Open Access archive: Taliban Sources Repository

The Taliban Sources Project (TSP) is one of few Taliban documentation projects in existence and is the only collection to include the cultural, social, and legal output for the years 1979-2011.

The TSP has transformed a large private collection of Taliban documents into an enduring and usable intellectual resource for scholars of Afghanistan, Taliban and Asian history.

Compiled between 2006 and 2011 by researchers based in southern Afghanistan, the TSP collection is one of only a few such private documentation projects in existence, and is the only collection to include Taliban’s cultural, social and legal output for the years 1979-2011.

Original documents and English translations

Researchers can now search and view English translations as well as the original Pashto, Dari and (in some cases) Arabic. The material includes:

Full runs of dozens of official newspapers and magazines
Works of poetry
Maps
Night letters
Press releases
Transcripts of radio broadcasts
Memoirs
Government publications
Government publications include the Taliban’s own foreign press monitor and multiple volumes of Taliban laws and edicts.

Background

The TSP was initially started by Thesigers, which processed and translated the materials presented on this website over a two-year period (2013-2015), in order to ensure the survival and public accessibility of this unique corpus of primary sources.

The Taliban Sources Project (TSP) was launched online in 2020 by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) in cooperation with the University of Oslo.

Access

The TSP is a non-profit venture and access to the collection is free of charge. Please sign up in order to access the materials.

Quoting

If you use any of the material in the collection, please include a reference to the Taliban Sources Project at FFI/UiO.

Example:

Mohammad Omar, “Eulogy of Martyr of the Islamic Umma Mujahed Abu Mosaab Zarqawi,” 1 June 2006, Al-Somood 1, no. 1 (June 2006), accessed via Taliban Sources Project at FFI/UiO, https://tsp.hf.uio.no.

Contact

If you have questions or feedback regarding the TSP, please send us a mail at tsp-contact@ikos.uio.no.

Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI)

PO Box 25

N-2027 Kjeller

Norway

Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS)

University of Oslo

The Faculty of Humanities

PO Box 1010 Blindern

N-0315 Oslo

Norway

Link: https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/taliban-sources-repository/

Open Access Journal: Anthropology of the Middle East

Anthropology of the Middle East
Online ISSN: 1746-0727
Print ISSN: 1746-0719


Recent political events have shown an alarming lack of awareness in western countries of life in the Middle East. Anthropologists, trained in analysing local discourses and social actions and their socio-political and historical contexts, play an important role in making social and cultural developments in the Middle East more comprehensible to a wider world.

This peer-reviewed journal provides a forum for scholarly exchange between anthropologists and other social scientists working in and on the Middle East. The journal's aim is to disseminate, on the basis of informed analysis and insight, a better understanding of Middle Eastern cultures and thereby to achieve a greater appreciation of Middle Eastern contributions to our culturally diverse world.

Anthropology of the Middle East (AME) is published twice a year, in the spring and autumn. Issues are often themed and on occasion guest edited. Each issue contains articles on specific research projects and outcomes on Middle Eastern topics. A section titled "Notes from the Field" features research in progress. Book reviews and shorter reports on books, films and conferences are also included.

Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

Islamkundliche Untersuchungen Digital at MENADoc

[First posted in AMIR 5 January 2011. Updated 24 May 2013, 22 June 2020]

UPDATE 6/22/2020 MENAdoc has thus far digitized (with open access) 412 out-of-print titles of Schwarz Verlag’s Islamkundliche Untersuchungen.

List of digitized titles

Islamkundliche Untersuchungen Digital

The series Islamkundliche Untersuchungen which is published by the Klaus Schwarz Verlag since 1970 is one of the outstanding publications of Islamic studies in Germany. Klaus Schwarz Verlag and Universitaets- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt in Halle plan to publish digital versions of titles that are no longer available in print in the electronic fulltext repository MENAdoc of the Middle East Virtual Library MENALIB in the future. 10 titles have been digitised in April 2009 and are being made available in a first step towards a more comprehensive presentation of Islamkundliche Untersuchungen on the WWW.

 196 volumes of the series are currently available

Thesaurus d'Epigraphie Islamique

New release and new website:
Thesaurus d'Epigraphie Islamique, Edition 2020

Conceived and directed by L. KALUS, co-directed by F. BAUDEN, developed by F. SOUDAN

"This project aims to bring together all the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish (or even in other languages) inscriptions of the Muslim world until the year 1000 AH, that is to say, the period usually identified as the Middle Ages.
The collection and computerization of the inscriptions began in the late 1980s, the whole Muslim world now being covered. Currently, the database contains some 49,500 cards that critically present the text of the inscriptions already published, while certain texts are presented for the first time. Inscriptions known to exist because they are mentioned in publications of all kinds are also taken into consideration. Many of the inscriptions are illustrated with photographs from the Max van Berchem Foundation Photo Library as well as from other collections. It is also now possible to consult the website in English (however the contents of the cards remain in French)."

