DAI - Library

History

With the establishment of the DAI's Damascus Branch in the 1980s, a library was set up on site at the institute. It is generally available to academics and interested laypersons. Since the end of 2011, the library of the Damascus Branch has not been accessible due to the war. Partial collections are currently located in the library of the Orient Department of the DAI in Berlin and can be viewed and used here.

Topics and Holdings

The primary collection areas of the Damascus Branch library are Near Eastern, Classical, Provincial Roman and Christian archaeology - each with a focus on the Levant. Publications from the field of Islamic archaeology and historical works complete this programme. The library holdings include all important publications on the archaeology of Syria and Jordan as well as the neighbouring Arab countries, both in European languages and in Arabic. With around 15,000 volumes and 13 ongoing journals, the branch library is one of the most important archaeological libraries in the region. The majority of the library's holdings are located in Damascus. A smaller part - around 800 volumes and some ongoing journals - is in the care of the DAI's Orient Department Library in Berlin.

iDAI.bibliography/ZENON is the central cataloguing system for our 16 libraries and all our publications. With its approx. 1.4 million data records, it is one of the world's most important bibliographic reference tools for ancient studies literature. At the same time, iDAI.bibliography is also used to index digitised prints from the 16th to 19th centuries, digitised trade journals and open access publications in the field of classical studies, as well as increasingly to record trade journals without an holding record, for example as a bibliographic record for linking with the iDAI.world systems.

Terms of Use

The Damascus Library is currently closed to the public. It has 25 reading stations and online workstations for internet research.

The holdings of the Damascus Branch Library in Berlin are accessible via the Orient Department Library during opening hours.

Borrowing
Borrowing is not allowed.

Scans / Copies
Scans and photocopies are unfortunately not possible.

Opening Hours

Damascus: The library is closed.

Berlin: see the main information page of the library of the Orient Department.

Contact

Dr. phil. Alexander Ahrens, M.A. (Bibliotheksleitung)
Wissenschaftlicher Referent
Podbielskiallee 69-71
14195 Berlin
Germany
Telefon: +49 30 55235761
E-Mail: Alexander.Ahrens@dainst.de