Abstract: Covers the Syrian coastline extending fifty miles north and south of Haifa and 120 miles inland. [Includes parts of present-day Jordan and the geographical region of Palestine.] Printed map sheet portrays hydrology, relief by spot heights and shading, depths by soundings, railways, roads and tracks, telegraphs, settlements, place names, places of worship and water sources. Bears the imprints 'Geographical Section, General Staff, No. 2321' and 'War Office, July, 1915. Corrections, Dec. 1916'. The map also bears the blocked-out imprint 'For official use only' together with details of commercial sales agents. A copy of this map is also held at Maps 48495.(27.). A copy of the map with the 'For official use only' imprint left visible and omitting the details of commercial sales agents is held at Maps MOD GSGS 2321.Manuscript additions portray the northern boundary of Mandatory Palestine with accompanying explanatory note, and also highlight several settlements.Creation end date derived from establishment of Mandatory Palestine.Verso bears the stamp 'Eastern Department' and the manuscript annotation 'Syria (Jaffa, Damascus) (1/250 000)'.Physical description: Materials: Printed in colour, with manuscript additions in pencil and crayonDimensions: 681 x 946mm, on sheet 762 x 1025mm
Abstract: The first of two oblong duodecimo volumes containing abbreviated notes recorded by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, during the course of a journey through Syria, Turkey and Iraq, from Damascus to Aleppo via Baghdad. The volume covers the period 9 February to 18 April 1911, covering Bell’s departure from Damascus to the vicinity of Dara, Turkey. The notes record: places passed or visited; times of arrival and departure; temperature and atmospheric pressure readings; some description of the topographic character of the places passed through; and a number Arabic aphorisms and inscriptions.The volume also includes:descriptions of architecture and mosaics in Damascus, including Malik ez Zahir [Az-Zahiriyah library] (ff 1-3)a plan of an unnamed and unidentified building (f 14v)five signatures, belonging to the German archaeologists Walter Andrae, Conrad Preusser, Walter Bachmann, Paul Maresch, and Julius Jordan (f 23)two profiles, with measurements indicated, of gate mouldings at Dara (f 32)Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with i, and terminates at the inside back cover with 33; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The file has two foliation anomalies f 25A, and f 32A.
Abstract: The second of two oblong duodecimo volumes containing abbreviated notes recorded by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, during the course of a journey through Syria, Turkey and Iraq, from Damascus to Aleppo via Baghdad. The volume covers the period 19 April to 23 May 1911, covering the journey from the vicinity of Dara, in Turkey, to Bell’s arrival in Aleppo. The notes record: places passed or visited; times of arrival and departure; temperature and atmospheric pressure readings; some description of the topographic character of the places passed through; and copies of Greek, Syriac, and Nabatean tomb inscriptions.The volume also includes:drawings depicting two anthropomorphic figures, possibly of stone carvings from a tomb at Kermati [Kayabali], above a drawing of three arches. All three drawings have dimensions indicated (ff 3v-4)Folios 25-37 are blank.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with i, and terminates at the inside back cover with 38; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Enclosure nos. 2-9 to a despatch from the Secret Department, Government of Bombay [Mumbai], dated 30 December 1844. The enclosures are dated 15 June-19 December 1844.The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to unavoidable delays to mail forwarded to Bagdad [Baghdad] via Alexandria and Damascus, and a suggestion that it should instead travel via Suez.The correspondents are: the British Consul, Alexandria; the Political Agent, Turkish Arabia; and the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (12 folios)
