Areas of the Near and Middle East covered

Subjects covered
Cultures,  religions, history, and languages of the Near and Middle East including North Africa. Islam in general.

Geographical definitions 
Western Asia: The Near and Middle East. Caucasus.
North Africa to the southern borders of Sahara. Sudan. Ethiopia. Eritrea. Somalia.
The Arabian Peninsula.
Islam: In addition to Western Asia also Central, South, South East and East Asia. Africa. Europe.

Philological definitions  
Hamitic languages: Berber (Kabylic, Tuareg).
Kartvelian languages: Georgian, Laz, Svan.
Semitic languages: Arabic, Old South Arabic, Aramaic of the C.E., Ethiopic (Amharic, Geez, Tigrê, Tigrinya).

Historical definitions 
Political history from ancient times to the present, in particular with a local and regional perspective. The history of culture in its widest sense.

Types of literature acquired
Texts and other source materials in all relevant Near Eastern languages. Scholarly works in the major Near Eastern languages as well as in Western languages (excluding Danish which is covered by the National Collections through legal deposit).

Types of documents acquired
Manuscripts, block prints, printed books (monographs, periodicals), microforms and audiovisual materials. Museum objects related to book production and the arts of the book.

Levels
Original texts of all genres aiming at balanced groups of texts relating mainly to religion and politics as well as complete bodies of literary work in prose, poetry and drama. The texts acquired are for scholarly use and do not necessarïly reflect the entire book production of the region in question or the preferences of modern day local readers. Texts translated from Western into Near Eastern languages are in general not acquired.

Priorities
Arabic is given highest priority, and the Arabic acquisitions aim at building up and maintaining a well-varied collection of wide scope offering source materials for research and study at all academical levels. In the minor languages central texts of typical genres are acquired as well as the essential reference works.