Tag Archives: Middle East

Back to Egypt via Türkiye

In December 2024, after classes came to a close, I took a brief trip to Istanbul, Türkiye, with the hope of acquiring pivotal Arabic-language journals that had been published in Egypt. I’ve written for the TexLibris blog before on the importance of looking for essential research materials in unexpected places, such as Arabic in Türkiye. This trip was yet another example.

So, what were these texts that I traveled across the Atlantic in order to secure for the UT Libraries researcher community? One of them is مجلس النواب مجموعة المضابط (Majlis al-Nuwwab: Majmu’at al-Madabit/Meeting Minutes of the House of Representatives). I acquired 18 volumes of this title, representing the record of the discussions and decisions taken by a House of the Egyptian Parliament in the late 1920s and 1930s. This title had been on my radar ever since I acquired مجلس الشيوخ مجموعة المضابط (Majlis al-Shuyukh: Majmu’at al-Madabit/Meeting Minutes of the House of Lords) a few years ago. That title consists of the records of the House of Lords of the Egyptian Parliament from the 1930s to the 1950s. My goal was to complement the House of Lords collection with the House of Representatives’ records from nearly the same time period so that UT Libraries is able to offer researchers a comprehensive record of Egyptian Parliamentary activity from the early 20th century. These types of government records may seem fairly mundane, but they are, in fact, remarkably difficult to locate outside of official copies kept at the Egyptian National Archives. In North America, UT Austin is one of four holding institutions for Majlis al-Shuyukh: Majmu’at al-Madabit, and one of five holding institutions for Majlis al-Nuwwab: Majmu’at al-Mudabit. I am eager to see the scholarship that arises from the presence of these crucial and rare titles at the UT Libraries, and I encourage scholars from other research institutions to consider visiting UT Libraries to consult these materials.

The second title that I acquired is الموسوعة الجنائية (al-Mawsu’ah al-Jina’iyyah/Encyclopedia on Criminal Law) by legal scholar Jindi Abd al-Malik Bayk. This work, published in the 1930s, is an encyclopedia of Egyptian criminal law structures and standards. It chronicles the historical development of criminal law, doctrinal formation, and the rules that came to be adopted in modern Egyptian criminal law. This title also includes the substantive case law that underpins some of the key assumptions and orientations for criminal procedure and criminality in Egypt.

The third title, الدنيا المصورة (al-Dunya al-Musawwarah/The Illustrated World), was published between 1929-1932. It was a weekly journal from the famous Dar al-Hilal publishing house, responsible for numerous impactful intellectual and popular periodicals in early 20th century Egypt. Edited by Emil and Shukri Zaydan, al-Dunya al-Musawwarah was renowned for its caricatures and the artists behind them, as well as for its plethora of photographs. It also featured influential articles by foundational litterateurs and political commentators, such as Fikri Abaza (فكري أباظة). UT Austin is now one of a only a handful of North American institutions with any holdings of this important title. al-Dunya al-Musawwarah complements our existing collection of early 20th century Arabic periodicals that I have been building since joining UT Austin 10 years ago. Other notable titles include البلاغ الأسبوعي (al-Balagh al-Usbu’i/The Weekly Calling), الهلال (al-Hilal/The Crescent), المصور (al-Musawwar/The Illustrated), and الكواكب (al-Kawakib/The Planets).

As I continue my work to maintain our existing collections and expand upon them, it is my hope that complementary titles such as these—titles that work together and extend the knowledge already present in the UT Libraries’ collections—will make crucial connections for UT Austin researchers and beyond. I invite anyone interested to learn more about these materials and/or our Middle Eastern Studies collections to reach out for a consultation.

FAL Exhibit Explores an Explorer

The Fine Arts Library is hosting an exhibition tracking the life and work of Colonel Leo Bond Roberts, an Army civil engineer who traveled extensively in his capacity for the military, taking photographs and collecting ephemera and artifacts from his travels throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

An opening reception takes place from 5-7 p.m., Friday, May 7, in the Roberts Reading Room of the Fine Arts Library. The exhibit will be on view through July.

The exhibit includes materials from all phases of Roberts’ life: childhood, college years, officer during World War I, topographer and explorer during the 1920s and 30s, civil engineer, military engineer and planner during World War II and chief engineer of the Jones Beach Marine Theater on Long Island, NY.

Photographs, publications, military awards, African masks, and lantern slides of travels in the Gobi Desert and in Ethiopia will be on display with many other items from Roberts’s travels.

Items in the exhibition were generously donated to the Fine Arts Library by Roberts’s daughter-in-law, Jan J. Roberts.

If you would like to attend the opening reception, please RSVP to Eve McQuade at emcquade@austin.utexas.edu or call 512-495-4363.

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