Researching Modern Egypt Online

By Amy Fallas

Under normal circumstances, many of us would be deep in archival work that usually characterize our academic summers. Although COVID safety measures prevent us from traveling to research sites and accessing physical archives, it doesn’t mean we have to stop developing our projects. Countless digital and open access resources are available to historians who are for the time being at home and to those for whom travel may be an issue now and in the future. As a scholar of modern Egypt, precarious access to archival material is a constant factor; so, in addition to in-person research, I also regularly consult online sources. I’ve compiled a brief list of some of these online repositories in hopes it can help researchers working on nineteenth and twentieth century Egypt who are currently looking to diversify their source base or need access to primary sources.

1. The American University in Cairo (AUC) Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library

The AUC library holds a breadth of important physical archival materials but a lesser known treasure is their digital collections. In addition to chronicling the history of the university, the digital collection is an important resource on twentieth century Egyptian history with holdings that include Arabic-language magazine Al-Musawwar, English-language expat and tourist digest The Sphinx: English Illustrated Weekly as well as AUC yearbooks from 1931. Other material available online include historical postcards and photographs that cover modern Egypt art, architecture, maps, and material culture. Although these sources are available for viewing online, high resolution images and reproduction requests should go through the Rare Books and Special Collections Library.

2. University of Bonn, Digitization Project “Translatio”

This open access digitization project based out of the University of Bonn is one of the most impressive and useful collections on Middle East history I’ve utilized to date. Although the digitized works span a broad time period with materials in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, its Egypt-based periodicals are especially strong with a focus on publications between 1860-1945. They have several holdings from the prolific Dar al-Hilal publishing house with titles including al-Dunya al-Musawara and al-Fukaha as well as scientific periodicals such as al-Muqtataf. 

3. Digitized Francophone Press in Egypt

The francophone press from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries is perhaps the most comprehensively digitized collection of historical publishing on and in Egypt between 1884 and 1985 available online. The project is based out of the Center d’Études Alexandrines which has been collecting and digitizing material since 2004. With over two hundred titles, key-word searchable publications, and downloadable pdfs, this online resource is an incredible asset to researchers who work on modern Egypt. 

4. Digital Egyptian Gazette (1905-1908)

The Egyptian Gazette was an important English-language daily newspaper established in Alexandria in 1880. Middle East Historian Will Hanley at Florida State University initiated a digital project on the publication focused on issues published between 1905-8 that includes both full structure and content markup available on this website. In addition to full issues of the Gazette, the site also offers interesting posts by Dr. Hanley’s students with analysis about events in Egyptian history during this three-year period.

5. Akkasah, the Center for Photography at New York University Abu Dhabi

This comprehensive visual repository actively collects photographs from across the Arab world from the late Ottoman period to the present day. Although the archive is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its holdings extend beyond the Gulf and include robust material on Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. The Yasser Alwan Collection is a rich and diverse collection of thousands of images from early twentieth century Egypt and encompasses portraiture to more informal photos through the 1950s. Other collections that feature considerable material on Egypt include the Samir Farid Collection, Collège de la Sainte Famille Collection, and the Hisham Khatib Collection.

For other online and open access resources, check out our Visual Sources list and Online Archives, Digitized Collections and Resources list.

Amy Fallas is a PhD student in the Department of History at UC Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on modern Egypt, religious minorities in the Middle East, missions and global Christianity, and history of charity. She’s currently an assistant editor of the Arab Studies Journal and her work is published in the Yale Journal for International Affairs, Jadaliyya, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Palestine Square, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches and others.