Recent fieldwork at the vast desert region in north-eastern Jordan has revealed an immensely rich heritage of an area that is difficult to access and archaeologically less known. Professor Peter Akkermans was interviewed about his groundbreaking research in this area, known as the Black Desert.

The Jordan Times has interviewed Peter Akkermans about the damage done to the Early Islamic archaeological site of Khirbet Al Umari, Jordan.

The Ancient Worlds Network brings together staff and graduate students in LIAS working on the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world.

Archaeologist Victor Klinkenberg examined an old Assyrian settlement in Syria, near to the IS stronghold Raqqa. 'Social life was more important than military life.' PhD defence 27 October.

The Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO) annually awards the best theses on the Ancient Near East. The 2018 award went to archaeology student Giacomo Fontana for his MA thesis on automatic detection and extraction of Omani burial monuments in satellite images.

My NVICairo Experience - Marie Costers (MA student, University of Antwerp, NVIC student Spring 2025)

Understanding Late Neolithic Ceramic Containers from Upper Mesopotamia

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2023.

Research projects which are assisted by the NVIC in the field of Arabic studies.

Conference

Lecture, Global Histories of Knowledge Seminar

Until September 2016, Hannah Plug was Research Assistant for the Consolidating Empire Research Project under the direction of Dr. Bleda Düring. Now, she has just begun her new appointment at Liverpool University, UK. Here she tells all about it.

Lecture, Seventh Annual Austrian Studies Lecture

Lodewijk Petram, author of the book 'The World's First Stock Exchange', discussed the rise of the Amsterdam stock exchange in the 17th century in the ninth Hazelhoff Guest Lecture.

On Monday 11 December, human rights activist Ms. Wai Wai Nu delivered the seventh Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture on Human Rights at Leiden Law School. This events marked the annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, which was proclaimed in 1950 by the United Nations to…

On Monday 11 December, human rights activist Ms. Wai Wai Nu will deliver the seventh Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture on Human Rights at Leiden Law School. This events marks the annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, which was proclaimed in 1950 by the United Nations…

An overview of our exhibition catalogues and research monographs on the Middle Eastern collections.

The project seeks to come to an understanding of the archaeology of the desert and the ways in which its inhabitants engaged with their constraint, marginal environments through time. It compares and interprets site distribution and community organisation over a long time scale and across several different…

Religion, Philosophy, and the Pre-modern World

Rising geopolitical tensions are causing states and national elites to innovate their use of the past for present-day political ends. This is certainly true for the People’s Republic of China, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2024 amid mounting superpower rivalry, ideological tensions with the…

A new special issue on translation and the cultural Cold War sheds light on the understudied and yet important role of translation in cultural transfer.

The project aims at contributing to the safeguarding of Palestinian cultural heritage and the enhancement of economic situation through tourism development, by presenting and managing one of the most important archaeological resources, the archaeological site of Tell Balata.

At LUCIS we offer a varied programme of scholarly meetings (conferences, workshops) which reflect our multidisciplinary and comparative view on Islam and Muslim societies in past and present.

Explore the research of the Institute for Philosophy, organised into five centres that connect historical and systematic approaches to ethics, logic, and the history of ideas.

To be eligible for Global Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

In the master’s programme in Archaeology, you can follow courses on the archaeology of West Asia, deepening your understanding of this region’s fascinating past.

The Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Research) programme offers many extracurricular opportunities to enrich your study experience.

With knowledge of heritage we understand identity and appreciate diversity.

The Leiden–Birmingham Strategic Collaboration Fund provides support for colleagues from Leiden University and the University of Birmingham to undertake a research stay at one of the two partner institutions.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science with the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute.

In the depots of the Faculty of Archaeology, many artifacts, accumulated after decades of fieldwork across the world, are stored. A new project, the Leiden Inventory Depot (LID), aims to unlock this wealth of information to the outside world. Our Master’s students Sam Botan and Rishika Dhumal are currently…

Dr Bleda Düring deemed it was time for an archaeological approach on the imperialisation of Assyria. ‘While there are lot of archaeological studies of Assyrian sites, they are not really trying to address this broader picture of imperialism and how this imperialisation actually worked.’ These imperialisation…

Leiden researcher Ethan Mark has a mission, he explains in the alumni magazine Leidraad. He wants us to take off our Eurocentric glasses when we study the Second World War. We have focused on ourselves for far too long; after 75 years, it’s about time we listened to stories from the rest of the worl…

In the Faculty of Archaeology depots, many artefacts, accumulated after decades of fieldwork across the world are stored. The Leiden Inventory of the Depot (LID) project aims to unlock the door to this wealth of information. Elizabeth Hicks, a Research Master’s student at the Faculty, will be re-evaluating…

Osteoarchaeologists help forensic scientists solve crimes. They also study bone material from the Second World War in order to identify victims.

Shifting the Compass: Pluricontinental Connections in Dutch Colonial and Postcolonial Literature

The master's in Assyriology, a specialisation of the Classics and Ancient Civilizations programme, at Leiden University provides you with a multidisciplinary study of the languages, literatures and cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

Leiden University offers courses about papyri and papyrology for beginners and more advanced students (BA and MA), both based on texts in translation as well as in the original source languages, from Egyptian to Greek, Latin and Arabic.

This Global and Comparative Philosophy master’s programme is unique in Europe. It offers comparative perspectives from around the world that will enable you to be part of the next generation of thinkers: someone studying and shaping philosophy for a globalised 21st century.

Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your most memorable experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.