Journal of Near and Middle Eastern Studies: open-access journal

The Journal of Near and Middle Eastern Studies is a new annual, open-access publication from the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Students' Union at the University of Toronto.
It showcases undergraduate academic papers on all aspects of the history and culture of the region from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day.
Content of the 2010 issue ranges from "Death and the netherworld in ancient Mesopotamian thought" (Nisa Soeherman) to "The duality of structure between the IDF and Israeli society" (Matthew Ianucci)

The Crusades and the Near East -cultural histories : Book review

Dr Jonathan Harris (Department of History, Royal Holloway College, University of London) reviews The Crusades and the Near East: cultural histories in the Institute of Historical Research's online Reviews in History
The book, edited by Dr Conor Kostick of Trinity College, Dublin, explores the cultural history of the Crusades and how they shaped European identities.

SOAS Library has copies at NB909.07 / 736679

Trading post excavated in Qatar: Gulf Times article

The town of al-Zubarah flourished briefly as a pearl-fishing and trading town between the mid-18th and early 19the centuries. This article from the Gulf Times reports on the excavations at this important site

Wilfred Thesiger photographs (Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford)

The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford has been digitizing its collection of photographs by the explorer and writer, Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003)
Click here to view some of his iconic photographs taken in Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan from the 1930s onwards - and buy copies if you like.

History Blogging Project: new website

The History Blogging Project is a new web site supported by the History Lab, the University of Oxford and Roehampton University and aims to create a set of training resources that will enable postgraduate students to create, maintain and publicise a blog on their research. 

Topics covered include: why blogs?, blogs to engage the public and how to write suitable content, plus discussion forums and guidelines around these issues. Also suitable for other academics interested in setting up their own blogs and discussion forums.

The site aims to be fully developed by mid-2011

Link to it from the History subject guide, under Research and Teaching

Asian Perspectives: open-access journal

The journal Asian Perspectives (published by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa) is  now available on open-access from Vol.1 (1957) to Vol.47 (2008).
The journal looks at the archaeology and prehistory of the Asia-Pacific region

N.B. the Library also has access to Vol.39 (2000) onwards via EBSCOHost as well as print holdings from Vol.1(1957) onwards at Per 103 / 137833

"To whom do antiquities belong?"

This is the question posed by an article in the Jewish Ideas Daily.
The waterlogged remains of an archive relating to Iraq's exiled Jewish community were discovered in a flooded Baghdad basement by American troops in 2003. The archive, which includes material dating back to the 16th century, but mainly comprises documents, personal papers and Judeo-Arabic manuscripts from the 19th and 20th centuries, has been conserved in the USA. The archive is now claimed by both Israel and Iraq as part of their heritage.