15 June 2008
Suez Canal Digital Archive
The Suez Canal has been an integral part of Egyptian history over the past two hundred years; the crises and triumphs of the country have in one way or another stemmed from this manmade, topographical marvel. The Canal remains, until this day, almost 140 years since its inauguration, the key point of travelling between the East and the West.
As ISIS seeks to create the definitive repository of Modern Egyptian history in its Memory of Modern Egypt project, the Canal becomes an essential addition to the digital archive’s collection. The Canal’s rich history has been documented since before its inauguration till today in the many forms, whether in reports, books, photos or documentary features. All these provide plentiful of material to be documented and availed in an online digital archive that brings all these items together and provides the visitor with the navigation and search tools necessary to skim through the available content and find requested information. The extensive amount of material is to be availed on a digital archive on different phases, and as of now the Suez Canal digital archive is now available to the public at http://suezcanal.bibalex.org with the produce so far.
The material on the website so far constitutes the result of the first phase of the project, which was concerned with digitized material donated to the Library by the Association of the Friends of Ferdinand de Lesseps, a collection that was complimented by material from the BA’s own collection. The next phase of the project will include material from the Suez Canal Authority, thus enriching the Arabic content of the website. The content of the archive in its current phase consists of the following:
- About 21,000 pages of documents related to transit services including port papers, registers, receipts, statistics and reports of ships’ transitions
- About 18,000 pages from reports of Consultative Commission of Work and 2,500 reports of the General Secretariat including registers of commands, meeting minutes, reports about excavation status, annual accounts, statements, analyses and correspondences
- Nearly 9,500 copies of letters generally dealing with correspondences from the office in Suez to various French destinations
- More than 2,300 Decadal Bulletin Boards, constituting more than 12,000 pages
- More than 300 photos of the Canal and the port
- 13 documentary films covering the founding of the city of Port Fouad and workshops around the Canal
- Suez Isthmus and Canal (1901 CE), a two-volume collection written by Charles Roux, Director of the Universal Maritime Company of Suez
- Voyage de Souverains, a book about the inauguration of the Canal by G. Nicole, with illustrations by Riou
- L’Isthme de Suez by Marius Fontane, also with illustrations by Riou
One can enjoy this extensive collection via the online digital archive which is currently available in trilingual interfaces: Arabic, French and English. The site divides the digital components by genres, such as maps, videos, books, photo galleries, among others. The site includes advanced navigation and browsing tools associated with a timeline. Material on the website has been subjected to OCRing when the case of the original material allowed for so, and this has aided in the search facilities of the site. Advanced search tools are also present, allowing for search criteria’s to be determined and limited by choosing to search by keywords, titles of documents, dates, location, dates from a timeline feature...etc
The Suez Canal archive covers more than 140 years of Egyptian history, and as such, it will help in preserving the elaborate history of the Canal for future generations, who will no doubt continue to be enthralled by this manmade achievement.
About the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which celebrated its fifth anniversary October of the previous year, is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria, a center of world learning from 300 BC to 400 AD. The BA aspires to be the world’s window on Egypt; Egypt’s window on the world; a learning institution of the digital age; and above all a center for learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding. It is guided by the goal to provide universal access to human knowledge for future generations in digital form. For more information, visit www.bibalex.org.
About The International School of Information Science (ISIS)
ISIS is one of the library’s several specialized research institutes. It is devoted to using the newest technology to preserve the past and to promote universal access to the products of the human intellect. It seeks to serve as a center of excellence in the production and dissemination of knowledge through the use of digital technologies. For more information, visit www.bibalex.org/isis.