cultural change.
The Modern Middle East and North Africa
Publication Date: 2013

Explores the underlying theme of unity in diversity, utilizing a mix of documents--including photographs, posters, diaries, diplomatic records, archival sources, and literary works.
Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought
Publication Date: 2009

Features writings by figures like Ayatollah Khomeini, Hasan al-Banna, and Nadia Yassine, along with texts like the Hamas charter and a Taliban interview. Highlighting debates on gender, democracy, and violence, it reveals both commonalities and significant disagreements in Islamist thought.
Imperialism and Orientalism
Publication Date: 1999

Assembles an unprecedented collection of archival and documentary materials that maps the ideological and political grounds for late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British and European colonialism in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Gender, Modernity and Liberty
Publication Date: 2006

Traces women's involvement in campaigns of gender and national emancipation.

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Revolution and Protest Online
Explores protest movements, revolutions, and civil wars that have transformed societies and human experience from the 18th century through the present.

Revolutions, protests, resistance and social movements from the 18th century through the 21st century, documented through personal papers, organizations, government documents, journals, reports, monographs, images, video, and speeches.
Historical Newspapers

Full-text content from U.S. & international newspapers from the 19th century to the late 20th century. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, cartoons, classifieds, and obituaries.

See title list of over 400 historical newspapers.
HeinOnline
Law journals and periodicals, case law decisions, government documents, Federal Register, US Code, Congressional documents, Foreign Relations of the US, international treaties and world constitutions, and more.

Islamic Humanities Project @ Brown
Research initiative of the Middle East Studies program at Brown University, with links to text collections in Arabic.
Travelers in the Middle East Archive
Primary source materials that focus on Western interactions with the Middle East, particularly travels to Egypt during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Includes images, texts, maps, and research and teaching guides.

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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.
King-Crane Commission Digital Collection
Documents and photographs relating to the King–Crane Commission of 1919, an inquiry concerning the disposition of areas within the former Ottoman Empire.

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During the summer of 1919, a delegation under the leadership of Oberlin College President Henry Churchill King and Chicago businessman Charles R. Crane travelled to areas of the former Ottoman territories. Their mission was to determine the wishes of the people of the region as their future was being determined by the major powers at the Paris Peace Conference. The King-Crane Commission, as it became known, met delegations and invited written petitions from various religious and political groups. This digital collection unifies the archival records of Commission members for the first time