Historic records and manuscript exhibition opens in Gaza

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

On Tuesday, Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities opened an exhibition of historic Palestinian records and manuscripts at the Pasha Palace.

The records represent a substantial historic account of the events and attitudes which prove Palestinian ownership of the land from which they have been expelled. They illustrate everyday affairs, such as buying and selling real estate, the behaviour of the leaders, the movement of people and their official transactions, most from pre-1948.

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The exhibition contains a number of specialist sections, including one dedicated to a display of legal rulings; documents and certificates such as marriage contracts; and real estate agreements and deeds. Also on display are instruments, postal stamps and examples of Palestinian coinage used during both the Ottoman and the British Mandate periods.

In the section dedicated to manuscripts and writings, ancient copies of the Psalms of David and the Uthmani Qur’an are placed alongside scientific and historic works. There is also an important section dedicated to written records carved on stones, shrines and Islamic graves.

Another section exhibits the writings of governors, scholars and historians, while another yet display photographs bearing testament to life before 1948, such as the waterside towns of Acre, Jaffa and Haifa, as well as Jerusalem and Gaza. They open a window onto how Palestinians used to live in these towns before they were expelled from their land by successive Israeli governments.

MEMO Photographer: Mohammed Asad