Browse Primary Sources

Map of Ichan Qala

This type of image is known as a map. Represented on this paper is the old, walled city that forms a part of the larger, contemporary city of Khiva, Uzebekistan. This image covers one half of one side of the page of the map. Looking at it closely tells us as much about contemporary material culture as it does about the old city that it represents.

Barada Panel in Great Mosque in Damascus

The panel shown here is five meters (16.7 feet) above ground level on the wall in the courtyard of the Great Mosque in Damascus. The original image is created in mosaic technique. Choosing to execute an image in mosaic involves setting thousands of small pieces of glass, ceramic, or stone into mortar.

Egyptian Mummy Coffin

The same image can be valued differently over time and in different cultures. Take, for example, the long journey in time and space of images and hieroglyphic writing that cover the surfaces of the coffins of mummies from Egypt.

Apollo 11 Moonwalk

Look at this famous photograph of the July 1969 moon landing. When we look at an image like this, historians ask not only what the image shows us, but also how the image was used and how various audiences reacted to it. On the one hand, the photograph itself represented a triumph of technology. Minimally speaking, U.S.

Women from Bohemia

This is a rare photograph of women from Bohemia. Information about women during this period is especially difficult for historians to uncover, and these sources can provide valuable insights into women’s daily lives.

This source is a part of the Analyzing Census Data methods module.

Excerpt of Le Fresne

Lais are short, poetic romances written during the Middle Ages in Western Europe. These stories were written and shared orally among nobility. Click on the image of writing to read an excerpt from the lai entitled Le Fresne. You also see an image of the author, Marie de France.

Interview with Sa’ida Jarallah

Read the excerpt on this page of an oral history interview taken by Professor Ellen Fleischmann. In it, Sa’ida Jarallah, one of the first Palestinian Muslim women to study abroad, discusses her life, especially the social and cultural aspects of growing up as a young woman in the 1930s.

Fundraising for Palestinian Families in Jerusalem

This is a photograph of Palestinian women activists, shedding light on the political experience of women in Palestine. The leadership of the movement ended up mostly being single women because most of the women involved in the movement were married, had family responsibilities.

De Tente en el Aire y Mulata, Albarrasado

This is a painting of a mulata woman selling fruit in New Spain (Mexico). Though there were large numbers of Africans and then Creole blacks and mulattoes in New Spain at this time, little information about them exists.

This source is a part of the Analyzing Inquisition Documents methods module.

Vulgarly Called the Wanton

This print is called Vulgarly called the Wanton and was created by the artist Utamaro in 1802. It portrays a woman engaged in frivolous or indulgent behavior, providing a sense of how people understood urban Japan during the Tokugawa period. Analyzing these rich images offers an important window into an increasingly complex urban world.

The Drunkard

This print, titled, The Drunkard, portrays a woman engaged in frivolous or indulgent behavior. It is a ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Tokugawa or Edo period in Japan (1600 to 1867) created by the artist Utamaro in 1802.

The Prophet Muhammad and A’isha

This is a depiction of A’isha, one of Muhammad’s wives. She was close to the Prophet and is the author of roughly 1,200 Hadith. Her involvement tells us something about the public role that some women played in the early Muslim community and the respect she was given.

Excerpts from the Hadith by A’isha

Hadith are reports about what the Prophet Muhammad said or thought. They provide Muslims with a sense of how Muhammad applied the guidelines of the Koran to daily life. They are based on the memories and stories of those who knew the Prophet and were recorded a few generations after his death.

Excerpt from Ledyard's Journal

This is an excerpt from John Ledyard’s journal of his travels along the North American coast in the late 18th century. Ledyard, born a British subject, became an American citizen after Independence. He traveled with the British explorer Captain Cook to Alaska, Siberia, and the Pacific Islands.

Excerpt from Memoirs by Catharina Schrader

This is a memoir written by a Protestant midwife, Catharina Schrader, who lived in Germany during the 1600s. It offers an important window into the daily lives and life cycles of non-elite women living in early modern Europe.

This source is a part of the Analyzing Personal Accounts methods module.

Excerpt from Memoirs by Glikl

The is a diary written by a Jewish merchant, Glikl of Hameln, a woman living in northern Germany in the 17th century.

An Ottoman “Bill of Rights”

This is an excerpt from an official proclamations by the government of the Ottoman Empire. It reflects an understanding by the ruling elites that some administrative reform was absolutely necessary to protect the state from further decay.

Gulhane Proclamation

This is an excerpt from an official proclamation by the government of the Ottoman Empire. The text is part of the Ottoman government’s response to internal and external demands for reform stemming from the growing weakness of the state.

People Reading the Gazette

This is an image of the reading public in 18th century France. This image can tell us about who read newspapers, how they read them, and how easy or difficult it was to access newspapers.

This source is a part of the Analyzing Newspapers methods module.

Mabo Song

This is a written representation of the music from the dance mabo, BaAka music is complex. It is polyphonic (many voices) and polyrhythmic (many rhythms). During a dance, participants engage in structured improvisation, knowing when and how to add or change a phrase or a beat and doing so in relation to others. The social and the aesthetic work together.