WWI in Palestine and Sinai

Photographs show people and events in Palestine (present day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) and the Sinai (Egypt) during World War I. Album focuses on the activities of the Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian forces (the Central Powers). Images show military activities including campaigns, transportation, equipment, supplies, and camp life; military and government officials; and medical and relief activities of the Red Crescent Society and others. Album also includes photographs of the "Turkish official opening" of Beersheba before the war.

Album page image number 1-15 (p. 1-15): Photographs from 1914 to 1915 including: a portrait of Jamal Pasha (Cemal Paşa) Ottoman governor and Commander-in-Chief in Syria and Palestine, the Sherif of Medina (Ḥusayn ibn ʻAlī) speaking in Medina and arriving in Jerusalem, Zeki (Zaki) Bey, military commander of Jerusalem and staff, war recruiting in Tiberias, Ottoman army drilling and traveling to the Suez Canal, portrait of von Trümmer Pasha, the Camel Corps in the Sinai and Beersheba, American Red Cross workers and camp, troops at Katiah (Qatia), Austrian officers, "Kutchuk" Jamal Pasha (Cemal Paşa), Ottoman outposts at Kala'at el Nakhl and Bir Hassana, panorama of Hafir el Aujah, Red Crescent hospital and funeral of soldier at Hafir el Aujah, encampment at Asluj, and German station at Abou Angeileh.
Album page image number 16-28 (p. 16-30) : Photographs from 1916 including: military staff and hospital at Magdabah; the staff of Kress von Kressenstein, hospital, and camps at el Arish; Enver Pasha (Ottoman War Minister and Commander-in-Chief) visiting the Dome of the Rock and Salahiyeh school in Jerusalem, Colonel Coventry in Jerusalem, Arab Camel Corps, Yemenite chiefs, "Jamal Pasha II" (Cemal Paşa) inspecting Austrian troops in Jerusalem and Gaza, Austrian military hospital (Ratisbonne), Austrians at el Arish, portrait of Kress von Kressenstein (military advisor to Cemal Paşa and head of the "Desert Force"), von Kressenstein with Baron Lager (chief Austrian commander), Prince von Hobenlohe with von Kressenstein in automobile, von Kressenstein with aviator Felmy at Huj; German garden party, Jerusalem; and German military hospital and funeral.
Album page image number 29-42 (p. 31-45): Photographs mostly from 1916 to 1917 including: General Falkenhayn (commander of Ottoman forces in Palestine) visiting the Dome of the Rock; Falkenhayn, Jamal Pasha (Cemal Paşa), and others at train station; members of the Ottoman Parliament at Jericho, the Dead Sea and Gaza; soldiers who participated in the First and Second Battles of Gaza, the regimental standard presented to the defenders of Gaza, officials including Alie Akram Bey at the "Turkish official opening" of Beersheba before 1915; buildings, water reservoir, railroad, and parade for Enver Pasha in Beersheba; printing press of the "Showl" newspaper, military tailors and boot makers; hospital in Tell el-Sheria, and German hospital at Beit Hanun.

Album page image number 43-57 (p. 46-60): Photographs mostly from 1917 including: the headquarters of von Kressenstein and German aerodrome at Huj, bake ovens at Tell el-Sheria, soldiers eating in desert, railroad accident at Wady Sarar, laying pipe between Kuseineh and Ibu (1915); officer's "bivvies" (bivouacs) in desert, stretchers on camels, Red Crescent activities near Beersheba, Assad Bey (calvary commander) and staff, Turkish lancers and field ambulance at Beersheba, Turkish calvary at Wady Guzzeh, Izzat Pasha (Ahmet Izzet Paşa) Commander of the Caucasus Front arriving in Jerusalem, "Jamal Pasha II" leaving Jerusalem from railroad station, Prince Osman Fuad and Jamal Pasha (Cemal Paşa) at the Salahiyeh School, Jerusalem; Rauschan Bey and staff at the Nortre Dame de France and Plain of Rephaim, boat being towed to Dead Sea by horses, "Jamal Pasha II" with Abd el Rabham Bey and with Zeki Bey and children, aerial photograph of Jerusalem, Ottoman army camp near Jerusalem, last review of Jamal Pasha (Cemal Paşa) and von Kressenstein in Jerusalem, military spinners, Jerusalem; Red Crescent staff including nurses, surgeons; and Dr. Canaan and Dr. Nashat Bey at Russian Hospital.

Album page image number 58-68 (p. 61-72): Photographs mostly from 1917 including: benefit bazaar and theater performance to support the Red Crescent, the last celebration of the Sultan's birthday in Jerusalem, boats transporting grain on the Dead Sea, infantry and artillery lines north of Jerusalem, Marine signal staff near Nebi Samuel, Hassan Bey (Hasan Bek) of Jaffa and the Hassan Bek mosque, the last Nebi Musa celebration under the Ottomans, soldiers wounded at Nebi Samuel, British soldier captured at Mizpah, pre-war post offices in Jerusalem, Red Crescent staff including John D. Whiting and Grace Spafford Whiting.

Arrangement: Photographs arranged chronologically.
Image no. 25: (left to right) Dr. Joseph Attiyeh, Dr. Nemeh Nuch, Dr. Edwin St. John Ward and Dr. Vahan Kalbian. Image no. 27: (back row, center) Dr. Vahan Kalbian; (Second row, center ): Dr. Ward. (Source: "Photographic Memories: The Field Hospital of Hafir-el-Auja and U.S.- Ottoman Relations", Vichen V. Kalbian, Jerusalem Quarterly, vol. 63/64, 2015, p. 61.
Photographs were created by the photographers of the American Colony Photo Department, located in Jerusalem. Founded in the late 1890s by Elijah Meyers, the photo agency was headed during its heyday (ca. 1903-1933) by Lewis Larsson, whose staff photographers included Erik Lind, Lars Lind, Furman Baldwin, and G. Eric Matson. It transitioned into the Matson Photo Service around 1940, with photography by Matson, Hanna Safieh, Joseph H. Giries, and others. John D. Whiting contributed periodically to the work of both agencies. For more information see: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/matpchtml/matpcac.html .
Inscription on inside cover: "To dear Grace & John with all good wishes". Album was probably compiled by G. Eric and Edith Matson as a gift to John and Grace Whiting.
Album unpaginated, album page numbers supplied by Library staff. Pages 2, 20, 26, 38, and 72 are blank.
LOT title devised by Library staff.
John D. Whiting's diaries, correspondence, and other materials are located in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division (Papers of John D. Whiting).