It took an intrepid Victorian traveler to visit the lands of the Middle East beyond the luxurious hotels of Cairo or the dahabeahs of the Nile. Nor were Victorians always welcome in many of the Arab lands of the East. Fortunately, some Victorians did manage these more complicated journeys, giving us a variety of interesting pictures of the Middle East - views that are quite often far from politically correct by today's standards. Keep in mind as well that names and boundaries of many countries and cities have changed since these articles are written. This section looks at countries that aren't listed separately; see also Egypt, Morocco, Algeria & Tunis, Persia, Turkey, and "The Holy Land".

St. Sophia (Godey's, 1833)

Traveling in Arabia (Cassell's Family Paper, 1860)

A Visit to Aleppo (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Soiree at Aleppo (Godey's, 1863)

The Life of an Eastern Woman (Harper's Monthly, 1873A)

The Women of Damascus (Godey's, 1873)

El Gooffah, by A. Locher (St. Nicholas, 1875)

A type of Mesopotamian boat used on rivers, often as a ferry-boat; it looks like a rather large wicker basket.

Home Life in the East (Harper's Monthly, 1876B)

A Glimpse of Socotra, the Latest British Possession, by Eliza Clark (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Wanderers in Afghanistan, by R.D. Brown (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

An Armenian Girl's Betrothal and Marriage (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

[Sudan] The Land of the False Prophet, by Gen. R.E. Colston (Century Magazine, 1885A)

"In this paper I have endeavored to describe the Nile route which the British have selected for their line of advance, the country in which their operations must be carried on, and the warlike race they have to encounter."

A Photographer's Visit to Petra, by Edward L. Wilson (Century Magazine, 1886A)

Among the Kurds (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Overland from India, by Sir Donald MacKenzie Wallace (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

Traveling overland and by water from Bombay to Tehran, and finally to the Transcaspian Railway.

Is Islam the Gospel for the Orient? (Century Magazine, 1892A)

Jottings in Syria, by Sir George Thomas (English Illustrated Magazine, 1892A)

Through an Eastern Desert [the Sahara] on Foot, by E.A. Stearns (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Hanoum: A Mongrel of Stamboul (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

Medicine Among the Arabs, by R.A. Finn (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

The Armenian Question, by James Bryce (Century Magazine, 1896A)

A Personally Conducted Arrest in Constantinople, by F. Hopkinson Smith (Century Magazine, 1896A)

Some of the difficulties of traveling and sketching in Constantinople.

In the Desert with the Bedouin, by R. Talbot Kelly (Century Magazine, 1897A)

From London to Damascus (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

A Town Without a Woman (Athos, Macedonia) (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

The Sultan's Selamlik, by May Crommelin (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

A procession in Constantinople.

Outdoor Life in Stamboul [Istanbul], by L.M.J. Garnett (Good Words, 1902)

Wintering in the East, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

A Journey by the Way of the Philistines, by Mrs. Gray Hill (S. Sibthorp) (Windsor Magazine, 1903A)

Traveling through "The Little Desert" between Egypt and Syria.

See also

• Egypt

• Morocco, Algeria & Tunis

• Persia

• Turkey

• "The Holy Land"