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Al-Ahram Digital Newspaper Archive Now Available

By AJ Robinson

The Washington University Libraries now have full access to the Al-Ahram Digital Newspaper Archive. Al-Ahram (translation: the Pyramids) is one of the longest-running newspapers in the Middle East and is among the most important Arabic language publications. It started as an independent newspaper in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1875 and was nationalized under President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1960. It continues to be considered the newspaper of record for Egypt, with headquarters in Cairo.

The archive is searchable with Arabic OCR of all obtainable issues from 1875-2018, with new content added annually. The newspaper was digitized as a part of the Global Press Archive project, of which Washington University is an alliance member. Among the titles digitized, several Middle Eastern and North African papers are also available open access. Do be aware that the Arabic OCR is not perfect and cannot be wholly relied upon for searching. Users are encouraged to use a variety of keywords and strategically browse across significant time periods.

For any questions or assistance, contact Islamic Studies librarian AJ Robinson.