Contemporary Iran and Modernisation Through the Lens of an Album

Among the treasures in the Special Collections sits a remarkable photo album, Or. 25.777, purchased in 2000 from McBlain Books in the USA. Its twenty-five photographs document the inauguration of a hospital in 1955 in Shiraz, showing Iran’s 1950s modernization.

Guest author • May 21, 2026

Travelling to ancient Mesopotamia with professor Böhl

The archive of professor Frans de Liagre Böhl (1882-1976) contains a wealth of knowledge and documentation about early 20th-century Middle Eastern archaeology. The archive, owned by the Netherands Institute for the Near East will soon be available for research via the Leiden Special Collections.

• May 21, 2024

The Iranian Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Old Manuscript, New Perspectives

Majid Daneshgar discusses a rare Persian-Malay manuscript: Or. 5658. It provides a clearer picture of the history of Persian proficient people and Persian-Shīʿīsm in Indonesia.

Guest author • April 24, 2024

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Blogs

Contemporary Iran and Modernisation Through the Lens of an Album

Travelling to ancient Mesopotamia with professor Böhl

The Iranian Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Old Manuscript, New Perspectives