Historic Images of the Ancient Near East
The Near East has long been a source of fascination because of its ancient cultures and its connection to the foundations of Western civilization, from the origins of civilization at Sumer to its influence on the development of the Jewish and Christian faiths and on ancient Greece and Rome. When archaeologists began exploring the ruins of the Near East in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they often came with the intent of proving the Bible's historical accuracy. These rare photos from the Library of Congress show the Near East's archaeological sites as they were when first uncovered, before modern excavation and restoration efforts.
