Media & Public Talks (Selected)
EURAC research AlpEnv Institute for Alpine Environment
Bolzano/Bozen, Oct. 27, 2022
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On a new methodology to assess and visualise the historic and contemporary consumption of the aesthetics of high-altitude landscapes — through the transformation of cartographic knowledge into utility.
The University of Sydney, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI), Near Eastern Seminar Series (NESS)
On and off the maps: The "cartographic" peninsula of Mount Sinai POSTER
Sydney (Online), Aug. 30, 2021
The 21st century knowledge-making patterns in the peninsula of Mount Sinai is the result of a "cartographic" product of the past rather than an understanding of the present. It is a transitional geography shaped by a "Biblical" puzzle in the south which took root between the early modern period and the 19th century, and the geopolitical complexity of the 20th century's Middle East. The former was dominated by individuality and an early form of institutional mapping and map-making, while the latter was marked by the colonial and post-colonial institutionalisation. Drawing on the 20-year field survey by Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR), this talk discusses the making of cartographic Mount Sinai and its formative impact on the peninsula's knowledge-making in the 21st century.
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The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) and The Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF)
Mount Sinai: Knowledge-making in “Biblical South” and across the peninsula POSTER
London (Online), Jul. 10, 2021
Sinai’s classical landscape knowledge-making had been centred around Mount Sinai since the 4th Century CE. Between the transition from individuality to institutionalisation and the transformation from biblical south to geopolitical north in late 19th and early 20th centuries, that period had a formative impact on scholarly and popular knowledge throughout the 20th century, and well into the 21st century — namely on cartographical and archaeological knowledge, and beyond. In fact, regional archaeology surveys could be seen as a form of cartographic practice. Drawing on the 20-year field survey by Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR), this talk discusses the conventional and emerging knowledge-making patterns in the vicinity of Mount Sinai and across the peninsula.
Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS)
“In Each Others' Steps”: Visualizing Biblical Mount Sinai
Pittsburgh, Nov. 14, 2019
Pilgrims, travelers, scholars, map-makers, and monks have traversed Sinai’s deserts and mountains in the footsteps of what―since the earliest mention of Mount Sinai in the fourth century CE―they believed to be the traditional Exodus route of the Israelites. Though they, in fact, traveled only “in each other’s steps,” these visitors visualized the landscape in similar patterns of historic and scholarly account-writing, painting, and photography, as well as through topographic/paper icons and map-making. While no solid archaeological evidence has come to light for the biblical Exodus across the Sinai Peninsula, a 2,000-year-old tradition has nevertheless formed itself around the Exodus route. Sinai’s landscape is lined with historic desert routes and tribal territories. It is dotted with the ruins of way stations and rock inscriptions created by pilgrims and travelers to Mount Sinai, Byzantine monastic settlements, and historic water points. Through close study of these features as well as nomadic oral tradition, ethnographic archaeology reveals parallels between pre-historic and modern nomadic settlements and identifies clear patterns and guidelines for recognizing sacred mountain summits.
Whether individual scholars or pilgrims sought to resolve the biblical puzzle here in the southern Levant or simply crossed Sinai “in each other’s steps,” they all ended up visualizing the same sacred landscape. For example, six major black-and-white landscape photographic collections for the presumed Exodus route across the peninsula and Mount Sinai were captured between 1857 and 1933 CE. In addition, the Isthmus Suez postcard collection dates to this same period. These photographic collections were produced for scholarly, commercial, and survey purposes. But the late 19th and early 20th centuries CE also marked a transition in mapping and map-making patterns, thus reflecting a shift from individual scholars focusing on biblical Mount Sinai to institutional attempts (by British, U.S., Soviet, Egyptian, and Israeli survey authorities) to cover the entire peninsula. Drawing on 19 years of field survey conducted through his own Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR) project, Dr. Shams will discuss how these various accounts, maps, and photographs defined the patterns and boundaries of popular and scholarly knowledge of Mount Sinai and the southern Levant, or “biblical south,” heading into 21st century CE.
