Middle Eastern Special Collections

Old Soldiers Never Die…

The Friends of Leiden University Libraries contribute to the acquisition of a late Ottoman luxury manuscript

Arnoud Vrolijk • 14-03-2023

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Tricks ánd Treats: Medieval Machines from the Middle East

Medieval Arabic manuscripts in the Leiden University Libraries with colourful images of intricate machinery are part of a tradition that goes back a long way in the Middle East.

Arnoud Vrolijk • 15-02-2022

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Johan Braakensiek’s Cartoon of an Imprisoned Ottoman Sultan (1909)

Turkish prisons tend to house not only criminals but also political opponents. After the Young Turk Revolution, the sultan himself became a political opponent and ended up in prison. Dutch caricaturist Johan Braakensiek noticed the absurd irony of the situation.

Arnoud Vrolijk • 14-09-2020

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Egyptian Screen Goddesses and Western Fashion: Freedom or Oppression?

Popular Egyptian cinema abounds in screen goddesses in high heels and short skirts. Is this the typically Western idea of being free to wear whatever you like? Or of women dressing like tarts in order to attract men?

Arnoud Vrolijk • 23-01-2020

Middle Eastern Special Collections

A silk binding from Yemen

It’s very rare to come across a binding that seems to be unrelated to any type of binding we know. But it does happen. A cloth binding on a Yemeni manuscript is a case in point.

Karin Scheper • 07-06-2019

Middle Eastern Special Collections

Digitisation Project of Yemeni Manuscripts at Leiden University Libraries

The Yemeni manuscripts of Leiden University Libraries are now being digitised as part of The Zaydi Manuscript Tradition, a project coordinated by Professor Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton).

Arnoud Vrolijk • 15-11-2018