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The First World War in the lands of the Pharaohs

4 May 2017

Soldiers in front of the sphinx and pyramid at Giza
Soldiers in front of the sphinx and pyramid at Giza, May 1916 (copyright enquiries to P.T. Nicholson)

For the last two years, Dr Steve Mills and Professor Paul Nicholson have been collecting images of Egypt and Palestine taken during the First World War.

Their efforts have been part of Views of an Antique Land, an HLF-funded project. The aim has been to commemorate this often overlooked theatre of the war as well as to record the ancient monuments of these areas.

As a result, digital copies of over 2000 images taken or collected by service personnel are now been uploaded to a dedicated website. These images will allow visitors to see what their ancestors saw and to see how the ancient monuments, cities, towns and villages looked during the First World War.

Images have been obtained through the generosity of members of the public at a series of roadshows across Wales and England and represent an otherwise unseen and unpublished resource.

Amongst the interesting discoveries have been images documenting the journeys of individuals through the conflict and their interaction with the ancient monuments of biblical lands.

Views of an Antique Land forms part of an upcoming conference and keynote lecture to commemorate reaching the final stages of the project. Both events are open to the public and free to attend on 19th and 20th May at Cardiff University. Online registration is now open.

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