Proof of Concept: DLME: Digital Library of the Middle East

DLME: Digital Library of the Middle East

In response to the tragic displacement of people and losses of life in conflict zones, and to ongoing threats to the cultural heritage of the Middle East through destruction, looting, and illegal trade, the Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME) proposes to federate Middle Eastern collections from around the world, creating a publicly accessible, seamlessly interoperable digital library of cultural material.

The DLME is a worldwide effort to federate all types of cultural heritage material, including archives, manuscripts, museum objects, media, and archaeological and intangible heritage collections. The core principle of our collaboration is that of service to partners and peoples across the Middle East and North Africa—to help reveal, share, honor, and protect collections of cultural materials and the living and historical cultures they represent.

The DLME provides a digital platform that federates digital records of accessible artifacts ranging across twelve millennia. It incorporates metadata describing many aspects of each object or document, including its sometimes contested meaning or significance, its history, and its provenance when available. The DLME is accessible through desktop computers, tablets, and phones, and it will be continually augmented though subsequent generations of scholarly input, crowd-sourcing, and new knowledge discovered through its use. By providing accessibility and encouraging documentation and digitization, the DLME implements international cultural preservation goals and can help mitigate looting and the illegal resale of heritage materials.

In developing an extensible, open source platform and sophisticated tools and applications, we are creating a non-proprietary, globally accessible library of immediate importance, which over time may serve as a model for digital libraries of cultural and scientific heritage of other regions similarly under threat from conflict, environmental danger, or political instability and curtailment of human rights.

Proof of Concept

Calendar Converter for Near East Historians

Calendar Converter for Near East Historians
https://www.muqawwim.com

"This is a simple calendar conversion utility that displays a given date according to four different standards: Gregorian, Julian, Islamic, and Persian (i.e., Solar Hijri). Change the date in any of the tables below, then click the corresponding "Calculate" button, and the equivalent date will appear in the other three calendars. Additionally—and perhaps most helpfully, for historians of the later medieval and early modern Persianate world—this page will indicate the animal year in which the given date falls. (See the "Notes and References" section below for further information on this and other arcane points.)This is a simple calendar conversion utility that displays a given date according to four different standards: Gregorian, Julian, Islamic, and Persian (i.e., Solar Hijri). Change the date in any of the tables below, then click the corresponding "Calculate" button, and the equivalent date will appear in the other three calendars. Additionally—and perhaps most helpfully, for historians of the later medieval and early modern Persianate world—this page will indicate the animal year in which the given date falls. (See the "Notes and References" section below for further information on this and other arcane points.)"

Women of Islamic Studies

Women of Islamic Studies

Women of Islamic Studies is a crowdsourced database of women scholars who work on Muslims and Islam. This ongoing project is in its beta version. Once sufficient data has been collected I will partner with a university for a more stable home.

Women of Islamic Studies is intended to contest the prevalence of all-male and male dominated academic domains, such as editorial boards, conference panels, publications, guest speakers, bibliographies, books reviews, etc. and provide resources to support the recognition, citation, and inclusion of women scholars in the field of Islamic Studies. Anyone who identifies as a woman, gender non-conforming, or non-binary is welcomed on the list. The scholars listed come from a wide variety of disciplines and perspectives. “Islamic Studies” is meant to be as inclusive as possible, meaning anyone whose expertise is related to the understanding of Muslims and the Islamic tradition, and intended to demarcate a disciplinary boundary. Please feel free to list any relevant scholars who work on Islam and Muslims in any capacity. The crowdsourced contents are made possible by many contributors. Please add to our list and help spread the word.

Women of Islamic Studies is inspired by Women of Ancient History. Thanks to Sarah Bond for the support.

• Women of Islamic Studies
  • Women of Islamic Studies: Explore
  • Women of Islamic Studies: Map
  • Women of Islamic Studies: Add A Scholar
  • Women of Islamic Studies: Additional Resources

Open Access Journal Archive: al-Akhlāq = الاخلاق = Character - v.1 (1920)

Title: al-Akhlāq = الاخلاق
Published: Nīyū yurk, Yaʻqūb Rūfāʼīl.
Publication Date:  Began 1920.
Other Titles: Character
Description:     no. ill. (part col.) ports. 24-31 cm.
Frequency: Monthly
ISSN:     0735-4894

Alphabetical List of Open Access Historical Newspapers and Other Periodicals in Middle East & Islamic Studies

Nabia Abbott's books at the Oriental Institute

Books by Nabia Abbott available for download from the Oriental Institute

• Oriental Institute Publications 50: The Rise of the North Arabic Script and Its Kur'anic Development, with a Full Description of the Kur'an Manuscripts in the Oriental Institute, by Nabia Abbott (University of Chicago Press, 1939) 

• Oriental Institute Publications 75: Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri I: Historical Texts, by Nabia Abbott (University of Chicago Press, 1957) 

• Oriental Institute Publications 76: Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri II: Qur'anic Commentary and Tradition, by Nabia Abbott (University of Chicago Press, 1967) 

• Oriental Institute Publications 77: Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri III: Language and Literature, by Nabia Abbott (University of Chicago Press, 1972) 

• SAOC 15: The Kurrah Papyri from Aphrodito in the Oriental Institute. Nabia Abbott. Originally published in 1938.

• SAOC 16. The Monasteries of the Fayyum. Nabia Abbott. 1937.

• Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Harun al-Rashid. Nabia Abbott. Originally published in 1946.

• Aishah: The Beloved of Mohammed. Nabia Abbott. Originally published in 1942.

For an up to date list of all Oriental Institute publications available online see:

The Oriental Institute Open Access Publications