# The Weirdest Items in the Library of Congress | Muhannad Salhi

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518/the-weirdest-items-in-the-library-of-congress-muhannad-salhi.md
Podcast: [The afikra Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-afikra-podcast-1800518)
Published: 2026-05-18T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://afikra.simplecast.com/episodes/muhannad-salhi-v0SDhw6n
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Duration seconds: 4149

## Resource

Rare artifacts within the vast archives of the Library of Congress (LOC) represent a shift in how our region's history is fundamentally understood. Moving beyond traditional nationalist timelines, Arab World specialist in the African and Middle East division at the LOC, Dr. Muhannad Salhi, explores the transition of diverse items in the library's "Near East" collection, from 3000-year-old economic receipts to unique cultural fragments, into autonomous objects of study that define a global narrative. Reclaiming these stories serves as a resistance against regional erasure and the invisibility often felt in the global cultural landscape.

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