British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies

British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies The British Institute for Libyan & Northern African Studies (BILNAS), formerly the Society for Libyan Studies, is a British academic institute founded in 1969.

It fosters and develops links between British scholars and scholars in Libya and the region.

A BILNAS-sponsored event:“Critical Digital Archives: Travel, Translation, Transformation – A Hybrid Symposium on Archive...
09/09/2026

A BILNAS-sponsored event:

“Critical Digital Archives: Travel, Translation, Transformation – A Hybrid Symposium on Archives in and from the SWANA Region.”

📆 Thursday 21 – Friday 22nd January 2027, Senate House, London

📣 Call for Papers and Registration

This symposium aims to provide a forum for scholars, archivists, community and cultural organizations interested in critical approaches to digital archives containing materials from and about the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region.

In this space, archives have been historically imposed, looted, extracted, dispersed, destroyed, but also rescued, rebuilt and reinvented, pioneering practices of resistance, reparation and return that raise compelling ethical, theoretical and practical questions for scholars and stakeholders (Carbajal and Caswell, 2021; Ghaddar, 2025).

We are interested in digitisation as a transformative process that reshapes archival practices, knowledge production, and power relations.

For full details please follow this link to the Institute of Classical Studies website:

https://ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/critical-digital-archives-travel-translation-transformation

The deadline for submissions is: Wednesday 30 September 2026

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS Archives 📸 ‘Monument’ at Giado, in the Gebel Nafusa – a mountain range in the western Tripo...
08/09/2026

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS Archives

📸 ‘Monument’ at Giado, in the Gebel Nafusa – a mountain range in the western Tripolitania region of northwestern Libya – which was later dismantled.

© BILNAS Archive: Olwen Brogan Collection BILNAS D41/3/11/1/14
___

🗄 Would you like to explore the BILNAS Archives yourself? If so, visit us at our website for contact details and access information 👇

https://www.bilnas.org/resources/archive/

04/09/2026

What use do photographs have to archaeologists? During his 1911-191...

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS ArchivesAn unknown person carrying a ceramic jar, probably near Nalut, northwestern Libya, ...
31/08/2026

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS Archives

An unknown person carrying a ceramic jar, probably near Nalut, northwestern Libya, date unknown.

© BILNAS Archive: Olwen Brogan collection BILNAS D41/3/11/1/13

___

🗄 Would you like to explore the BILNAS Archives yourself? If so, visit us via our website for contact details and access information: https://www.bilnas.org/resources/archive/

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS Archives English poet Anthony Thwaite (AST) and Harry S? (HDS), in the Severan Basilica at ...
24/08/2026

🏛 Journey through the BILNAS Archives

English poet Anthony Thwaite (AST) and Harry S? (HDS), in the Severan Basilica at Lepcis Magna in 1950 or 1951.

© BILNAS Archive: Anthony Thwaite Collection on Leptis Magna and other sites BILNAS D57/1

___

📚 Interested in exploring the BILNAS Archive? If so, visit our website for contact details and access information:
https://www.bilnas.org/resources/archive/

🏛 📚 The BILNAS Library at SOAS The BILNAS General Secretary, Dr Victoria Leitch, went to renew her SOAS Library card thi...
21/08/2026

🏛 📚 The BILNAS Library at SOAS

The BILNAS General Secretary, Dr Victoria Leitch, went to renew her SOAS Library card this week, free thanks to membership of BILNAS.

BILNAS membership is just £30 per year; so why not join BILNAS today to take advantage of this valuable privilege – as membership of the SOAS library normally costs £200 per year!

The BILNAS Library is housed at SOAS, level D, stack 69. For more information you can visit the BILNAS website at: https://www.bilnas.org/resources/library/

We would love to hear about your SOAS Library research trips: send us your stories and pictures by email to [email protected] and we'll include them in the BILNAS Bulletin library feature.

📣 Congratulations to BILNAS Grant recipient Dr Serag El Hegazi, Lecturer in International Development and the Program Le...
11/08/2026

📣 Congratulations to BILNAS Grant recipient Dr Serag El Hegazi, Lecturer in International Development and the Program Leader for the MSc in Project Planning and Management at the University of Bradford, whose research project examines how Benghazi is being reconstructed following years of war, and what needs to be retained as the city is rebuilt.

We look forward to following the progress of his project "Reconstructing Urban Flow: Memory, Sacred Space, and Post-Conflict Design in Benghazi" which explores how "culture, collective memory and urban planning can contribute to the sustainable regeneration of post-conflict cities by bringing together local and international partners to develop evidence-based approaches to urban regeneration in Libya".

🏛 Amel Bensalim, PhD candidate in the Department of History from Princeton University, recently visited the BILNAS Archi...
27/07/2026

🏛 Amel Bensalim, PhD candidate in the Department of History from Princeton University, recently visited the BILNAS Archives to look at archeological maps and notes.

Her work on medieval environmental history in Ifriqiya spans the transition between Late Antiquity and the early medieval period, and the pioneering work of scholars at BILNAS has proven fundamental to her research.

While there, she examined the John B. Ward Perkins papers, Field Notes from Bir Scedeua, and photographs of sites and excavations from Sabratha and Jebel Nafusa. These sources will help her understand the patterns of habitation between urban and rural environments, and include valuable information on classical and late antique fortified farms, which will ultimately form an important foundation for understanding social and environmental history in the early and late medieval period.

Amel looks forward to working with the BILNAS Archive more in the future.

_____

🗄 Would you like to explore the BILNAS Archives? If so, visit our website for contact details and access information: https://www.bilnas.org/resources/archive/

📣 For those of you interested in Egypt’s western desert, BILNAS would like to share with you information on a conference...
20/07/2026

📣 For those of you interested in Egypt’s western desert, BILNAS would like to share with you information on a conference in Paris, an International Round Table, organised by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

"Rethinking Change: Egypt’s Western Desert Oases in Late Antiquity (mid-4th–mid-7th centuries CE) – Key Questions and Perspectives"

📆 Thursday 3 – Friday 4 September 2026

📍Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA) in Paris, France

💻 This conference will also be accessible online via Zoom

An interdisciplinary round table exploring the history of Egypt’s Western Desert oases in Late Antiquity (mid-4th–mid-7th centuries CE).

Bringing together international specialists in archaeology, history, papyrology, ceramic studies, religious studies, and related disciplines, the event will examine historical change, mobility, frontier dynamics, and religious developments in the area.

Discover the full programme here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YL3hrdHhORRW5fruY1ULfPCQYXTNHIDL/view

Register to attend online via Zoom here: https://pantheonsorbonne.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qSPK1PanSOyDQlvPgMUKWw #/registration

Address

BILNAS, C/o British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace
City Of Westminster
SW1Y5AH

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies:

Shortcuts

Share

Category