Mystery Picture: A Fountain Found and a Windmill Disappears

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Mystery Picture: A Fountain Found and a Windmill Disappears Posted: 06 Apr 2015 Several excellent answers were received giving the location to our latest mystery picture. But where's the windmill? One caption in the Ottoman Archives labels this picture as the Ottoman Train Station Opening Ceremony. Another identifies it as the dedication of the Fountain in 1902. (Ottoman Imperial Archives) As pointed out by several readers, the location is the public sabil (public fountain) above the Braichat HaSultan (Sultan's Pool) valley outside of Jerusalem's Old City, on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The event is the public (re)dedication of the fountain, one of seven built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Simon provided a contemporary photo and this explanation:  It would be hard and dangerous to take a picture from the same location as today's mystery photo, because you would need to stand in the middle of a very busy road. In fact you would need to crouch down, because the level of the street has obviously risen since the photo was taken. This screen capture from Google Maps Street View is very close though: Mishkenot Sha'ananim, the arch of the drinking fountain at the end of Sultan's pool, and the Sephardic synagogue in Yemin Moshe can all be seen in both pictures. I'm not sure why the Montefiore windmill isn't visible in the old picture -- either it's behind the flag or it blends into the background. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see where the picture was doctored: the fancy pediment on top of the drinking fountain looks like a wooden attachment made at the time, not photo-doctoring. Google Street View picture of the site today. Note the windmill of Yemin Moshe Jonathan added:  Suleiman the Magnificent's fountain "sabil" on Hebron Road (technically the dam at the southern end of the Sultan's Pool). Built in 1536. The entablature above the sabil is not original and was added by the editor. Mishkenot Shaananim is in the background.  What's missing in the Ottoman picture? A whole windmill! The same dedication ceremony before the 114-year-old Ottoman version of "Photoshop"  (Harvard, Central Zionist Archives) Why was the windmill, built for the Jewish community in 1857, removed from the Ottoman picture?  Perhaps because the imposing structure overshadowed the fountain.  We thank Martin for this additional view of the fountain (below), taken from the Sultan's Pool. The hand-colored picture is from Chatham University's collection of Jerusalem pictures. The fountain is in the center of the dam beneath St. Andrew's Church and St. John's Eye Hospital (today the Mt. Zion Hotel) On the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (today's "Hebron Road") Note the fountain on the dam. (Hand colored. Chatham University)

Vintage Photos from Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley - Israel's History - a Picture a Day

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Funny, It Doesn't Look Like a Mountain or Hell -- Vintage Photos from Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley Posted: 05 Jan 2014  Original caption: "Mount Tabor, Palestine, Scene of Barake Caeup [sic]." In fact, it is the pool and cattle market in Jerusalem's Hinom Valley.  (Credit: Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography at UCR ARTSblock,  University of California, Riverside) The archives at the University of California - Riverside contains this picture, but clearly the caption "Mount Tabor" was wrong. This is a picture of "Gei Hinnom" (the Hinnom Valley) in Jerusalem, beneath the walls of the Old City.  Today, few residents or tourists know about the history of the area called "Breichat HaSultan (the Sultan's Pool), except for the occasional concert in the amphitheater.  As we researched the picture, however, we discovered that the pool and cattle market were the frequent focus of photographers a century ago.  The Hinom Valley - Breichat HaSultan  amphitheater today (Go Jerusalem) The Valley of Ben-Hinnom is mentioned repeatedly in the Bible, serving as a border between tribes of Judah and Benjamin. From biblical times it had an infamous reputation as the site of human sacrifices to Molech.  The evil perpetrated there made the name "Gei Hinnom," or Gehenna, synonymous with Hell. A dam was built across the valley, possibly at the time of the Second Temple, with a road on top that passed between Mt. Zion and the opposite hill (eventually Mishkenot HaSha'ananim). The reservoir created by the dam measured 169 meters by 67meters, with a depth of 12 meters. The road became one of the principle routes to Jerusalem from the south.  Suleiman the Magnificent built a sabil fountain on the dam, and it still exists today.   Photo of the Hinom Valley cattle market taken from the dam (Credit: Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of  Photography at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside) Suleiman's fountain on the dam (Library of Congress, circa 1937) Road to Jerusalem station showing the Hinnom Valley, the Sultan's Pool, and the sabil. (circa 1895)  (Library of Congress collection) A sheep market was located on the opposite side of Jerusalem's Old City at Herod's Gate, which can be viewed here. After the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the valley was a desolate no-man's zone between Jordan and Israel.  Cattle market (1900, Library of Congress, also in University of Toronto Thomas Fisher Rare Book  Library and the Arizona Historical Society  Library, Tempe) Sultan's pool. Note the buildings built on the right and behind the bridge/dam (Wikipedia Commons) Click on pictures to enlarge, click on captions to view the original picture. 

Jerusalem, Holy to All Religions. Responsible Archivists Are Digitizing their Vintage Pictures

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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The Chatham Library Photo Treasures Part 3, Jerusalem, Holy to All Religions. Responsible Archivists Are Digitizing their Vintage Pictures Beneath Robinson's arch on the western wall of the Temple Mt. complex  (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) The Chatham Library archives contains 110 photos of the Holy Land, but we have focused on the photos of Jerusalem.  We present today the third part of our series.    Reconstruction model of the Arch (Wikimedia Commons) We express our admiration and gratitude to the archivists at Chatham University for digitizing these hand-colored slides dating back to about 1890.   The picture of Robinson's Arch published above is the base of a massive arch built by King Herod.  Archaeologists believe it was the anchor for a large bridge or staircase from the top of the Temple Mount.  Map of Jerusalem (Chatham University Archives, circa 1895). Note the "Railroad Station" on the bottom left (in the photo below). The Jerusalem Train Station was completed in 1892. The Chatham collection also contains a map of Jerusalem.  Note that few buildings were to be found outside of the Old City walls. The Jerusalem Railroad station was completed in 1892, and can be located at the bottom left of the map.  The map, therefore, was printed after 1892. The reference to the train station can also date the following picture's caption.  The photograph was taken near the location of the Mt Zion Hotel of today, itself the refurbished St. John's Eye Hospital established in 1882. "Jerusalem - Road to the Station." The road starts at the Jaffa Gate and passes over the Hinom Valley and Sultan's Pool  (Chatham University Archives, circa 1895) The Mosque of Omar (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890).  The second mosque on the Temple Mount,  the al-Aqsa Mosque, is holier to Muslims than the Mosque of Omar, but 19th and early 20th century photographers focused much more on "the Dome of the Rock" Mosque of Omar  Inside the Dome of the Rock, Mosque of Omar (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890). The photo appears to be a colorization of a photo by Maison Bonfils. According to Jewish tradition, the rock is the foundation stone of the Jewish Temples. See more here. (Love For His People Editor's Note: I was inside the rock in 1989, when we were allowed. It is believed to be the rock on Mount Moriah where Abraham was to offer up his son Issac. Steve Martin) Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) (Love For His People Editor's Note: Notice the ladder on the 2nd floor above. It is still there! (as of Nov. 10, 2013 when we were last in Jerusalem.) It has now been there for 400 years we are told when we visit here.) Amidst the ancient Jewish graves are the tombs of "Absalom (from left to right), Zacharias  and James," in the Kidron Valley (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890)