- The digitizing of vintage photographs continues in archives and libraries around the world. Last year the New York Public Library digitized its photographic collections and posted them online. The photos in the Library's Dorot Jewish Division include hundreds of 19th Century pictures of Jerusalem and Palestine.
Below we post several of the pictures taken in the first years of photography by pioneers such as Félix Bonfils and Auguste Salzmann. The images were captured by their early cameras while the region was under Turkish role, and years before World War I, the emergence of the Arab nationalist movement, Theodore Herzl's Zionist movement, and the creation of the State of Israel.
Rare picture of Jews at the Western Wall, with signature of Félix Bonfils (NYPL Digital Gallery,1894). Most early
photos of this area were taken at ground level and did not show the tiny area where Jews were permitted to pray
Inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. Other collections possess this photograph, but few are of similar
quality and clarity. (NYPL Digital Gallery, circa 1870).
Another view of the inside of Jaffa Gate by Auguste Salzmann
(NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856)
Damascus Gate by Auguste Salzmann (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856)
Zion Gate, also known as David's Gate,
by Salzmann (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856)
Lions Gate, also known as St. Stephens Gate,
by Salzmann (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1856)
Jews praying at the Western Wall by Robertson, Beato & Co. (NYPL Digital Gallery, 1857)
Click on photographs to enlarge. Click on the captions to view the original pictures.
Responsible Archivists Preserve Their Photographic Treasures - DEC2
More Amazing Photos by Shlomo and Sonia Narinsky -- Jewish Photographers Exiled by the Turks, Swept Up by the Nazis
"A Vernomito (Yemenite) Jew in Jerusalem"
(Library of Congress, 1921) See also "A
Spanish Jew of Jerusalem"
"A Bedouin in his happy mood,"
(Library of Congress, 1921)
A rabbi and his grandson (Ynet News)
We first introduced our readers to the Narinskys' photographs in July 2013.
Last week we were contacted by Laurent Phillippe who introduced us to his Jewish post card blog which contains more photos taken by the Narinsky's. We're happy to present them here and to encourage readers to visit Phillippe's site.
To recap, Shlomo Narinsky was born in the Ukraine in 1885 and studied art in Moscow,
Paris and Berlin before moving to Palestine where he set up a studio. In 1916, Shlomo and his wife were exiled to Egypt by the Turkish rulers. They returned to the Land of Israel after the British captured the territory in 1918.
Jewish woman (Phillippe collection, 1921)
In 1932, the Narinskys opened a studio in Paris, but Shlomo was arrested when the Nazis captured France. He was later exchanged for a German spy caught in Palestine after the intercession of David Ben-Gurion and Yitzchak Ben-Zvi. The Narinskys returned to Israel, eventually moving to Haifa where Shlomo taught as a photography teacher. He died in 1960, relatively unknown.
Laurent Phillippe's collection also includes many vintage postcards/photographs of Jewish life a century ago in North Africa and Europe.
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Jewish village of Yavniel established in the Galilee in 1901 (Phillippe collection, 1921) 
Beneath Mt.Tabor in the Galilee (Phillippe collection, 1921) 0Add a comment
Golden Gate [Shaar HaRachamim in Hebrew] of Jerusalem's Old City (Oregon State University Archives) See more on
the Golden Gate here
We continue with more photos and original captions from the Oregon State University Archives. View Part 1 here. The captions provide a fascinating commentary on historical understanding of areas in the Holy Land a century ago, including a comment about "Jewish Zionists." The pictures are dated as "circa 1910."
View the Oregon State University Archives' complete collection here.
The Archives' captions appear in blue below.
Golden Gate image (above] description from historic lecture booklet: "The Golden Gate is in the East wall of the Haram or temple area. Ezekiel, the prophet, says that it was shut in his day and must not be opened for any man, "for the Lord, the God of Israel hath entered in by it , therefore it shall be shut." Ezekiel 44:1,2. Traditionally, this is the Beautiful Gate of Acts 3:2, but that gate was evidently much nearer to the Temple. But actually dates from the fifth or perhaps the seventh, Christian century. It was restored in 1892; it is still architecturally interesting from the inside, where a staircase ascends to the roof."
Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount of Jerusalem (Oregon State University Archives)
"One of the handsome southern approaches to the mosque of Omar, a Mohammedan temple of religion. The mosque is on the higher level. In the immediate foregrounds is one of the famous fountains of the Temple area, and men may be seen at their religious ablutions. When one reaches the approach it is necessary to rent slippers. They are always kept on hand for the purpose of entering the Mosque and are retained until the visitor finished not only the Mosque of Omar, but also the Mosque el-Aksa on the south end of the area. This is an act of reverence just as we would remove our hats when going into a church."
The interior of the Dome of the Rock (Oregon State University Archives) Note how the crevices of the Rock are
deeper than those seen in other photos of the surface."This rock has been regarded as sacred from the earliest times. Long before the Hebrew occupation of Palestine [Editor's note:some 3,500 years ago], this striking formation led the ancients to view this as a Holy mount. Its length is about 58 feet, the breadth nearly 52 feet. It extends above the surrounding pavement from four to six and half feet. Here on Mount Moriah, which is called also Zion, Abraham was about to offer Isaac. Here by the threshing-floor of Araunsh, David saw the destroying angel. Here also Solomen [sic] built the temple, but this rock was not within it as it is within the Mosque. It is probable that the altar of sacrifice stood on the rock.The interior of the Mosque, which is an octagon with sides 66 feet 7 inches in length, is 174 feet in diameter. It is divided by its two series of supports into three concentric parts. The pillars were all taken from older buildings. An inscription in the oldest Arabic character, Cufic, records that "Adballah el-Iman el-Melik, prince of the faithful erected this dome in the year 72-692 A.D.["] It is in the Arabian style."
Safed [Tzfat in Hebrew], holy Jewish city in the Galilee (Oregon State University Archives)
See more on Safed here
"About ten miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee on a very high hill (2,749 feet) of the ancient province of Galilee, is situated the city of Safed, which is thought by some to be the city referred to by Jesus in His sermon on the mount (Matt 5:14).[Editor's note: There is little archaeological evidence of Safed's existence as a population center at the time of the Second Temple.]You remember the words of our Lord to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount? "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." He may have pointed to this very hill and this very city, now known as Safed, in northern Galilee. Although no place having this location is named in the Bible, it is probable that in Christ's day, a city was standing on this hill, for in the New Testament period, this land was densely populated. Safed stands as a landmark, seen in every direction, and well illustrated the words of Jesus regarding the prominence of his disciples in the world."
Christian pilgrims on their way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem (Oregon State University Archives)
"This picture is taken along the Jericho road looking west toward Jerusalem. The subject of the picture "Pilgrims" is one that has its place in all histories of religion. The present motley crowd is made up of a number of nationalities, but the majority are Russians. These have already been to the Jordon at their reputed places of the baptism of Jesus. and are now returning to the Holy City to partake in the festivities around the Holy Sepulchre which takes place at Easter."
Christian Street in Jerusalem's Old City (Oregon State University Archives)
Image description from historic lecture booklet: "Christian Street is a thoroughfare running north and south ending at David Street. It is by far the cleanest street in all Jerusalem. There is a new "Jerusalem" now being built by the Jewish Zionists, who are settling in Palestine in great numbers. They are establishing a university and are spending millions of dollars in modernizing the city and whole region."
The serpentine road between Jerusalem and Jaffa (Oregon State University Archives)
"A good macadamized road extends from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The section of road in the picture with its serpentine windings is six or eight miles from Jerusalem."
Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original picture.
View the Oregon State University Archives' complete collection here.1View comments
- NOV27
Century-Old Photos Revealed by Oregon State University, Part 1. The Collection Includes an Interesting Historical Commentary
Rachel's Tomb (circa 1910) Note the camels and carriages. (Oregon State University Archives)
Oregon State University has an unusual collection of 100+ year old photographs of Palestine -- not necessarily unusual because of the photographs, which are exceptional, but also because of the historic narration provided to most of the pictures.
The "historic lecture booklet" referenced in many of the captions, explains Trevor Sandgathe, the Public Services Coordinator of OSU's Special Collections & Archives Research Center, "is a 60-page document containing captions for each of the images in this particular set of lantern slides. The booklet was for internal use and therefore unpublished."
