Jerusalem

1885 · rif. 13937 — 1885. American Colony Photo Department. Two views of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives circa 1898 to the early twentieth century document the city and surrounding cultivated landscape during the late Ottoman era. Photographed before extensive twentieth-century urban expansion transformed the slopes east of the Old City the images preserve olive groves roads scattered buildings and broad topographical relationships between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. They support research into the historical geography of Jerusalem Ottoman Palestine pilgrimage photography landscape change and the role of resident photographic studios in shaping international visual knowledge of the Holy Land. The American Colony Photo Department was established in Jerusalem in 1898 and became one of the region's important commercial photographic services producing views of sacred sites settlements people and contemporary events for tourists and a wider international audience. Albumen photographs circa 1898 to the early twentieth century each measuring approximately 10½ × 14 inches and mounted recto and verso on the same 14 × 20 inch card. The recto presents Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives with mature olive trees occupying the foreground and the densely built city extending across the distant horizon. Printed along the lower center is the bilingual caption "Jerusalem. from Mt. of Olives. Jerusalem du Mont de Oliviers." while the American Colony Jerusalem emblem appears within the trunk of an olive tree at lower right. The verso captioned "Mount Olivet" shifts attention away from the distant city to the Mount itself: a hill rises in the background above olive trees dispersed buildings and a network of intersecting unpaved roads. The American Colony Jerusalem emblem appears at lower left. Together the paired compositions record both the celebrated panoramic viewpoint and the agricultural architectural and transportation landscape surrounding it. The views belong to a commercial photographic tradition that served travelers and pilgrims while also creating a sustained visual record of Jerusalem and Palestine. Unlike photographers who visited the region briefly members of the American Colony lived and worked in Jerusalem and the department developed an extensive stock of images depicting the city and its environs; a 1914 catalogue documents the circulation of such views as part of the firm's early commercial inventory. The mount has slight warping while both albumen prints retain strong visual clarity with no substantial defects noted; photographs near fine mount very good. The unusually large two-sided presentation offers complementary evidence of Jerusalem's urban profile and the comparatively open Mount of Olives landscape before later development. unknown