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.
The Chatham collection also contains a map of Jerusalem.
Map of Jerusalem (Chatham University Archives, circa 1895). Note the "Railroad
Sta" on the bottom left. The Jerusalem Train Station was completed in 1892.
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.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) 
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)
The Labor Party of Israel elected its new leader yesterday, MK Yitzchak "Buji" Herzog, a veteran Israeli politician.
Rabbi Isaac Herzog addressing a graduation ceremony at a flying school
at Lydda (Lod) airport in 1939 (Library of Congress)
Many observers of Israeli politics know that he is the son of the late President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, and Aura Herzog, the sister of Suzy, Abba Eban's widow.
Buji Herzog's lineage is also documented in these pictures from the Library of Congress' archives. His grandfather, Rabbi Isaac Herzog, was the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Ireland and Palestine (and after 1948, the Chief Rabbi of Israel). Rabbi Herzog succeeded Rabbi Avraham I. Kook. Today's new Labor Party leader was born a year after grandfather died and was given his name.
MK Herzog's grandmother, Sarah Herzog, "The Rabbanit," is pictured here leading a 1939 women's demonstration against the British "White Paper" which severely restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine, thereby slamming the door to Jews attempting to leave burning Europe. She (in the dark suite) is pictured with other "leading ladies" of the Jewish "Yishuv," Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi (right) and Ita Yellin. Rachel was married to Yitzchak Ben-Zvi, Israel's second president. Ita was married to Prof. David Yellin, a leading educator.
Rabbanit Herzog in the dark suit, between Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi (r)
and Ita Yellin (Library of Congress, 1939)
See an earlier posting on "The Rabbanit's" 1939demonstration here.0Add a comment
- NOV21
The Chatham Library Photo Treasures Part 2, the Walls & Gates of Jerusalem Responsible Archivists Are Digitizing their Vintage Pictures
Panorama of Jerusalem and the walls of the city. Note how few buildings were outside the walls of the Old City.
(Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) Click on pictures to enlargeThe Chatham University is not the only library to digitize their vintage pictures from Palestine. In recent weeks we have discovered newly-scanned collections at several more libraries and even a European church. We will present the collections in future postings.
The Chatham University Archives placed all 110 colored slides from the"Holy Land Lantern Slides"online, and in this posting we present a selection to focus on the collection's pictures of Jerusalem's walls and gates.
Another Jerusalem Panorama taken from Mt Scopus (Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) 
Jaffa Gate (Chatham University Archives circa 1890)
This picture of Jaffa Gate has been featured in previous postings when we found it in other collections.
We also determined that the photo was taken prior to 1898 because of a glimpse of the moat wall on the right side of the picture.
The wall was torn down and the moat filled in so that the Germany emperor's carriage could enter.
View other historical (black and white) pictures of the Damascus Gate at our previous posting.
Damascus Gate (Chatham University Archives)
There are no pictures of the Zion, Dung and Herod Gates of the Old City. The "New Gate" of the Old City, an entrance built for access into the Christian Quarter, was constructed in 1889, after the photographs were taken.
The "lions" carved on both sides of the gate are actually panthers, the symbol of the Mamluk Sultan Baybars (1223-1277). The panthers were believed to have been part of a Mamluki structure and placed at the gate by Suleiman to commemorate the Ottoman victory over the Mamluks in 1517. View an earlier posting on Lions Gate here.
Lions Gate, also known as St. Stephen's Gate (Chatham University Archives)
See our previous feature on Sha'ar Harachamim and the graves beneath it here.
The sealed Sha'ar Harachamim, or the Golden Gate, taken from Gethsemane Garden (Chatham University Archives)
Click on photos to enlarge. Click on the caption to view the original picture.
Next: Inside Jerusalem0Add a comment
- NOV19
Another Photographic Treasure Trove Discovered: 120-Year-Old Colored Slides from Chatham University, Part 1
The Western Wall in Jerusalem (hand-colored, Chatham University Archives, circa 1890) The photo's
caption reads "Jesus' Waiting Place." A case of bad handwriting? Other photographers of the time captioned
their pictures, "Jews' Wailing Place."
In the need for library and archival preservation, modern technology is certainly a friend of antiquity. Vintage photographs, some stored for over a century in old libraries, are now being digitized and often posted Online. Such is the case with this treasure of "Holy Land Lantern Slides" we found in Chatham University's archives.
Chatham University, a 150-year-old women's undergraduate school in Pittsburgh, digitized their slides in 2009. According to Rachel M. Grove Rohrbaugh, the school's archivist and public service librarian, "most of the slides roughly date to circa 1880-1900. We don’t have specific information on the photographer(s) or how they were used here at Chatham, but they were likely used for instruction in world history or cultural studies."
View of Hinom Valley in Jerusalem (Chatham University Archives, circa 1880). The photo, probably taken from
near the Jaffa Gate, shows the Montefiore windmill, built in 1858, and the Mishkenot Sha'anaim homes beneath it.
Are the blades of the windmill blurry because they were moving? That could provide a date for the photo: The
mill stopped turning in 1876.
We thank Chatham University Library for permission to publish these well-preserved hand-painted lantern slides.
Kerosene lanterns designed to
project slides (YouTube)
In the 1880s, before movies or electricity, pictures such as these were projected in front of classes or audiences using a kerosene-lit lamp fitted with special lenses.
The slides were produced by optical manufacturers who sold the lanterns. The makers of the Chatham slides were identified by Chatham's archivist as T.H McAllister Co. and Williams, Brown, and Earle, of New York and Philadelphia respectively.
Joseph's Tomb in Nablus (Shchem) (Chatham University Archives, circa 1880) 
Inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. The moat on the right of the picture indicates the picture was
taken prior to the 1898 arrival of the German emperor. when the moat was filled in. What does the large sign
at the end of the road read? (Chatham University Archives)
An enlargement of the picture shows a sign, "Mission to the Jews," inside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem.
German, Anglican, and Scottish Protestant church missionaries were very active in the Holy Land in the late 19th century.
At the time, this intersection of the Old City was probably one of the busiest ones in Jerusalem.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Click on the captions to view the originals.
Next: Part 2 of the Chatham Collection2View comments
E-zine #1 of the "Jews of Palestine" series
Editor's note: Israel Daily Picture now contains more than one thousand pictures and 350 photo essays on the Holy Land. We will continue to add more vintage photographs as more and more historic pictures are digitalized in the libraries and archives around the world.
We present today an "E-zine" experiment, an electronic magazine "Jews of Palestine" in which we group the publication around specific topics.Today's topic focuses on America's role in the life of the Jews of Palestine. Future E-zines will focus on World War I in Palestine, the synagogues of Jerusalem, Yemenite immigrants of the 19th century, the Gates of Jerusalem, Jewish holidays and festivals, Jewish industry, the building of the Jewish state, and more. The series will show the Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael years before Theodore Herzl's Zionist manifesto and well before the founding of the State of Israel.Here is our first edition. Please let us know your opinion in the comment section below.America and Palestine's Jews
Photographic History of American Involvement in the Holy Land 1850-1948
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
The Chatham Library Photo Treasures Part 3, Jerusalem, Holy to All Religions. Responsible Archivists Are Digitizing their Vintage Pictures - picture a day
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