Classics and Ancient History

Although the great majority of the photographs on this site were taken in recent years there are many other caches of aerial photographs of Middle East countries in various locations. Below is a list of the most significant. It is hoped we can include scanned copies of those on this site in due course. Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre, Amman, Jordan The Centre holds the original negatives for various surveys dating back to 1953 and covering various parts of Jordan at differing scales. The potential of these may be seen from the survey of western Jordan done in 1953 by Hunting Aerial Survey discussed elsewhere on this site. (RSAME). The archive also includes at least some of the aerial photographs taken by the RAF in the 1940s. A full listing of what is held by the RJGC is in progress. Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Abt. IV Kriegsarchiv, Munich, Germany The Bavarian archive contains aerial photographs taken by the German air force operating in what is now Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan during the First World War. Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia The AWM holds photographs taken by the Royal Australian Flying Corps/ Air Force over Palestine and Transjordan in the last part of the First World War. It also includes photographs taken by the German Air Force but seized by Australian forces. Royal Air Force The RAF holds thousands of mainly vertical aerial photos of Jordan and Israel and including parts of southern Syria. Most date to the 1940s. Packard Humanities Institute, Palo Alto, CA, USA PHI owns a collection of photographs including aerial owned by a pilot of the German Air Force flying in southern Syria, Palestine and Transjordan in the First World War. L’Armée de l'Air The French air force in Syria took many aerial photographs over their mandates of Syria and Lebanon (including what is now the Hatay province of Turkey).	CONTENTS Archive Home About the Archive Aerial Archaeology in Jordan Flying and Photography Satellite Imagery and Google Earth The Archive Catalogue Record of Flights Publications Obtaining Photographs Contacting Us
Poidebard Archive, Beirut, Lebanon Photographs taken by Père Antoine Poidebard while being flown by the French Air Force over Syria and Lebanon in the 1920s-50s. Some flight penetrated into British Transjordan. The archive has its own web site. Institute of Classical Studies Library, University of London, London, UK The Library holds several thousand aerial photographs of Middle East countries from Iran to Egypt. Most were those collected by O. G. S. Crawford, pioneer of aerial archaeology and founder of the periodical Antiquity during a visit to the RAF bases in the Middle East in the 1920s (Crawford 1929; cf. Kennedy and Bewley 2009). A smaller group consists of aerial photographs taken by Sir Aurel Stein over Iraq and Transjordan in 1938-9. Imperial War Museum, London, UK Public Record Office, London, UK The records relating to the administration of the British Mandates of Iraq, Transjordan and Iraq contain a number of aerial photographs. British Museum, London, UK British Academy, London, UK The Academy has copies of 670 prints taken by Sir Aurel Stein over Iraq and Transjordan in 1938-9. Defense Mapping Agency, Washington DC, USA

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