Oriental and Islamic Studies

The UB acquires literature on the entire spectrum of subjects in consultation with the Department of Oriental and Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Theology, primarily secondary literature in European languages,.

University Library contact:

Timo Blocksdorf

Suggest a book or other library resource if you believe we lack an important work. This list shows recently purchased media.

Electronic acquisitions

Databases, in particular:
Subject portals:
- Menalib - Middle East Virtual Library
Electronic journals
E-Books
Electronic theses of the University of Tübingen

Literature by subject

can be found in the University Library

in the Ammerbau reference holdings (non-circulating reference works) in the sections "islam", "nahost", "iran", "kauk", "turk" and "zas" (Central Asia)
in the Ammerbau journal display (non-circulating current journals) in the "orient" section

Other specialist information

Institutions and Organizations

Stock profile

The oriental disciplines

Arabic Studies
Semitic Studies
Iranian Studies
Turkology including Caucasian languages
Islamic Studies and
Area studies of the Near East including North Africa

occupied a special position at the University Library of Tübingen until the end of 1997, as they were maintained within the framework of the plan of collection focuses at German libraries, which was supported by the German Research Foundation. Since 1998, these subjects have continued as a special collection area at Halle University Library.

Specialist Information Services and Special Collection Areas at German libraries

The Tübingen UB continues to look after the very extensive stock of literature acquired up to that time and also acquires new literature as part of its obligations to the Orientalist subjects represented at the university.

This also includes

Jewish Studies with Hebrew,
Languages and Literatures of the Christian Orient (Byzantine Studies),

which were not included in the scope of the above-mentioned special subject collection.

The old holdings (acquisitions up to 1960) were arranged according to subject areas. The oriental languages and literatures are found in the following signature groups: "Ci IV" (Old Persian. Zend. Pehlevi), "Ci V" (New Persian. Kurdish. Afghan. Belujan), "Ci VI" (Phoenician. Moabitic), "Ci VII" (Hebrew. Rabbinic), "Ci VIII" (Aramaic. Mandrake), "Ci IX" (Arabic) and "Ci X" (Ethiopian). The regional literature can be found in "Fo XI" (Turkey), "Fo XX" (Near East) and partly "Fo XXIV" (Africa).

Although manuscripts are not acquired systematically, the library owns many Arabic and Persian manuscripts. Only a part of the manuscripts are catalogued in the library's own catalogs, another part was recorded in the project "Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland (VOHD)", a remainder has so far only been recorded in a handwritten inventory.

More about manuscripts at UB Tübingen...