My all-time favorite field guide of all time is Mullarney's guide to Europe.
It has great plates, lots of information, and is still small enough to carry
in the field. It has good coverage for the Middle East, and should serve you
well. Best of luck on your trip, somewhere on the list of the tragedies of
the Middle East is the fact that this wonderful region for birds is not
visited except for a few hardy souls.

Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jstephens62 at comcast.net