Middle East

A nineteenth-century immigrant from Persia narrates tales about the 'manners, customs, and peculiarities' of his people. He depicts Persian social life, talks of the Shah and his court, and relates legends and tales from Persian history and literature.

Between 1834 and 1837, Curzon visited Egypt, Syria, Albania, and Mt. Athos in order to collect ancient manuscripts. Twelve years later, he wrote accounts of the most curious of them, producing this charming flow of reminiscence in an engaging personality.

This is a travel book of historic and literary research through transcaucasia and Northern Persia, with over 250 pictures depicting sites and daily life.

A vibrant tale of two journeys to St. Catharine's Monastery in Mount Sinai that lead to the discovery of an ancient codex containing an old version of the Syriac Gospels.

The narrative of this book relates the quest to bring a "Nestorian" monument--China's earliest record of Christianity--to the West. Holm vividly describes temples, synagogues and mosques, common natives and Buddhist priests, prisoners, soldiers, and guards.

A descriptive account of monasteries and churches of Egypt primarily, but also of Nubia, Abyssinia, India, North Africa, Spain, the shores of the Atlantic, and southwestern Arabia (including Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, Syrian, and Nestorian churches).

This is an earnest description of the Muslim and Christian nationalities under the Ottoman Empire. The Illustrated London News described it as “a skillful narrative…The personal element invests Mr. Davey’s story with enthralling interest, which sustains his readers to the end.”

The book was written to give in a permanent form some account of the excavations undertaken in 1873 and 1874 on the site of Nineveh, and the principle discoveries which have resulted from these operations.

Rev. Wigram spent much of his clerical career working with the Church of the East, and for years after WWI, he spoke to English readers on behalf of the modern Assyrian people about their claims to a just settlement. This book is his last book on the subject.

A review of the physical geography, geology, and meteorology of the Holy Land based on the writings of a nineteenth century traveler, H.B. Tristram, then canon of Durham. Illustrated with over one hundred drawings, the book explores the plants and animals mentioned in the Bible.

Tristram says "In the belief that this field was not yet exhausted, I spent, accompanied by a small party of friends, in 1863-4, a period of nearly ten months in the examination chiefly of the geology and natural history of the country."

In this sequel to the author's Nineveh and Its Remains, and containing over 200 illustrations, Layard describes the second expedition he undertook to Nineveh. His words raise questions of cultural imperialism and epistemology central to modern critical debates.

In the Holy Land is a descriptive account of travel through the holy sites in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Turkey. Illustrated with photos from eighteen engravings, the book is a story of travel and excavations.

This book consists of tales of a travel to the Christian East. Bayule St. John (1822-1859) was born in Kentish Town on Aug. 19, 1822, and died at Grove End Road, St. John's Wood, on Aug. 1, 1859.

No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the Mandaeans, not even in recent decades and therefore Drower remains a singular figure. Scholars, students, and aficionados regard her book as the work that brings the people alive.

Amedee Baillot de Guerville was one of the most talented travel writers at the turn of the last century. His New Egypt, translated from French, is a remarkable record of Egyptian life; social, economic, and political, during that period.

Young brings a fresh judgment on Egyptian nationalism, discovering ampler grounds for hope than his countrymen are wont to conceive. He enters the controversial field of the relations hereafter to be established between Britain, Egypt and the Sudan.

Rhind's book on Thebes is unique in that unlike many other Egyptologists of his time, he gives a precise and detailed description of how he excavated the sites, in itself an immense value to the history of archaeology.

Drawing extensively from Dr. Grant's own letters and journals, Laurie's narrative provides a lively account of the life and work of a little-known nineteenth-century missionary.

This is a fascinating travel journey through the Sahara that began in 1912, by one of the most well- traveled women of the early twentieth century. Gordon paints the picture of the Sahara and its inhabitants through the eyes of a woman.

The story of a Christian missionary who lived for thirteen years amongst the Ishmaelites of Moab, Edom, and the great peninsula of Arabia. Forder says, “My story is a simple record of ventures just as they occurred, a transcript of personal experiences and beliefs. It is sent forth to what I believe is a sympathetic public.”

This book stresses the need for unity among the believers of God: Jews, Muslims, and Christians. "We must read it – or rather we must travel with her, for truth guides her pen, as charity has guided her steps."--Prince de Polignac, Colonel of the French Army in Algiers (1897)

A compilation and translation of Arabic proverbs by an early 19th century traveler in Cairo, Egypt. Entries are arranged alphabetically in Arabic and by number. Cultural and figurative explanations are provided in English.

The object of Tristram's expedition was a careful examination of the then-contemporary state of a country frequently referred to in the Old Testament, and intimately connected with Jewish history, but which had not been traversed at leisure by any explorer since the fall of the Roman empire.

Southgate's encounters with the Syriac-speaking Christians of Turkey shed a light on the life and status of this ancient Christian minority.