This fonds constitutes a very rich collection of documents resulting from the assortment of documents belonging to the rule of Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909). It includes 1618 files, 626000 documents and 15679 notebooks. It appears that it includes important documents for this period, which is a fresh field for the research in the history of management. Yıldız catalogues (series) are collected in five main groups; the Main Documents of Yıldız Palace (Yıldız Esas Evrakı), the Official Documents of Grand Vizierate (Sadâret Resmî Maruzât Evrakı), the Officially Presented Documents of Grand Vizierate (Sadâret Husûsî Maruzât Evrakı) and the Daily Documents of Yıldız Palace (Yıldız Perakende Evrakı).
In the Waqf Inheritance section, the number of documents approaches a million and a half; as well there are 2,500 manuscripts covering various subjects, including religion, philosophy, Arabic language, history and so on. Among them, the Open Jerusalem team selected a body of 41 files (totalizing 668 pages) issued by the Jerusalem Awqâf administration and related to Moghrabi neighborhood in Jerusalem. Note : the spelling is “Mograbi” from Arabic to English, and “Maghariba” from Ottoman Turkish to English.
These documents are part of the records created by Vincent Lemire during his historical research on the Mughrabi quarter. They mainly consist in photographs of objects which were found by archeologists on excavation sites and which are kept by the Israel Antiquity Authority (IAA). There are also a photograph of the Western Wall Plaza and an extract from his research notebook.
The RG 84 series (US-NARA) includes the rapatriated records from US embassies and consulates around the world. It is mainly constitutes of correspondence. For the period between 1856 and 1935, we can find 261 volumes. It is both sent correspondence (copies or minutes) and received correspondence (the received letters are stuck together to form registers). Most of these registers date back to the 1912-1935 period (160 volumes). The selected items come from Volume 22 (Years 1857 to 1870), Volume 47A (Years 1871 to 1886), Volume 47B (Years 1886 to 1896), Volume 47C (Years 1897 to 1908) and Volume 47D (Years 1904 to 1909).
United States Consulate General in Jerusalem (USCGJ)
This fonds includes documents from the Palestinian Commission and Palestinian Comittee about schools, journeys of the imperial family, hospitals and every other issue dealt with by the institution.
The Matson Photograph (G. Eric and Edith) Collection is a rich source of historical images of the Middle East. The majority of the images depict Palestine (present day Israel and the West Bank) from 1898 to 1946. Most of the collection consists of over 22,000 glass and film photographic negatives and transparencies created by the American Colony Photo Department and its successor firm, the Matson Photo Service. Over 1,000 photographic prints and eleven albums are also part of this collection.
This fonds is part of the external collections (“archivi aggregati”) incorporated in the Archives of the Custodial Curia (general administration) held by the Historical Archive of the Custody of the Holy Land.
Structure of the fonds - Global extent: 52 files; 13 Nov. 1881 - 30 Nov. 1987 Series A, Regulations and programmes. Global extent: 4 files; 1924-1947 Series B, Correspondence. Global extent: 6 files; 15 Oct. 1929 - 10 June 1959 Series C, Personal files of the students. Global extent: 2 files; 1936-1947 Series D, Class registers. Global extent: 26 files; 1923-1947 Series E, Students registers. Global extent: 2 files; 1924-1948 Series F, Administration. Global extent: 9 files; 1929-1943 Series G, Various memoirs. Global extent: 3 files; 13 Nov. 1881 - 30 Nov. 1987
