Near & Middle East

The term Near East was coined in the 19th century when Westerners divided the “Orient” into three parts: the Near East, the Middle East, and the Far East. The Near East included the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans; the Middle East ranged between the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia; and the Far East encompassed Asian countries facing the Pacific Ocean. However, in the early 20th century (as Europe geared up for World War II), the term Middle East began to be used by the British military to refer to both regions and it soon became the dominant term. (Though for all intents and purposes, both Middle East and Near East refer to the same region when used today.)

Today, the Middle East is considered the region spanning from Morocco (Northern Africa) to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran (Western Asia). (The acronym MENA—Middle East and North Africa—may also be used.) While Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria seem like geographical outliers, their similar sentiment, religion, and policies have led them to be considered part of the region. Other countries, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan (in South Asia), are often lumped in with the Middle East because of current events, although they may not technically belong.

Both Near and Middle East are Eurocentric terms—it is Western English-speaking historians who named the region on the basis of its position relative to Europe. With recent trends to de-Westernize core education, the term Middle East seems a bit old-fashioned, but it's the best we have for now.

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Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan
by Michael Sullivan, Tony O'Brien
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
Annotated Arabian Nights
by Paulo Lemos Horta (editor), translated by Yasmine Seale
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$38.25
Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
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Arabian Nights
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Earle Goodenow, illustrator
from Grosset & Dunlap
Eastern Fairy Tales for 4th-8th grade
Arabian Nights
Calla Editions
by Rene Bull (Illustrator)
Reprint from Dover Publications
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Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
from Book League of America
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Arabian Nights - Two Volume Set
by Sir Richard Burton (translator), illustrated by Arthur Szyk
from Heritage Press
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Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Avyx, Inc.
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$5.60 (2 in stock)
Assyrian Empire's Three Attempts to Rule the World
from Baby Professor
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Atlas of the Islamic World
by Francis Robinson
from Facts On File
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel
World Landmark #62
by Joan Comay, illustrated with photographs
from Random House
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Centurion
by Leonard Wibberley
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Cleopatra VII
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Crusades: Flame of Islam
by Harold Lamb
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Crusades: Iron Men & Saints
by Harold Lamb
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Crusades: Iron Men & Saints
by Harold Lamb
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Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Mesopotamia
by Erica C. D. Hunter
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by Barbara Shook Hazen
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Dear and Glorious Pysician
by Taylor Caldwell
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DK Eyewitness: Bible Lands
DK Eyewitness Series
by Jonathan Tubb
1st edition from DK Publishing
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Early Islam
Great Ages of Man
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Exodus
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Fall of Constantinople
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by Bernadine Kielty, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
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Fight for Jerusalem
by Dore Gold
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First 3000 Years
by Charles B. Falls
from Viking Press
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First Civilizations
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by Giovanni Caselli
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Flood of Noah
by Bodie Hodge, Laura Welch
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Four Feet, Two Sandals
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Genesis: Finding Our Roots
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Habibi
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Heritage of Persia
by Richard N. Frye
First Ediition from World Publishing Company
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History of the Arab Peoples
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History of the Jews
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History of the Jews
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Holy Land in the Time of Jesus
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I Give You My Colt
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Ignatius of Antioch
Heroes of the Faith
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Israel
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First Edition from Dial Books for Young Readers
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Jerusalem, Jerusalem
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Jesus of Nazareth
World Landmark #42
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Justinian & Theodora
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King's Chessboard
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Librarian of Basra
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Life of Saint Paul
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by Harry Emerson Fosdick, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
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Listen to the Wind
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Marathon Looks on the Sea
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Erwin Schachner
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Masada
by Yigael Yadin
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Masada will Not Fall Again
by Sophie Greenspan, illustrated by Unada
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Master Books World History Encyclopedia Volume 1
by Nancy I. Sanders
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$33.99
Men of Athens
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Milton Johnson
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1963 Newbery Honor Book
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Monuments to Glory
by Daniel M. Madden, illustrated by Lili Réthi
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Myself When Young
Travel and Adventure Library for Young Folks
by Youel B. Mirza, illustrated by Theodore Nadejen
1930s printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
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Nasreen's Secret School
by Jeanette Winter
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Once the Hodja
by Alice Geer Kelsey, illustrated by Frank Dobias
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One Green Apple
by Eve Bunting
First Printing from Clarion Books
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Overview of the Persian Gulf War, 1990
by Earle Rice Jr.
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Peddler and the President
by Ann D. Koffsky; illustrated by Pedro Rodriguez
from Apples and Honey Press
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$15.26
People in Palestine
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
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Pharaoh's Boat
by David L. Weitzman
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Pharaoh's Boat
by David L. Weitzman
from Purple House Press
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Pia's Journey to the Holy Land
by Sven Gillsater, translated by Annabelle Macmillan
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 1
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 2
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 3
by Olive Beaupre Miller
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 5
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 6
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 7
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Picturesque Tale of Progress Volume 8
by Olive Beaupre Miller, Assisted by Harry Neal Baum
1949 Edition from Book House for Children
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Picturesque Tale of Progress: Conquests
by Olive Beaupre Miller
1935 Edition from Book House for Children
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Revolt in the Desert
by T. E. Lawrence
from George H. Doran Company
for 10th-12th grade
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Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
by J. C. Mardrus (French rendering from the Arabic), translated by E. Powys Mathers and illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
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Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
by John Yeoman (reteller), illustrated by Quentin Blake
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
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Shadows of Ghadames
by Joelle Stolz, translated from the French by Catherine Temerson
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Silent Music
by James Rumford
from Roaring Brook Press
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Sons of Sinbad
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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$35.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Crisis in the Gulf
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Leila Merrell Foster
from Children's Press
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Story of the Iran Hostage Crisis
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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Suleiman the Magnificent
International Collectors Library
by Harold Lamb
from International Collectors Library
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Tali's Jerusalem Scrapbook
by Sylvia Rouss, illustrated by Nancy Oppenheimer
from Pitspopany Press
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Tasting the Sky
by Ibtisam Barakat
Fifth Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Teacher of Nomad Land
by Daniel Nayeri
from Levine Querido
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2026 Newbery Honor Book
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$16.14
The Robe
by Lloyd C. Douglas, illustrated by Dean Cornwell
from Houghton Mifflin
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Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini
First Ed from Riverhead Books
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #03: Age of God-Kings
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TimeFrame #04: Barbarian Tides
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Unveiling the Kings of Israel
by David Down
from Master Books
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$27.99
Yankee Sails the Nile
by Irving and Electa Johnson
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Young People's Story of the Ancient World (No. 2)
by Virgil M. Hillyer & E. G. Huey
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