Railway expansion was symbolic of modernization in the late 19th century, and Britain, Germany and France built railways at enormous speed and reaped great commercial benefits. In the Middle East, railways were no less important and the Ottoman Empire's Hejaz Railway was the first great industrial project of the 20th century. A route running from Damascus to Mecca, it was longer than the line from Berlin to Baghdad and was designed to function as the artery of the Arab world - linking Constantinople to Arabia. Built by German engineers, and instituted by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the railway was financially crippling for the Ottoman state and the its eventual stoppage 250 miles short of Mecca (the railway ended in Medina) was symbolic of the Ottoman Empire's crumbling economic and diplomatic fortunes. This is the first book in English on the subject, and is essential reading for those interested in Industrial History, Ottoman Studies and the geopolitics of the Middle East before World War I.
Winding its way from Damascus through the vast desert wastes of Jordan and into the spectacular barren mountains of north-west Saudi Arabia, the Hejaz Railway was a testament to the fading, but still potent power of the Ottomans in Arabia.
In the desert sands of southern Jordan lies a once-hidden conflict landscape along the Hejaz Railway. Built at the beginning of the twentieth-century, this narrow-gauge 1,320 km track stretched from Damascus to Medina and served to facilitate participation in the annual Muslim Hajj to Mecca. The discovery and archaeological investigation of an unknown landscape of insurgency and counter-insurgency along this route tells a different story of the origins of modern guerrilla warfare, the exploits of T. E. Lawrence, Emir Feisal, and Bedouin warriors, and the dramatic events of the Arab Revolt of 1916-18. Ten years of research in this prehistoric terrain has revealed sites lost for almost 100 years: vast campsites occupied by railway builders; Ottoman Turkish machine-gun redoubts; Rolls Royce Armoured Car raiding camps; an ephemeral Royal Air Force desert aerodrome; as well as the actual site of the Hallat Ammar railway ambush. This unique and richly illustrated account from Nicholas Saunders tells, in intimate detail, the story of a seminal episode of the First World War and the reshaping of the Middle East that followed.
The complex political and cultural relationship between the German state and the Ottoman Empire is explored through the lens of the Ottoman Railway network, its architecture, and material culture With lines extending from Bosnia to Baghdad to Medina, the Ottoman Railway Network (1868–1919) was the pride of the empire and its ultimate emblem of modernization—yet it was largely designed and bankrolled by German corporations. This exemplifies a uniquely ambiguous colonial condition in which the interests of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were in constant flux. German capitalists and cultural figures sought influence in the Near East, including access to archaeological sites such as Tell Halaf and Mshatta. At the same time, Ottoman leaders and laborers urgently pursued imperial consolidation. Germany and the Ottoman Railways explores the impact of these political agendas as well as the railways’ impact on the built environment. Relying on a trove of previously unpublished archival materials, including maps, plans, watercolors, and photographs, author Peter H. Christensen also reveals the significance of this major infrastructure project for the budding disciplines of geography, topography, art history, and archaeology.
The story of Allied victory in the Holy Land, far from the carnage of the Western Front but a crucial, morale-boosting success under the aggressive and forward-thinking General Allenby. Three battles for the control of the key fortress-city of Gaza took place in 1917 between the `British' force [with units from across the Empire, most notably the ANZACs] and the Turks. The Allies were repulsed twice but on theirthird attempt, under the newly-appointed General Allenby, a veteran of the Western Front where he was a vocal critic of Haig's command, finally penetrated Turkish lines, captured southern Palestine and, as instructed by Lloyd George, took Jerusalem in time for Christmas, ending 400 years of Ottoman occupation. This third battle, similar in many ways to the contemporaneous fighting in France, is at the heart of this account, with consideration of intelligence, espionage, air-warfare, and diplomatic and political elements, not to mention the logistical and medical aspects of the campaign, particularly water. The generally overlooked Turkish defence, in the face of vastly superior numbers, is also assessed. Far from laying out and executing a pre-ordained plan, Allenby, who is probably still best remembered as T. E. Lawrence's commanding officer in Arabia, was flexible and adaptable, responding to developmentsas they occurred. JOHN D. GRAINGER is the author of numerous books on military history, ranging from the Roman period to the twentieth century.
Dr. M. Metin Hnlagn looks into the construction of this feat of engineering through the lens of British reports. Rather than reflecting the diplomatic and political dimension, this book provides specific insights into the cultural and technical history of the Hejaz Railway; it tells the story of the building of a dream. --Book Jacket.
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. Offering key insights into critical debates on the construction, management and destruction of heritage in Muslim contexts, this volume considers how Islamic heritages are constructed through texts and practices which award heritage value. It examines how the monolithic representation of Islamic heritage (as a singular construct) can be enriched by the true diversity of Islamic heritages and how endangerment and vulnerability in this type of heritage construct can be re-conceptualized. Assessing these questions through an interdisciplinary lens including heritage studies, anthropology, history, conservation, religious studies and archaeology, this pivot covers global and local examples including heritage case studies from Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan.
