diff --git a/doc/usage/cmd/read.rst b/doc/usage/cmd/read.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..840846728fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/usage/cmd/read.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later:
+
+read and write commands
+=======================
+
+Synopsis
+--------
+
+::
+
+    read <interface> <dev[:part|#partname]> <addr> <blk#> <cnt>
+    write <interface> <dev[:part|#partname]> <addr> <blk#> <cnt>
+
+The read and write commands can be used for raw access to data in
+block devices (or partitions therein), i.e. without going through a
+file system.
+
+read
+----
+
+The block device is specified using the <interface> (e.g. "mmc") and
+<dev> parameters. If the block device has a partition table, one can
+optionally specify a partition number (using the :part syntax) or
+partition name (using the #partname syntax). The command then reads
+the <cnt> blocks of data starting at block number <blk#> of the given
+device/partition to the memory address <addr>.
+
+write
+-----
+
+The write command is completely equivalent to the read command, except
+of course that the transfer direction is reversed.
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+    # Read 2 MiB from partition 3 of mmc device 2 to $loadaddr
+    read mmc 2.3 $loadaddr 0 0x1000
+
+    # Read 16 MiB from the partition named 'kernel' of mmc device 1 to $loadaddr
+    read mmc 1#kernel $loadaddr 0 0x8000
+
+    # Write to the third sector of the partition named 'bootdata' of mmc device 0
+    write mmc 0#bootdata $loadaddr 2 1
diff --git a/doc/usage/cmd/write.rst b/doc/usage/cmd/write.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c16870d6dc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/usage/cmd/write.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later:
+
+write command
+=============
+
+See :doc:`read`.
diff --git a/doc/usage/index.rst b/doc/usage/index.rst
index ebf5eea9f8a..d01d38cbf9d 100644
--- a/doc/usage/index.rst
+++ b/doc/usage/index.rst
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ Shell commands
    cmd/printenv
    cmd/pstore
    cmd/qfw
+   cmd/read
    cmd/reset
    cmd/rng
    cmd/sbi
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ Shell commands
    cmd/ut
    cmd/wdt
    cmd/wget
+   cmd/write
    cmd/xxd
 
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