Mesopotamia, Syria and Transjordan in the Archibald Creswell Photograph Collection of the Biblioteca Berenson

Stefano Anastasio

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781803274560
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Historiography
• Index: Social Sciences

Keppel Archibald Cameron Creswell (1879-1974) developed an early interest in Islamic architecture, which became his main area of research at the time of his military posting in Egypt, in 1916. His publications are still fundamental research tools for scholars in the field. Creswell considered photography as an essential tool for recording architectural artefacts, and this volume deals with the photographs that concern Mesopotamia, Syria and Jordan, kept today at the Biblioteca Berenson, of the Villa I Tatti, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, in Florence. On the whole, they can be dated between 1919 and 1930. Many of the sites and monuments photographed by Creswell are still standing, but there are many others that no longer exist, or have been significantly modified. Geolocations for all the photographed monuments can also be viewed on Google My Maps.For this reason, the Creswell photo collection is an exceptional resource for the study of ancient monuments, especially for any conservation and restoration project.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Contents Page
• A martyr for Islamic architectural history
• Introduction
• Creswell and the Berenson Collection
• Mesopotamia, Syria and Transjordan in Creswell’s photographs
• The sites and the monuments
• Mesopotamia
• Syria
• Transjordan
• Conclusions
• Appendix 1. Register of photographers in Mesopotamia, Syria and Transjordan between the 1840s and th
• Appendix 2. Register of Creswell’s photographs of the Biblioteca Berenson
• Appendix 3. Synopsis of Creswell’s photographs in the different archives
• Appendix 4. Sites and monuments geolocation
• Bibliographic references
• Arabic