• The institute is working to digitise its holdings. David Degner for The National
    The institute is working to digitise its holdings. David Degner for The National
  • Adel Nabawy scans books from the collection. David Degner for The National
    Adel Nabawy scans books from the collection. David Degner for The National
  • The Dominican Fathers’ Priory in Cairo. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
    The Dominican Fathers’ Priory in Cairo. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
  • Friar Marie-Joseph Lagrange, seen in the foreground holding a cane, was the founder and director of the French Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem and came up with the idea of having a priory in Cairo. Friar Antonin J Jaussen is seen in the background in this 1932 picture of the Dominican Fathers’ Priory. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
    Friar Marie-Joseph Lagrange, seen in the foreground holding a cane, was the founder and director of the French Biblical and Archaeological School in Jerusalem and came up with the idea of having a priory in Cairo. Friar Antonin J Jaussen is seen in the background in this 1932 picture of the Dominican Fathers’ Priory. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
  • Friar Antonin J Jaussen, who in the early 20th century lived among the Bedouin tribes of Jordan, seen here with Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in this March 1917 photo. Jaussen built the priory in Cairo in 1931–32. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
    Friar Antonin J Jaussen, who in the early 20th century lived among the Bedouin tribes of Jordan, seen here with Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in this March 1917 photo. Jaussen built the priory in Cairo in 1931–32. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
  • Friar Jacques Jomier greets the Egyptian president Gamal Abd Al Nasser, in March 1969 shortly before the president's death in 1970. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
    Friar Jacques Jomier greets the Egyptian president Gamal Abd Al Nasser, in March 1969 shortly before the president's death in 1970. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
  • Born to a Greek Orthodox family in Alexandria, Friar Georges Chehata Anawati, served as director and later chairman of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies until his death in 1994. He authored 14 books and co-authored another 12 addressing subjects in Muslim theology, the history of medicine, and Christianity and Arabic culture. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
    Born to a Greek Orthodox family in Alexandria, Friar Georges Chehata Anawati, served as director and later chairman of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies until his death in 1994. He authored 14 books and co-authored another 12 addressing subjects in Muslim theology, the history of medicine, and Christianity and Arabic culture. Courtesy of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies
  • Friar Jean Druel, director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies. David Degner for The National
    Friar Jean Druel, director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies. David Degner for The National
  • A librarian pulls books off the shelf for patrons from a large room in the basement. David Degner for The National
    A librarian pulls books off the shelf for patrons from a large room in the basement. David Degner for The National

World

Inside one of the Middle East’s leading libraries in Cairo - in pictures

  • English
  • Arabic

A unique collection of classic Arabic texts can be found at the 155,000-volume research library of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies in the Cairo district of Abassiya. The institute’s collection of books evolved into one of the leading libraries of the Middle East in the field of Arabic and Islamic culture, drawing students from Al Azhar, the foremost seat of Sunni learning, and other institutions in Egypt and abroad.

Egypt