The historical Manuscripts and Archives Department of Sterling Library holds a number of important archive collections related to the Near East; primarily concerned with 19th & 20th century political & diplomatic history and missionary activities in the area. These include the Palestine Statehood papers, an important collection of posters and photographs on the Palestinian Intifadah (uprising) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Ghani Collection on 19th-century Iranian diplomacy, and papers relating to the Millspaugh Mission to Iran in 1943.

The Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library holds an impressive collection of Arabic and Islamic manuscripts. The Library has over 3,500 manuscripts in various subject areas such as Language and Literature, Theology, Biography, Philosophy, and Natural and Social Sciences.

Arabic MS Catalogues from Europe and North America in Yale Libraries
Most of the MS Catalogues are located in the Sterling Memorial Library. If an item is located at another Yale library, that library's name will appear before the manuscript number.