Recent melanotes items

Editor's Note

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note #97, 2025

Middle East Studies Beyond the Middle East Archive – Promises, Predicaments and Practices of MENA research in Western Governmental Archives

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Building on my work on Iranian political exiles in France and on my experience conducting research in various French archival funds, I aim to offer here a practical introduction to French governmental archives for international researchers, and in particular scholars of Middle East studies. However, researching the Middle East in ‘Western’ governmental archives (WGAs) – i.e., within the (re)productive heart of past states’ hegemonic and adverse narratives on the Middle East – warrants theoretical and methodological discussion. In this article, I first establish that despite the issue of WGAs’ Western and governmental bias, these funds still constitute a unique resource for MENA research, especially on topics such as Middle Eastern diasporas, foreign relations, or history. I also contend that continuing to engage with the Middle East through sources external to the region will help reaffirm the deep relationality of the Middle Eastern construct and, crucially, stave off the...

From Court to Archive: The Mughal Imperial Library and the Institutional Afterlife of ʿArafāt al-ʿĀshiqīn

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article traces the four-century journey of the earliest surviving copy of ʿArafāt al-ʿĀshiqīn va ʿArasāt al-ʿĀrifīn (MS 5324, Malek National Library, Tehran), a seminal Persian poetic anthology compiled by Taqī al-Dīn Awhadī Balyānī in Mughal India. Through a microhistorical analysis of codicological features, ownership seals, inspection notes, and valuation marks, it reconstructs the manuscript’s passage from the library of the nobleman Sayf Khān into the Mughal Imperial Library, and later into Qajar Iran and the collection of Ḥusayn Āqā Malek.

Strategic Preservation of Rare Books in Iranian Libraries: Toward a Context-Sensitive Policy Framework

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The preservation of rare books in Iranian libraries presents a complex challenge, influenced by factors such as formal policies, infrastructure, specialized staff, and disaster preparedness. This study introduces a comprehensive organizational knowledge management model designed to enhance the preservation, accessibility, and digitalization of special collections. Using a 28-item researcher-designed questionnaire, standardized through the Delphi technique, the study assessed the current state of special collections libraries. Findings indicate that while many libraries have preservation plans for rare books, significant challenges persist, including inadequate preservation documentation, limited insurance coverage, and insufficient attention to the digitization of materials. The study underscores the importance of balancing preservation with inclusive access, ensuring that rare materials are available to diverse communities. By integrating principles of social justice, the...

A Tradition of Stewardship: Documenting and Promoting Egyptian and Regional Heritage at the Rare Books and Special Collections Library, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the development, holdings, and contributions of the Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL) of the American University in Cairo (AUC) in Cairo, Egypt. Tracing its origins to AUC's acquisition in the 1950s of the library of pioneering Islamic art and architecture scholar K.A.C. Creswell, this piece outlines how the present day RBSCL was created in the early 1990s through the merging of several special collections units at the university. The emergence of various collecting areas and description of major acquisitions and holdings across multiple formats is covered, including rare books and manuscripts, archives, architectural sources, Egyptology collections, photographs, historical magazines, and maps. Activities like conservation and digitization are also addressed, as well as RBSCL's service to researchers and outreach efforts.

Muḥammad Ramaẓānī: A Bridge for the Transmission and Continuity of Written Heritage in the Transition from the Qajar to the Pahlavi Era

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Muḥammad Ramaẓānī (1904–1967) should be recognized as one of the most influential figures in the modern history of publishing, librarianship, and collection-building in Iran. Having learned the trade of printing and bookselling from his father, he officially entered the world of books in 1920, at the age of seventeen, by founding the Etifāq Reading Room in Tehran. From that point forward, he engaged continuously and diversely in fields such as librarianship, magazine publishing, printing, editing, and publishing. By establishing institutions like Kitābkhānah-yi Sharq (Eastern Library), Majallah-yi Sharq (Eastern Magazine), Chāpkhānah-yi Sharq (Eastern Printing House), and especially the Kulālah-yi Khāvar publishing house, he played a major role in promoting reading culture and reprinting classical and folkloric Persian literature. Ramaẓānī was also the founder of Kitāb (The Book), the first specialized periodical on books in Iran. By listing and reviewing publications...