Abstract: Al-Durar wa-hiyya Muntakhabat al-Tayyib al-Zikr al-Khalid al-Athr (Pearls, or selections of fond memory and immortal imprint) is a memorial volume that collects the political and literary writing of the influential Arab nationalist Adib Ishaq (1856−85). Born in Damascus, Ishaq was a precocious youngster who received his formative education in Arabic and French at the French Lazarist school there and under the Jesuits in Beirut. His family’s strained circumstances forced him to leave school for work as a customs clerk. Excelling at languages, he supplemented his income by writing and translating and eventually dedicated himself to poetry, translation, and what today might be called advocacy journalism. He moved to Egypt in 1876, where he joined the circle of the well-known political agitator Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, whose Masonic interests he shared and to whose causes, such as criticism of Western imperialism, he devoted much of his writing. Singly or with like-minded colleagues, such as Salim Naqqash (with whom he produced Arabic plays), Ishaq established newspapers of opinion. His outspoken writings resulted in his being exiled from Egypt. He took up residency in Paris, but at the end of his life he returned to Lebanon, where he died at age 29. Ishaq’s restlessness as a traveler was matched by the variety of his literary and political interests. He collaborated with Naqqash in writing plays and wrote or translated novels. His novel Charlemagne is included in this set of readings, which was compiled by his brother, ‘Awni Ishaq. The volume contains a biography of Adib and numerous panegyrics to him by leading Muslim and Christian writers. The comprehensive selection of readings demonstrates his place in the evolution of Arabic letters and journalism from ornate poetry and rhymed prose to the modern political essay employing a wholly new format and lexicon.Physical description: 263 pages ; 26 centimeters
Abstract: This file consists almost entirely of letters received at the Residency in the Persian Gulf, Bushire. Most of the letters are addressed to the Acting Resident in the Persian Gulf; very few of these letters state the name of the Acting Resident; those that do include a name are addressed to Samuel Hennell.The principal correspondents in this file are the following: Edward M Wood, Secretary to Government, Marine Department, Bombay; John Pollard Willoughby, Secretary to Government, Political Department, Bombay; William Henry Wathen, Chief Secretary to Government, Political Department, Bombay; Charles Malcolm, Superintendent of the Indian Navy; John Pepper, Commander of the Indian Naval Squadron.Several of the letters include enclosed letters. For instance, some of Wood's letters contain copies of correspondence between the Government of Bombay and Charles Malcolm, Superintendent of the Indian Navy. These enclosed letters relate to new arrangements – proposed by the Resident, James Morrison – concerning the role of the Commodore's ship (previously almost permanently stationed at Bassadore [Bāsaʻīdū], but recently required, following Morrison's changes, to make regular trips throughout the Gulf). Malcolm objects to the changes and makes the case for having a station vessel at Bassadore.The letters from Wood and Willoughby respectively relay the approval, and in some cases, the instructions, of the Governor in Council, Sir Robert Grant, regarding the Resident's duties. Many of these letters concern the Resident's conduct in political affairs in the Gulf. For instance, one letter relates to a dispute between the Shaik of Kishm [Shaikh of Qeshm] and the Imaum [Imam] of Muscat [Sa‘īd bin Sulṭān Āl Bū Sa‘īd]. Other letters discuss more routine tasks, such as the forwarding of packets and the maintenance of the buildings under the Resident's charge.Other subjects discussed include: the maintenance and movements of Indian Navy ships, particularly in relation to the Euphrates Expedition, headed by Francis Rawdon Chesney; Malcolm's dismissal of the commander of the
Cyreneschooner for having shown extreme carelessness while in charge of that vessel, resulting in it running aground; arrangements – sanctioned by the Governor in Council –for the conveyance of mail between Mohammarah [Khorramshahr] and Damascus and Beirout [Beirut], using dromedaries and horses respectively; the reported tearing down of British colours by the French authorities at the Port of Bussora [Basra]; reported piratical activity in the neighbourhood of Adeed.The final letter in the file, which is from Willoughby, concerns instructions regarding the conduct of British officers when detached with troops of British allies. The letter contains two extracts from two separate letters from the Court of Directors, the first of which is dated 25 September 1835 and refers to an incident in which a British officer, Captain Rochfort, failed to intervene and prevent the execution of ninety-nine prisoners.Physical description: Pagination: There is a pagination sequence, which is written in ink, in the top right corners of the rectos and in the top left corners of the versos.Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. This sequence begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last folio of writing, on number 54. This is the sequence which has been used by this catalogue to reference items within the file.