Tiberias (circa 1910, Oregon State University Archives)
We provide here a first set of OSU's pictures and the original captions (in blue).
"Tiberias ... is on the western shore of the lake of Galilee about seven miles from its southern end. The lake lies 627 feet below the level of the Mediterranean; the city is on a plain a few feet above the lake. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Tiberias became the seat of many Jewish schools. Here the Mishna was complied [sic] and published about A.D. 220, and the Palestinian Talmud about 420. Here the vowel points were added to the Hebrew Bible about 600 A.D. Of its present population of 4,000 two-thirds are Jews."
"Leaving the temple area by the Cotton Gate, a turn to the left will bring one to the wailing place of the Jews which is a portion of the western wall of the temple area.
The Jews' Wailing Place- Outer Wall of Temple (circa 1910,
Oregon State University Archives)The figures leaning against the weather-beaten wall, shedding tears, present a touching scene. Some professionals come to mourn for others, whose business detains them, but one old woman was actually bathing the walls and flagstones below with hot tears. On a Friday afternoon or a Saturday morning, great throngs of Jews may be seen here all unconscious of the presence and clicking of cameras. This is as close to the temple area as the Jews ever go, for none of them wish to commit the enormous sin of treading upon the Holy of Hollies. As nearly as the Middle Ages, probably, the Jews came hither to wail. They are free to do so now, but in ages past they had to pay large sums for this privilege."
Jaffa Gate (prior to 1908 when a clock tower was built at the gate, post-1898
when the wall was breached to build this road (circa 1910,
Oregon State University Archives) More pictures of Jaffa Gate here"The Jaffa gate is the only gate on the western side of Jerusalem. It is so called because through it passes the road and the traffic to and from Jaffa.It is one of eight gates in the city wall, of which one, the golden Gate, had long been walled up. the Jaffa gate is called by the Moslem, Bab el-Khalil, that is Gate of the Friend (of God) - Abraham, because from this gate is the road to Hebron where Abraham lived.The scene is liveliest on Sunday, and on Friday --- the holy day of the Mohammedans. Then the Jaffa road appears as the principal promenade of the natives."
Responsible Archivists Preserve Their Photographic Treasures
"Beer-Sheba (the wall [sic] of seven) is the name of one of the oldest towns in Palestine. It is the most southern city of Palestine. Here are found seven wells, two large ones and five smaller ones called Abraham's wells.
Abraham's Well, Beer Sheba (circa 1910, Oregon State University Archives)
The wells of Beer Sheba were a strategic location during the battles of
World War I. Read more herePerhaps no other name is better known in Palestine than is Beer-Sheba. It was first assigned to Judah and afterwards to Simeon (Josh. 15:28, 19;2) On the return from Exile, Beer-Sheba was again peopled by Jews. In Roman times Beer-Sheba was a very large village with a garrison. It was the seat of a bishopric in the early Christian times before the country was conquered by the Muslims."
Next: Oregon State University Collection, Part 20Add a comment
Research by this publication indicates that in recent years libraries and archives around the world have begun to digitize the vintage photographs stored in their files and basements for many decades.
Prayers at the Western Wall. What's unusual about
the photo?
Besides the vast Library of Congress digitized collection that we have extensively focused on,Israel Daily Picture has also published historic digitized photos from -- New York Public Library
- Harvard Library
- Emory University Library
- Dundee (Scotland) Medical School Archives
- Private family collections, including the "Cigarbox Collection,"
- Oregon State University
- Getty Collection
- Chatham University Archives
- Palestine Exploration Fund
In future weeks we will present more essays and incredible photographs from the collections of a European church and two U.S. university archives. We are in the process of securing permission from the archivists and librarians before we publish them, and we are searching for more such collections.
A Jerusalem synagogue. What was its fate?
We thank the librarians and archivists who have already digitized their collections and granted us permission to post their photographs. As our million visitors can testify, the photographs will be viewed around the world.
We provide credits and links in all future postings. For now, we present two "coming attraction" teasers.Enter your email address in the right column and receive our postings by email.0Add a comment
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
19th Century Photos of Jerusalem Now Digitized by New York Public Library - picture a day
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