Solidarity Across Shelves: Children's Literature, Archives, and the Hijabi Librarians' Collective

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Written by the founders of the Hijabi Librarians collective, this article offers a critical reflection on the group’s bibliographic, pedagogical, and public-facing interventions, proposing a conceptual expansion of Middle East librarianship to include coalitional engagement with non-regionally defined librarian-activist networks. The Hijabi Librarians, a collective of Muslim women youth services librarians, operate at the intersection of library science, critical pedagogy, and public scholarship. Their work intervenes in cultural and archival spaces where SWANA, diasporic, and Muslim identities are frequently misrepresented or erased. Amid the intensifying crisis in the region and its impact on communities across the diaspora, the collective’s advocacy for nuanced #OwnVoices representation in children’s and young adult literature takes on renewed urgency. Their interventions address enduring representational gaps while affirming the political, educational, and ethical power...

Frontmatter #97, 2025

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Imprint & Editorial Board Information

Archiving of Persian Classical Music in the Past Century

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The archiving of Persian classical music (PCM) through recording and transcription has developed significantly over the past century, shaped by political, technological, and cultural forces. While oral transmission has always been central to PCM, early twentieth-century efforts began to document the tradition through both sound recording and musical notation. These practices gained momentum under the Pahlavi dynasty, when modernization initiatives and growing nationalism emphasized the preservation of Iranian cultural heritage. Advancements in recording technologies, such as vinyl and cassette tapes, made it possible to capture performances and transmit them beyond ephemeral gatherings. A pivotal institutional development was the founding of the Markaz-e Hefz-o Esha’eh-ye Musiqi-ye Irāni (‘Center for Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music’) by Dariush Safvat in the 1970s, fully supported by National Iranian Radio and Television. The Center combined oral pedagogy with...

Nasser Bakhshi’s Museum-Archive: Excavating the Hidden Layers of Memory

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Nasser Bakhshi Museum-Archive is recognized as a significant off-center archival and curatorial institution in Iran. Under Nasser Bakhshi’s direction, it exhibits historical-archival projects centered on socio-political events. As a pioneer in synthesizing contemporary art and archival research, the institution reconstructs collective memory through interdisciplinary initiatives. Its core approach offers innovative readings of historical traces and remnants through the lens of contemporary art and documentation. Archival projects derive vitality from documents that challenge temporal and existential frameworks of their original subjects, enabling alternative worldviews. Selection criteria prioritize socially sourced documents possessing aesthetic value and potential for transformation into artworks within contemporary art discourse—reflecting global currents that generate “living art” through “living documents.” This continuously expanding collection, encompassing artifacts...

A Library Worthy of a Prince: The Collection of Iʿtiżād al-Salṭana Qajar at the Sipahsālār Library

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In this article we scrutinize the process of founding of one of the prominent manuscript libraries in the Middle East, the Sipahsālār library in Tehran, in particular the circumstances of the creation of an endowment (waqf) for it, and the purchase of a massive private library of the Qajar prince Iʿtiżād al-Salṭana, by the waqf of the library. We will also discuss efforts to catalogue and organize the collections housed in the library, as it continued to grow. To draw a rudimentary picture of the make up of the collection and the special material it holds, we briefly introduce 25 manuscripts in the libray, categorized into different groups, to highlight certain features of the princely collection.

Paleography and Textual Editing Practices in Afghanistan During the 20th Century

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Textual editing has remained an underexplored area within literary studies in Afghanistan. This study investigates the knowledge of paleography and the editorial methods employed by several Afghan scholars, with the aim of clarifying the approaches to textual editing in the country during the 20th century. Drawing on bibliographies and indexes of articles from leading Afghan literary and historical periodicals such as Kābul (Kabul Literary Association), Āriānā (History association of Afghanistan), Zhwandūn (Ministry of Information and Culture), and Khorāsān (Dari Institute of Language and Literature), this study identifies and analyzes the editorial work of four prominent scholars: Khāl-Muḥammad Khastah, Sarwar Gūyā Iʻtimādī, ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf Fekrī Saljūqī, and Muḥammad Ḥusayn Behrūz. The findings reveal that Afghan text editors often faced considerable challenges, most notably limited and difficult access to manuscripts preserved in international libraries. As a result, they...