University of Erfurt (Universität Erfurt), Gotha Research Centre (Forschungszentrum Gotha), Perthesforum AND University of Oxford, School of Archaeology, Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) & SinaiArchaeoWater Project
“150-year in the Making”: Historic Geography and Cartographic Archaeology in Sinai Peninsula
Gotha, Feb. 19, 2019
Knowledge-making and cartographic data was defined in Sinai Peninsula (and still is) by place-names assigned on maps between mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. The map-series ‘Ordnance Survey of the Peninsula of Sinai’ in 1868/69 and the 1:100,000 map-series between mid-1930s and early 1940s (by the British Royal Engineers) reflect the transition from individuality (e.g. Heinrich Kiepert in 1841, Frederick Holland in 1868, and Alfred Kaiser in 1886-1927) to institutionalisation (survey authorities: British, US, Soviet, Egyptian and Israeli) in mapping and mapmaking across the peninsula. Much of Sinai’s landscape knowledge is claimed through scholarly studies and visual material which are limited to the historic and/or conventional accessibility patterns. Moreover, the transformation from historic south (Biblical puzzle) to geo-political north had a formative impact on mapping and map-making patterns, and thus, knowledge-making in 20th century. Archaeology as a cartographic practice assigned place-names, undocumented on the German, French and British maps. Drawing on 18-year field survey by Sinai Peninsula Research and Oxford’s SinaiArchaeoWater project, this talk discusses the described transitions and formative transformations. Also, it reflects on the compilation of the historic geography and cartographic archaeology data, aided with satellite imagery and aerial photography, to identify, re-use and safeguard local heritage.
Durham University, Department of Archaeology, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics
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Durham, Jun. 26, 2018
Discussing heritage management, investment frameworks and politics across transitional geographies (growth corridors), and the 150-years gap in mapping and mapmaking in the region discovered by the 18-year field surveys of Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR) and its impact on cultural landscape, archaeological geo-database and knowledge-making patterns ― with reflections on the Himalayan Upper Mustang.
University of Oxford, School of Archaeology, Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project
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Sinai Peninsula: Landscape, Knowledge-making, and Remote Sensing Archaeology
Oxford, Jun. 7, 2018
Discussing the cultural landscape, archaeological geo-database and knowledge-making patterns in Sinai Peninsula, and the 150-years gap in mapping and mapmaking in the region discovered by the 18-year field surveys of Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR) and its impact on heritage management ― in the light of the Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project.
School of Oriental and African Study, London Middle East Institute - SOAS/LMEI
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Lines or No Lines: The Reality of Maps in Sinai Peninsula and the Middle East
London, Dec. 12, 2017
There is a widespread geopolitical assumption that the Middle East is a well-mapped region. In fact, an unidentified number of key areas has not been surveyed on ground for 150 years, since the early surveys of the British Royal Engineers, despite the abundant maps which were produced for the region during the 19th and 20th centuries CE. Drawing on 17-years of continuous field expeditions by Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR), the newly discovered 150 years gap in mapping and mapmaking uncovers a dramatic loss in cartographic knowledge on maps. It raises crucial open questions about the reliability of the maps in the Middle East ― in understanding the historic and contemporary development of the realities on ground. In other words, had the available historic maps (19th and 20th centuries) for the Middle East reflected the realities on ground at the time of their production by different authorities and map services? The overwhelming international and national interest in geopolitical “Lines” lead to the creation of “No Lines” on maps to inform local and regional development policies, or to find a resolution for current disputes. While a large scale map would typically show more detailed topographic features (contours) as a result of aerial photography and satellite imagery, the level of details of the cartographic features (data) would not necessarily improve by moving from small-medium to large scale maps. In this regard, large scale maps reflect the topographic features of similar scale, without reflecting the expected compatible level of cartographic details.
The Royal Geographical Society, The Saint Catherine Foundation, University of the Arts London
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(On) Geographical Knowledge and Mapmaking in Sinai Peninsula POSTER
London, November 2, 2017
Discussing the maps of Sinai Peninsula between 19th and 21st centuries CE, and the 150-years gap in mapping and mapmaking in the region discovered by the 17-year surveys of Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR) ― in the light of Boissonnas's travels in Egypt.
University College London, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology - UCL
The 150 Years Gap in Mapping and Mapmaking in Sinai Peninsula and the Middle East
London, February 1, 2017
Discussing the fundamental game changer results of the 17-years and recently published field survey of Sinai Peninsula Research (SPR), and its impact on our understanding for the history of the development of mapping and mapmaking in the region over the past 150 years, and its consequences.
Egyptian State TV / Channel One – Prime Talk-show Guest
Cairo, August 31, 2015, 22.30-00.30hr
Live program about the development policies and knowledge-making in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The program discusses the development of rural and urban economies, local population distribution, water resources and agriculture potential, and trans-border challenges, inland and on-coast. YouTube
BBC Xtra − Week Guest
London, February 22, 2014, 14.00-16.00hr
The Week Guest at BBC Xtra is Dr. Shams, Ahmed, a researcher at the Department of Archaeology, Durham University. Tells us about the long years he spent to survey and analyze the mountains of Egypt's Sinai, as we also discuss with him the traditional crafts, the value of books and libraries. We also asked him whether the process of documenting the Antiquities and Heritage is now easier than it was, thanks to technology, in addition to many other topics. BBC Xtra
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