What were the earliest photos of Syria's two greatest cities, Damascus and Aleppo? These speckled panoramas from 1842 and 1844 may be the very first.
Both were taken by the Frenchman Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey. He was an architect, artist and photographer who is known for taken some of the earliest photographs across Greece, Palestine, Egypt and Syria. In 1842 he travelled to the "Orient" with a Daguerreotype - the first publicly available photographic process - which enabled him to bring images of the near east back to Europe.
Interestingly enough, his archive lay undiscovered until the 1920s and only publicly known until 80 years after that.
Taken in 1842, this speckled panorama is widely considered to be the earliest photograph of the Damascus (دمشق) landscape with the Umayyad Mosque (الجامع الأموي) and her three towering Minarets at the center.
1842 Damascus and Umayyad Mosque Panorama. Take home this memory!
From the left to right, Minaret of Qaitbay (مئذنة قايتباي), Minaret of Isa (مئذنة عيسى) and Minaret of the Bride (مئذنة العروس) .
This speckled image may be the oldest photograph of Aleppo and its landscape. It was taken from Bab Antakya (باب انطاكية), historically one of the city's most important defensive gates, protecting it from the West.
1844 Citadel of Aleppo Panorama. Take home this memory!
The hero of this shot is the Citadel of Aleppo (قلعة حلب) however you can also see the minaret of the Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo (المسجد الأموي الكبير) in the far center. If you look closely you'll even find a clothesline of drying fabrics in the shot. #sliceoflife