Keykāvūs Jahāndārī: A Key Figure in the Transition to Modern Librarianship in Iran, with a Focus on His Bibliographic and Iranological Contributions

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the multifaceted contributions of Keykāvūs Jahāndārī to the development of specialized Iranian and Islamic studies libraries in Iran. It highlights his pivotal role in collection development at key institutions, including the former Senate Library, the Farhang-e Iran Foundation Library, and the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia. Emphasizing his bibliographic expertise and translation work, the study explores how Jahāndārī enriched Iranological scholarship by acquiring rare resources and translating critical German language texts on Iranian history and culture. The article also discusses his ethical virtues, advocacy for the autonomy of specialized libraries, and enduring influence on library science and Iranian studies. Drawing on archival materials, interviews, and published tributes, this research sheds light on Jahāndārī’s legacy as a humble yet transformative figure whose work...

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Table of Contents

From Hamadan to Los Angeles; The Life and scientific legacy of Dr. Hooshang Ebrami from Shaping Iran’s Information Infrastructure and Founding Academic Librarianship to Cultural Activism in Immigration

Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hooshang Ebrami (1934–2003) was a foundational figure in modern librarianship in Iran, merging economics, social sciences, and library science. This study summarizes his career and assesses his impact on library education and practice in Iran and his later cultural contributions in the United States. Using a descriptive–analytical approach, the paper reviews Ebrami’s primary works (publications, theses, translations) and secondary sources (scholarly articles, archival records). Information was organized into education, professional appointments, and major publications. A historical-content analysis traced his evolving influence. Ebrami earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Tehran in 1956 and authored Sattar Khan: The National Commander (1973). At the Central Bank of Iran, he created its specialized library and promoted economic research. Supported by the bank, he completed an M.L.S. at the University of Pittsburgh under Andrew Osborne and a Ph.D. at the University...

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Table of Contents, Number 96, 2023-2024

Front Matter

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter, Issue Number 96, 2023-2024

Persepolis, 1960-1971: Material Culture, State Ideology, and Melancholic Contemplation on National Identity

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The ruins of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (559–330 BCE), are celebrated as a cultural heritage site and national monument in Iran. In 1971, these ruins became the setting for the Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire, orchestrated by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Pahlavi regime aimed to fabricate a monarchical lineage that positioned the Pahlavi dynasty as the pinnacle of an uninterrupted historical continuum beginning with the Achaemenids and Cyrus the Great. The ceremonies featured a grandiose military parade with soldiers in historical costumes symbolically reenacting the
processions of foreign emissaries depicted on Persepolis' walls, emphasizing the glory and grandeur of Iran's imperial past and its uninterrupted history. Conversely, a decade earlier, Iranian filmmaker and poet Fereydoun Rahnema's short documentary captured Persepolis in a starkly different light,...

El-Ghobashy: Bread and Freedom: Egypt’s Revolutionary Situtation

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

El-Ghobashy: Bread and Freedom: Egypt’s Revolutionary Situtation (Sarp Kurgan)

MELA Business Meeting 2022

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

MELA Business Meeting

November 30, 2022

University of Denver

The Albert Nekimken Turkish Theater Collection: Censorship, Contentious Politics, and the Cold War Stage

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Turkish political theater of the 1960s-1970s was a genre that galvanized both its intellectual proponents and drew the ire of state authorities. Deeply marked by the work of Bertolt Brecht produced some half a century earlier, the stage became an important setting where the broader violence between far-left groups, far-right groups, and the government was recast in literary form. During his doctoral research on the influence of German Marxism on Turkish political theater, former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Albert Nekimken collected plays, works of theatrical criticism, periodicals, short stories, novels, and rare recordings of performances, among other materials. The Albert Nekimken Turkish Theater Collection, primarily composed of Nekimken’s research materials, began to grow as playwrights, intellectuals, and others contributed interviews or gifted materials to the young scholar in the mid-to-late 1970s. These works...

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mahdavi: The Myth of Middle East exceptionalism: Unfinished Social Movements

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mahdavi: The Myth of Middle East exceptionalism: Unfinished Social Movements (Shahrzad Khosrowpour)

Editor's note

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Editor's note on MELA Notes 96 (2023-2024)

Ahsan-Tirmizi: Pious Peripheries: Runaway women in post-Taliban Afghanistan

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Ahsan-Tirmizi: Pious Peripheries: Runaway women in post-Taliban Afghanistan (Shahrzad Khosrowpour)

Marr: Egypt at the Crossroads: Domestic Stability and Regional Role

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Marr: Egypt at the Crossroads: Domestic Stability and Regional Role (Kira Weiss)

