Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Jerusalem Was Captured by the British 98 Years Ago. New Photos from the Ottoman Archives

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

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Jerusalem Was Captured by the British 98 Years Ago. New Photos from the Ottoman Archives Posted: 14 Dec 2015  "The End of Ottoman Rule in Jerusalem, December 9, 1917." Two cavalrymen from  the British forces hoisting a Turkish flag on their bayonets.  (Ottoman Imperial Archives) The latest batch of photographs released this week by the Ottoman Imperial Archives includes several treasures showing historical sites and events in Palestine. The picture above shows two cavalrymen from the British forces hoisting a Turkish flag on their bayonets.  The sergeants accepting the surrender of Jerusalem December 9, 1917 (Library of Congress) In the past, we featured several pictures found in the Library of Congress (LOC) and Monash University (Australia) archives showing the surrender of Jerusalem to the British forces in December 1917.  The LOC picture of two British sergeants accepting the surrender flag from Jerusalem officials (not Turkish officers) is one of the most iconic photographs of World War I in Palestine. The picture was taken by a photographer from the American Colony Photo Department; the flag was a sheet taken from an American Colony bed. The Monash archives provided a picture of Turkish soldiers hurrying into  the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem's Old City on December 9, 1917, "driven from the outlying hills by our men," the caption reads.  From the Old City they continued their retreat toward the Dead Sea.  But the photo was not very clear.  The Ottoman Archives photo below is so clear that viewers can see the writing on the building on the left, "Bezalel" in Hebrew and English. The Bezalel pavilion was built outside of the Jaffa Gate in 1912 to sell souvenirs and crafts made at the Bezalel Academy of Arts.  The structure was demolished in 1918 by the British. Turkish retreat from the Jerusalem hillsides on December 9, 1917. The Bezalel Pavilion is on the left.  (Ottoman Imperial Archives)

The Church of Ireland's Library Uncovered a Photographic Treasure 115 Years Old - Part 1 of 2

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

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The Church of Ireland's Library Uncovered a Photographic Treasure 115 Years Old Posted: 10 Dec 2013 01:12 AM PST What a treasure looks like. Boxes of lantern slides -- the precursor to  photographic slides and slide projectors In 2011, Rev. Stephen White brought to Dublin several old cardboard boxes found in the old Church of Ireland Killaloe deanery in Limerick.  He brought them to Dr. Susan Hood, the archivist for the Church of Ireland's Representative Church Body Library. Dr. Hood understood she had      Coming ashore at Jaffa Port (Credit: RCB Library, 1897). Note the     Turkish flag flying just received a photographic treasure: hundreds of century-old "lantern slides" of  sites in Ireland, India, and the Holy Land. Dr. Hood deserves credit for preserving the images, digitizing them last year and posting them on the RCB's homepage.   We thank her for granting us permission to publish the RCB photographs. Last year, Dr. Hood and BBC undertook an investigation into discovering the name of hitherto anonymous photographer.  They were able to identify him as David Brown, a soap manufacturer from Donaghmore who was also an amateur photographer.  In 1897 he joined a pilgrimage led by his brother in law, a Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. We present here Part 1 of the RCB Library Collection.   Click on pictures to enlarge.  Click on the caption to view the original.  Damascus Gate (Credit: RCB Library, 1897)  View inside Damascus Gate HERE View Herod's Gate HERE View Lions Gate HERE Jews praying at the Western "Wailing" Wall.  The day is a Sabbath or Jewish Festival since the men are wearing their Sabbath finery, including fur hats. The photograph is very unusual since in virtually all of the other 19th century pictures at the Wall men are not wearing their customary prayer shawls (talitot) perhaps because of a Jewish prohibition of carrying objects on the Sabbath, or because of the harassment of Muslim authorities.  (Credit: RCB Library, 1897) Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The man on the right is believed to be the photographer, David Brown. Note the Turkish soldier on duty inside the Church.  (Credit: RCB Library, 1897).  A Turkish soldier was also on guard in Joseph's Tomb in Shechem (Nablus). See below. Joseph's Tomb (Credit: RCB Library, 1897). Certain  pictures, such as this one, were almost obligatory to all visiting photographers assembling a travelogue. Turkish guard inside Joseph's Tomb (Library  of Congress 1900)        A "hides market," according to the RCB's Library caption, but no location is given. Actually, the photo is taken in Jerusalem at the entrance of the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Looming over the complex on the hill is the Tifferet Yisrael Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter  (Credit: RCB Library, 1897). The synagogue was destroyed along with the Jewish Quarter in 1948.