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Al-Madaq: A new virtual archive documenting Cairo’s history

An Egyptian historian created a website that reviews the history of Cairo through several historical maps, texts and photographs.
Al-Madaq map Cairo.jpg

detailed map first published in the book “Description de L’Egypte” (1809-1828) shows the environs of Cairo and Giza as they stood during the French expedition in Egypt. A feature article tours the residential margins of the Egyptian capital at the time of the British occupation. A video shows a series of astonishing aerial photographs from the city shot in 1904 by Swiss photographer and ballooning pioneer Eduard Spelterini.

The archive of Al-Madaq is a website that reviews the history of Cairo through a number of singular maps, texts, photographs and artworks in order to rediscover them as valuable sources to read and understand the city. The site, which has been in development since 2018 and has recently launched its Arabic and English version, aims to provide a research tool in the form of an open access archive to the general public, with special focus on an Arab-speaking audience.

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