Registration required.

New OA Project: Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs)

"Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs) is an AHRC-funded project that seeks to further knowledge and understanding of the early interactions between England and the Islamic worlds. Through our pages and our blog we hope to create an accessible space to reveal the exciting discoveries of researchers as they navigate the seas of history and literature, and investigate the intersecting webs of our pasts.

Like the engagements it explores, MEMOs is also a point of engagement. It is a space for researchers, practitioners and anyone with an interest to connect and stay up-to-date with news and events in the field, as well as the work of colleagues and specialists. By this we hope to build a network of knowledge and appreciation around the longstanding global relationships that continue to define our interconnected identities and shape our world."

Website: https://memorients.com/

Digital Sources for the Study of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey

Digital Sources for the Study of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.
by Nicole A.N.M. van Os, PhD

"Increasingly, primary sources from the period before the emergence of digital media are being digitized. These “digital surrogates” have facilitated the work of (historical) researchers; instead of having to visit several archives, libraries and other places, the (primary) sources appear in front of them on their screen while they are sitting in their study at home or the university."

Open Access Arabic and Middle Eastern Journals and Series via Yale University Library

[First posted in AMIR on  August 5, 2011,  updated June 3, 2020]

UPDATE:
Digitized content from the Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library (AMEEL)
has been moved to another platform. Updated links are available here :   http://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:2835720
and on the
Alphabetical List of Open Access Historical Newspapers and Other Periodicals in Middle East & Islamic Studies
NOTE : AMEEL collection is full text searchable (with the known OCR limitations) 

Open Access Arabic and Middle Eastern Journals and Series via Yale University Library

• al-Abḥāth; الأبحاث
• Dirāsāt al-'Ulūm al-insānīyah wa-al-ijtimā'īyah
• Dirāsāt tārīkhīyah : majallah faṣlīyah; دراسات تاريخية : مجلة فصلية
• Études internationales, iss. ; دراسات دولية‏
• Journal for the history of Arabic science
• al-Kātib al-ʻArabī; الكاتب العربي
• al-Lughah wa-al-adab; لغة والأدب
• Majallat Jāmiʻat Dimashq lil-ādāb wa-al-ʻulūm al-insānīyah wa-al-tarbawīyah; مجلة جامعة دمشق للآداب والعلوم الإنسانية والتربوية
• Majallat Jāmiʻat al-Malik ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ; مجلة جامعة الملك عبد العزيز. الآداب والعلوم الإنسانية.
• Majallat al-Majmaʻ al-ʻIlmī al-ʻIrāqī; مجلة المجمع العلمي العراقي
• Majallat al-muʾarrikh al-ʻArabī. The Arab historian; مجلة المؤرخ العربي. The Arab historian
• al-Mawrid; المورد
• al-Muʾarrikh al-Miṣrī : dirāsāt wa-buḥūth tārīkhīyah; المؤرخ المصري : دراسات وبحوث تاريخية
• Report on the excavations in ʻIraq ... Report on the activity of the Department of Antiquities
• Revue Tunisienne de Sciences Sociales; ‏مجلة التونسية للعلوم الاجتماعية‏
• Silsilat Awraq al-dhakirah: al-Junun wa-al-mar'ah fi Misr nihayat al-qarn al-tasi' 'ashar; الجنون والمرأة في مصر نهاية القرن التاسع عشر / هدى السعدي، رمضان الخولي
• Silsilat Awraq al-dhakirah: al-Mar'ah wa-al-hayah al-diniyah fi al-Usur al-Wusta bayana al-Islam wa-al-Gharb; المرأة والحياة الدينية في العصور الوسطى بين الإسلام والغرب /‏ ‏هدى السعدي، أميمة أبو بكر
• Silsilat Awraq al-dhakirah: al-Nisa wa-mihnat al-tibb fi al-mujtama'at al-Islamiyah; النساء ومهنة الطب في المجتمعات الإسلامية، ق 7 - ق 17 م /‏ ‏أميمة أبو بكر، هدى السعدي
• Sumer
• al-Thaqāfah al-jadīdah; الثقافة الجديدة

Open Arabic Periodical Editions

"The purpose and scope of the project is to provide an open, collaborative, referencable, and scholarly digital edition of Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī’s journal al-Muqtabas, which includes the full text, semantic mark-up, bibliographic metadata, and digital imagery. All files but the digital facsimiles are hosted on GitHub."

Website: https://openarabicpe.github.io/.

Open Access Newspaper Archive: Digital Egyptian Gazette (1905-1908)

"The Egyptian Gazette, a daily newspaper catering to English and French speaking residents of Alexandria, began publication in 1880. This website is product of a digital microhistory course at Florida State University, which was offered for the first time in fall 2016. The aim of this course is to produce a digital version of the paper for the years 1905-8, including full structure and content markup. This website presents the contents of the paper, and host student analysis of our findings."

Website: https://dig-eg-gaz.github.io/.

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