Brookes: On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil’s Memoir of the Ottoman’s Palace, 1909-1912

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Brookes: On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil’s Memoir of the Ottoman’s Palace, 1909-1912 (Duygu Coşkuntuna)

Merhavy: National Symbols in Modern Iran: Identity, Ethnicity, and Collective Memory

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Merhavy: National Symbols in Modern Iran: Identity, Ethnicity, and Collective Memory (Sarp Kurgan)

MELA Business Meeting 2023

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

MELA Business Meeting

November 1st, 2023

McGill University

Shaikh & Seedat: The Women’s Khutbah Book, Contemporary Sermons on Spirituality and Justice From Around the World

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Shaikh & Seedat: The Women’s Khutbah Book, Contemporary Sermons on Spirituality and Justice From Around the World (Soodeh Mansouri)

Fahmy: In Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Fahmy: In Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt (Samin Rashidbeigi)

Renaming (and Reshaping) The University of Edinburgh’s “Oriental” Manuscript Collection

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The University of Edinburgh holds a substantial collection of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and South Asian languages, formerly known as the “Oriental Manuscript Collection”. This article reports recent steps taken to make this collection, which consists largely of manuscripts collected by Scottish East India Company officials between the late 18th and mid 19th centuries C.E, relevant to the present day global audience, and to widen access to it. This includes its renaming as "Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia", and the creation of a digitally searchable catalogue on the ArchivesSpace platform, largely through the use of “legacy data” from a 1925 printed catalogue, yet with a focus on making provenance information readily available. We discuss the challenges involved in renaming, and indeed reinterpreting, a historical collection whilst adhering to the principles of archival and library science. We share the methodology used to create our digitally...

Recent melanotes items

Editor's Note

Middle East Studies Beyond the Middle East Archive – Promises, Predicaments and Practices of MENA research in Western Governmental Archives

From Court to Archive: The Mughal Imperial Library and the Institutional Afterlife of ʿArafāt al-ʿĀshiqīn

Strategic Preservation of Rare Books in Iranian Libraries: Toward a Context-Sensitive Policy Framework

A Tradition of Stewardship: Documenting and Promoting Egyptian and Regional Heritage at the Rare Books and Special Collections Library, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

Muḥammad Ramaẓānī: A Bridge for the Transmission and Continuity of Written Heritage in the Transition from the Qajar to the Pahlavi Era

Solidarity Across Shelves: Children's Literature, Archives, and the Hijabi Librarians' Collective

Frontmatter #97, 2025

Archiving of Persian Classical Music in the Past Century

Nasser Bakhshi’s Museum-Archive: Excavating the Hidden Layers of Memory

A Library Worthy of a Prince: The Collection of Iʿtiżād al-Salṭana Qajar at the Sipahsālār Library

Paleography and Textual Editing Practices in Afghanistan During the 20th Century

Keykāvūs Jahāndārī: A Key Figure in the Transition to Modern Librarianship in Iran, with a Focus on His Bibliographic and Iranological Contributions

Table of Contents

From Hamadan to Los Angeles; The Life and scientific legacy of Dr. Hooshang Ebrami from Shaping Iran’s Information Infrastructure and Founding Academic Librarianship to Cultural Activism in Immigration

Table of Contents

Front Matter

Persepolis, 1960-1971: Material Culture, State Ideology, and Melancholic Contemplation on National Identity

El-Ghobashy: Bread and Freedom: Egypt’s Revolutionary Situtation

MELA Business Meeting 2022

The Albert Nekimken Turkish Theater Collection: Censorship, Contentious Politics, and the Cold War Stage

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Mahdavi: The Myth of Middle East exceptionalism: Unfinished Social Movements

Editor's note

Ahsan-Tirmizi: Pious Peripheries: Runaway women in post-Taliban Afghanistan

Marr: Egypt at the Crossroads: Domestic Stability and Regional Role

Brookes: On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil’s Memoir of the Ottoman’s Palace, 1909-1912

Merhavy: National Symbols in Modern Iran: Identity, Ethnicity, and Collective Memory

MELA Business Meeting 2023

Shaikh & Seedat: The Women’s Khutbah Book, Contemporary Sermons on Spirituality and Justice From Around the World

Fahmy: In Quest of Justice: Islamic Law and Forensic Medicine in Modern Egypt

Renaming (and Reshaping) The University of Edinburgh’s “Oriental” Manuscript Collection