The Netherlands Institute for the Near East (Dutch: ''Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten''; colloquially known by its abbreviation: NINO) is an institution for the advancement of the study of the

Ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. It is an independent foundation with close ties to

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

, housed at the Faculty of Humanities. The institute was founded in 1939. In 2017 the board of NINO decided to integrate the library into Leiden university and to transform the institute to a pure "research school".

Library

The NINO library holds ca. 50.000 titles (scientific books and journals) in the fields of

Assyriology Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , '' -logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

Near Eastern Archaeology Near Eastern archaeology is a regional branch of the wider, global discipline of archaeology. It refers generally to the excavation and study of artifacts and material culture of the Near East from antiquity to the recent past. Definition Th ...

and related fields. On 1 January 2018 the NINO library became part of

Leiden University Libraries Leiden University Libraries is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the developme ...

Publications and research

NINO publishes the journal ''Bibliotheca Orientalis'' and the annuary ''Anatolica''. Its current monograph series are ''PIHANS'', ''Egyptological Publications'' and ''Achaemenid History''. Fieldwork projects were and are carried out in Turkey, Syria and Iraq (survey and excavation in the Rania Plain, notably at

Tell Shemshara Tell may refer to: *Tell (archaeology), a type of archaeological site *Tell (name), a name used as a given name and a surname * Tell (poker), a subconscious behavior that can betray information to an observant opponent Arts, entertainment, and ...

Collections

The institute holds several collections, the best known of which is the De Liagre Böhl Collection, which incorporates the largest collection of

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

tablets in the Netherlands. Some highlights from the Böhl Collection are on display at the nearby National Museum of Antiquities. NINODeLiagreBohlLB1321.jpg, Clay tablet from the library of

Assurbanipal Ashurbanipal ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne a ...

Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...

(De Liagre Böhl Collection) Emily Ruete (Sayyida Salme), Princess of Zanzibar.jpg, Emily Ruete/Sayyida Salma (Saïd Ruete Collection) NINOFrankScholten043.jpg, Photograph of Palestine, ca. 1921 (Frank Scholten Collection)

Subsidiary institute in Turkey

Founded in 1958, the ''Nederlands Instituut in Turkije'' (NIT) is NINO's subsidiary institute in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

References

External links