150-Year-Old Pictures Released for Online Viewers <br> <small>Thank You Library of Congress for Responding to Our Request

Thursday, November 15, 2012

150-Year-Old Pictures Released for Online Viewers
Thank You Library of Congress for Responding to Our Request

The "Golden Gate," also known as Sha'ar
HaRachamim. On the other side of the wall is
the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock
(1865) View Golden Gate feature here

The Library of Congress has an amazing archive of antique photographs, including the 22,000 pictures taken by the American Colony Photographic Department in Jerusalem. It also contains photos by photographic pioneers and explorers who visited the Holy Land in the second half of the 19th century.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Click on the captions to see the originals.

Panoramic view of Jerusalem, taken from the Hill of Evil Counsel - Abu Tur (1865)

One explorer was Captain Charles Wilson of the British Ordnance Survey and the Palestine Exploration Fund. Two of the pictures taken by Wilson's photographer, Sgt. J. M. McDonald, are available in the Library of Congress archives for researchers, but they had never been digitalized and made available on the Internet.

Israel Daily Picture requested that the Library remove copyright restrictions on the 147-year-old photos. The pictures were posted on the Internet this week and appear here. The Library's site allows visitors to enlarge the photographs to see amazing details, in these cases more than 12 MB in size.

Other photos from Wilson's expedition appear in the Palestine Exploration Fund's gallery, and one picture of the Haram el-Sharif/Temple Mount and Western Wall appears here.

Panoramic view of Haram el-Sharif/Temple Mount and Western Wall (Credit: Palestine Exploration Fund, 1865)

1 comment:

shlomaNovember 18, 2012 at 9:34 PM
please see
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?s=3&sType=Rel&rCol=The%2520Middle%2520East%2520in%2520Early%2520Prints%2520and%252E%252E%252E&r=12fhj&rDiv=Dorot%2520Jewish%2520Division&rOper=2&submit.x=6&submit.y=8
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About the Book

U.S. Interests in the Holy Land

Although Jewish life in the Holy Land reawakened during the 19th century, photographs of Jews in Palestine and the life they lived there are scarce. Collecting photographs from the archives of the the Library of Congress, the Ottoman Imperial Archives, the New York Public Library, libraries in universities and churches around the world, and in families’ albums, Lenny Ben-David provides a unique and visual history of the American fascination and dedication to a Jewish national home in the Holy Land.

Photo essays include fascinating stories such as why Lincoln wanted to visit Jerusalem, how the U.S. Navy saved the Jews of Palestine in 1915, why the Chief Rabbi of Palestine visited the White House in 1924, why there was a Ferris wheel on the holy Temple Mount, Mark Twain's stay in Jerusalem, and much more.

About the Author, Lenny Ben-David

Lenny Ben-David has been involved in the study and enhancement of U.S.-Israel relations for more than 40 years. He served as director of AIPAC's Israel office for 15 years, and is the author of Myths and Facts published in 1985 and 1989. Ben-David served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Israel's Embassy in Washington, D.C for three years, and consulted for foreign governments and other corporations.

Ben-David is the Director of Publications at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

He and his wife reside in Efrat, Israel, where they are surrounded by children, grandchildren, and fruit trees.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

150-Year-Old Pictures Released for Online Viewers Thank You Library of Congress for Responding to Our Request

1 comment:

150-Year-Old Pictures Released for Online Viewers
Thank You Library of Congress for Responding to Our Request