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To Sinai by car. El Kossaima. Distant view looking eastward toward Ain Gedeirat

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To Sinai by car. El Kossaima. Distant view looking eastward toward Ain Gedeirat

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Title from: Catalogue of photographs & lantern slides ... [1936?].
Date from Matson LOT cards.
Photograph taken from the frontier centre of El Qusaima to the west, looking east and showing the spring and orchard of El Qusaima in centre-right and the administrative and residential buildings from the centre to centre-left, the outlet of Wadi El Qusaima (EL Qadeirat) of Ain El Qadeirat water spring in the background in the centre from a 6-8km distance, and the cone-shape summit of Gebel Khrasha above the orchard in the background in centre-right. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
The water springs of Muweilih, Qusaima, El Qadeirat and Qideis are located in the vicinity of Biblical Kadesh Barnea on the crossroad of the Nabatean Spice Route between Egypt and Arabia, Darb El Sherif (form El Shatt on the Gulf of Suez to El Qusaima) and Darb Ghaza to the west of the 1906 CE international boundary line between Sinai Peninsula (Egypt under the British Mandate) and the Negev Desert (Palestine under the Ottoman Empire). The latter three springs form the traditional region of Biblical Kadesh Barnea and are located on the eastern section of the Exodus Traditional Route, also known as the Way to the Hill-Country of the Amorites (or the Way to the Reed Sea) or the previously mentioned Darb Ghaza. Upper, Middle and Lower Paleolithic sites (38,000-22,000 BCE), Epi-Paleolithic (17,000-8,300 BCE), Late Neolithic (5,500-4,500 BCE), Bronze (2,925-? BCE), Iron (fortresses, 11th-6th centuries CE), Persian (5th-4th centuries CE), Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine (305 BCE-640 CE) and Nabatean (1st century CE) sites are scattered in the region in the valleys and plateaus surrounding the springs, namely from north to south: Wadi Wabsi, Wadi EL Sabha, Wadi El Qadeirat or El Qusaima, Wadi El Halufi, Wadi El 'Asli, Wadi Geisi, Wadi Umm Hashim, Wadi Bali'an and Wadi Qideis. 'Aazazma (? century CE) and Tarabien (16th century CE) tribes inhabit the region. El Qusaima (and El Kuntella in the south) acted as the administrative centres of east Sinai since 19th century CE. The first asphalt road along Darb El Sherif was constructed by the Egyptian Corps of Engineers in 1950-51 CE (and later extended to the east in 1956-58 CE). The construction of the Israeli settlement Kadesh Barnea was planned in 1977 CE during the occupation of Sinai Peninsula between 1967 and 1982 CE, and before the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979 CE . Terraced valleys are composed of consecutive terraces (Arabic: 'Agoum) built at right angle to the valley for water harvesting, with an average of 12-15m(rarely 40m) spacing and walls of 5-7 stone layers, average of 6-20m (rarely up to 40-50/200m) long, 2-2.5m thick and average of 60-80cm (rarely up to 1.8-2m) high. The elevation of the bottom of one dam and the tip of the next downstream are equivalent. The floodwater flows from one terrace to the next, trapping soil and water behind each to raise groundwater and moisture level in the soil (subsurface water), while allowing desert agriculture. Water reservoirs were introduced to store water in a later phase. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
Gift; Episcopal Home; 1978.

The G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection is a source of historical images of the Middle East. The majority of the images depict Palestine (present-day Israel and the West Bank) from 1898 to 1946. Most of the Library of Congress collection consists of over 23,000 glass and film photographic negatives and transparencies created by the American Colony Photo Department and its successor firm, the Matson Photo Service. The American Colony Photo Department in Jerusalem was one of several photo services operating in the Middle East before 1900. Catering primarily to the tourist trade, the American Colony and its competitors photographed holy sites, often including costumed actors recreating Biblical scenes. The firm’s photographers were residents of Palestine with knowledge of the land and people that gave them an advantage and made their coverage intimate and comprehensive. They documented Middle East culture, history, and political events from before World War I through the collapse of Ottoman rule, the British Mandate period, World War II, and the emergence of the State of Israel. The Matson Collection also includes images of people and locations in present-day Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey. Additionally, the firm produced photographs from an East African trip. The collection came to the Library of Congress between 1966 and 1981, through a series of gifts made by Eric Matson and his beneficiary, the Home for the Aged of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Los Angeles (now called the Kensington Episcopal Home).

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Date

1500 - 1600
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Library of Congress
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