Many readers will be familiar with Nigel Welbourn’s long running series of books, covering lost railways in Britain and Ireland. This new book Lost Railways of the World is the latest by this author on the subject of disused railways. The material for this volume has been collected and researched over a period of almost fifty years of world travel by the author. Informative text records the fortunes of the world’s lost railways and every country with significant disused railways is included. Lost railways are a unifying theme, being found throughout the world, from the hottest African desert to the coldest steppes of Russia. The book has a surprisingly British flavor as historically many railways throughout the world used British equipment and operating practices. On his first trip in the 1970s the author discovered British signaling equipment in Europe. In 2020 he discovered the same firms’ equipment in South America. The world’s top ten lost lines are listed, from the seven-mile-long sea bridge on a line that ran through the Florida Keys, to the rugged mountain splendor of the Khyber Pass Railway. Some of the oldest, largest, longest, most northerly, southerly, expensive, crookedest, steepest, highest, lowest and most notorious lost railways are included. Quirky and other unique tales from lost railways are included, such as the disappearing phantom bridge, a line destroyed by molten lava, to one that sank under the sea, another that conveyed giant turtles, to a memorial to a brave railway elephant. The author also visited remote areas of Argentina and provides more information on the mysterious disappearance of the ex-Lynton & Barnstaple Railway locomotive Lew. A large number of the 300 color illustrations have not been published before, maps and stories from around the world will delight not only the railway enthusiast, but appeal to a wider cadre of readers with an interest in nostalgia, history, geography and travel. To some the book will be an informative source of information, to others it is written in a way that highlights the most amazing lost railways in the world, but either way it is a fascinating and unique book.
In Scriptural Unity, we exhibit how the message of the Psalms, the Book of Isaiah, and the Koran are interlocked to one another as a “trio”– the way three notes form a chord, a triad and cause harmony. Each book can be visualized as a single note. However, when they are “strummed” together, we hear a different sound, one that is harmonious with one another and is pleasant both to the ear and to the mind! Psalms [the 19th Book of the Bible] was authored in 10th century BC and reports a total of 150 years within its 150 chapters. The Book of Isaiah [the 23rd Book of the Bible] was penned down in the 8th century BC, and hosts 66 chapters and reports a total of 66 years worth of world events. The Koran was written down within the 7th century AD and reports a total of 114 years worth of world events in its 114 chapters. Though the three Holy Scriptures are centuries apart from one another, the message they convey is one – as if they were all authored or inspired the very same day by the very same Deity! As we all know by now, Psalms has a date, a year code embedded in it [Psalms Code I, II, and III]. So does the Koran [Psalms Confirm the Koran]. Well, get ready for a surprise! And now, so does the Book of Isaiah! [Scriptural Unity] Each Holy Book studied in this book, namely Psalms, Isaiah and Koran has its own message as a separate identity. However, when all three Holy Scriptures are studied as a “unity”, as a single identity, as a single book, the message they reflect, all of a sudden, turns into a single one - augmenting and complimenting the message of one another regarding the same event, subject or person highlighted in the parallel chapter of all three Holy Scriptures! In the second part, Part II of this book we will study the Bhagavad Gita [the Holy Book of Hinduism] and verify whether the message of the Bhagavad Gita is in unison with the message of the Bible and the Koran. Again, the past 22 incarnations of Jesus and the upcoming due 24 incarnations ahead are signaled in both the Bible and the Koran. The Book of Psalms, that hints the Jesus Incarnation Cycle and signals the incarnation characters of the Cycle, was penned down in 10th century BC – the Koran in the 7th century CE/AD. The Bhagavad Gita, the Holy Book that is almost devoted completely to the concept and the explanation of the LORD’s “incarnation” cycle is dated to a “period between 200 BC and 200 CE” – to a time that roughly marks the middle point of the centuries the Book of Psalms and the Book of Koran were revealed in respectively. What we call an “incarnation” is called an “avatar” in Hinduism. Though known to be innumerable, the “Bhagavad Purana” [Puranic texts of Hindu literature] mentions 22 [and 24] avatars – the same number of incarnations/avatars Jesus was destined to live personally ever since His first birth to Virgin Mary [starting from year 19 AD – when Jesus was 19 years old] and till the end of the 1,900 years long Jesus Cycle that ended in year 1919 AD. Put simply, the Jesus Incarnation Cycle, the past 22, the upcoming 24 total incarnations [avatars] that the Cycle reflects and portrays are confirmed in Hinduism just the same
This volume places the Eastern, especially the Austro-Russian, fronts of the Great War centre stage, examining the little-known environmental and spatial dimensions in the history of the war. The focus is particularly on the Austrian crown land of Galicia, which was transformed from a neglected periphery into a battleground of three imperial armies, and where for the first time, nature was a key protagonist. The book balances contributions by emerging and established scholars, and benefits from a multi-language approach, expertise in the field, and extensive archival research in national archives. Contributors are Hanna Bazhenova, Gustavo Corni, Iaroslav Golubinov, Kerstin Susanne Jobst, Tomasz Kargol, Alexandra Likhacheva, Oksana Nagornaia, David Novotny, Christoph Nübel, Gwendal Piégais, Andrea Rendl, Kamil Ruszała, Nicolas Saunders, Kerstin von Lingen, Yulia Zherdeva, and Liubov Zhvanko.
