Scores of visitors attend open evening at new Middle Eastern Library
Over 200 people paid their first visit to the new Middle Eastern Library on a special open evening. As well as exploring the library, they got to see exhibitions, speed lectures and premieres about Leiden University’s Middle Eastern collections.
The event was held at the Middle Eastern Library in the equally new Herta Mohr building, part of the university’s Humanities Campus.
Highlights of Leiden collection
For visitors there was a pop-up exhibition with unique objects from the Middle East, including early photos from Egypt and a famous Arabic dictionary. They could also see highlights of the Leiden collections including The Book of Kings and the 11th-century Dioscurides Materia Medica.
Experts gave fascinating speed lectures about subjects ranging from Middle-Eastern biblical texts to ancient clay tablets and the works of Turkish writer Adalet Ağaoğlu.
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Explaining a special publication -
Visitors watch a video series about the Middle Eastern collections -
The new book about the UBL collections -
A tour of the new library -
Admiring the Leiden collection from close up -
Looking at special clay tablets
Video series about the Middle Eastern collections
The evening also featured the première of a new video series about the Middle Eastern collections and a documentary about restoring the Materia Medica. Between the lectures, visitors could enjoy a drink in the bar and purchase a new book about the collections: Prophets, Poets and Scholars.
Now an integral part of the University Library, the Middle Eastern Library is ready to play an important role in preserving and facilitating the study of Leiden’s impressive Middle Eastern collections.
Photos: Guus Janssen