Summer School on the Study of Asian and Middle Eastern Manuscripts

The Summer School builds on the successful collaboration between the Gotha Research Library and the University of Nizwa, which was initiated as part of the exhibition “Manuscript Cultures from Nizwa to Gotha: Perspectives from the Past and Present”. The exhibition was on display at the University of Nizwa in spring 2025. An accompanying international workshop focused on the preservation of manuscripts, issues relating to digital archiving and innovative methods for documenting tangible cultural heritage.

This year’s Summer School is attended by employees and students from the University of Nizwa, as well as a participant selected by the Goethe-Institut for the Gulf Region in Abu Dhabi. They are working with the holdings of the Gotha Research Library, one of the largest collections of Arabic manuscripts in Germany.

Experts from various German institutions are introducing the participants to working with Arabic manuscripts as part of study sessions. The sessions explore practices relating to the reading, copying, ownership and collecting of manuscripts, as well as the historical contexts in which such activities took place. Another focus is on the transmission of knowledge through material culture. Participants will also have the opportunity to carry out small-scale historical research projects independently.

In addition to the study sessions, in which selected manuscripts and artefacts from the Gotha collections are presented and discussed, the programme includes evening lectures and cultural activities. In this way, the Summer School supports early-career researchers and embeds the study, preservation and dissemination of manuscript cultures within an international exchange.