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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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
Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$5.60 (2 in stock)
Assyrian Empire's Three Attempts to Rule the World
from Baby Professor
for 3rd-5th grade
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$28.89
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
from Van Kampen Press
for 7th-10th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Cleopatra VII
Royal Diaries
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
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Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Mesopotamia
by Erica C. D. Hunter
3rd edition from Facts On File
World History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Bible Lands
DK Eyewitness Series
by Jonathan Tubb
1st edition from DK Publishing
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Fight for Jerusalem
by Dore Gold
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Civilizations
History of Everyday Things
by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Flood of Noah
by Bodie Hodge, Laura Welch
from Master Books
for 5th-10th grade
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$15.99
Four Feet, Two Sandals
by Karen Lynn Williams, Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Doug Chayka
1st edition from Eerdmans
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Gifts of the Jews
by Thomas Cahill
from Nan A. Talese
for 9th-Adult
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$9.60 (1 in stock)
Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Habibi
by Naomi Shihab Nye
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
History of the Arab Peoples
by Albert Hourani
from Harvard University Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
I Give You My Colt
by Alice Geer Kelsey, illustrated by Helen Torrey
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
by James Carroll
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Justinian & Theodora
by Robert Browning
from Thames and Hudson
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Librarian of Basra
by Jeanette Winter
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Listen to the Wind
by Greg Mortenson
Fir from Dial Books for Young Readers
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Overview of the Persian Gulf War, 1990
by Earle Rice Jr.
from Mitchell Lane Publishers
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Peddler and the President
by Ann D. Koffsky; illustrated by Pedro Rodriguez
from Apples and Honey Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.26
Pharaoh's Boat
by David L. Weitzman
from Purple House Press
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$18.70
Pia's Journey to the Holy Land
by Sven Gillsater, translated by Annabelle Macmillan
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
by John Yeoman (reteller), illustrated by Quentin Blake
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Shadows of Ghadames
by Joelle Stolz, translated from the French by Catherine Temerson
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Sons of Sinbad
by Alan Villiers
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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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Story of the Iran Hostage Crisis
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tali's Jerusalem Scrapbook
by Sylvia Rouss, illustrated by Nancy Oppenheimer
from Pitspopany Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Teacher of Nomad Land
by Daniel Nayeri
from Levine Querido
for 4th-8th grade
2026 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.14
The Robe
by Lloyd C. Douglas, illustrated by Dean Cornwell
from Houghton Mifflin
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$5.20 (1 in stock)
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
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
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$3.00 (2 in stock)
TimeFrame #04: Barbarian Tides
from Time-Life Books
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Unveiling the Kings of Israel
by David Down
from Master Books
for 7th-12th grade
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$27.99
Yankee Sails the Nile
by Irving and Electa Johnson
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
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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
from Meredith Press
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$3.20 (1 in stock)