Jerusalem: The Signs of the Sacred, The Imprints of the Real — A Picturesque Journey of the Holy Land Through Vintage Postcards, Posters & Photographs
By Safdar Nensey
Cinnamonteal Design & Publishing
ISBN: 978-93-93984007-4
184pp.

To understand the coffee-table treatise Jerusalem: The Signs of the Sacred, the Imprints of the Real — A Picturesque Journey of the Holy Land Through Vintage Postcards, Posters & Photographs, you first need to know a bit about its author.

Safdar Nensey is a Pakistani national and a petroleum industry engineer, who has worked in Pakistan and the Middle East for more than 36 years. He has a passion for things historical, and that helps him craft a narrative as he has done so eloquently here without using many words at all.

While never having visited Jerusalem himself, he is intrigued by the holy land and has collected various postcards and photographs from the region. An offshoot of his stamp collecting hobby, collecting vintage postcards is also a pastime with Nensey.

The postcards show the Jerusalem of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His book features about 250 selected postcards, engravings, posters and photographs from the over 1,000 in his collection, which take his readers along on a visual journey. These painstakingly put-together vintage postcards and stereographs, lets readers taste the flavour of what the region truly is in spirit.

A beautifully produced coffee-table book takes readers on a visual journey of historic Jerusalem

It also tells the story of Jerusalem, the holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and its historical significance. But instead of boring chapters, we have pictures that show Jerusalem and its holy sites in a way that most folks don’t get to see them. It serves as quite an education and that too without it getting tedious, because you aren’t doing much reading, except for going through the descriptions that have been provided with the pictures. You are mainly viewing.

Of course, it is not all pictures — the first few chapters provide a short historical overview of the history of Jerusalem and a chronology of important events in the city’s history. Divided into six chapters, the fifth and sixth chapters of this book are actually its core, as they contain the aforementioned huge collection of old postcards, lithographs and stereographs of Jerusalem and its famous sites and surrounding regions.

Some of these deserving a special mention include the postcards on pages 50-51 of the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem, built by the Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent between 1536 and 1539. This is the main gate (out of several) that leads to the old city. Called the Bab al Amud in Arabic, which means ‘the gate of the column’, it is a splendid example of mediaeval military architecture built on the site of an older gate going back to Herodian times.

There is also the ‘El-Aksa’ (Al-Aqsa) Mosque giving prominence to pages 54 and 55 — it is believed that the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was transported there from Mecca during the Shab-i-Mairaj, to then ascend to heaven.

A stereograph of the Church of the Nativity of Bethlehem is another significant image on page 136. To view a stereograph, you need to relax your eyes (or cross them) until the two side-by-side images come together. That allows you to see the image in 3D. The Church of the Nativity was built where Hazrat Isa or Jesus Christ was allegedly born. The church is one of the earliest built in the holy land.

This book is meant for those who are interested in the history of Jerusalem and who want to get the “feel” of the place. For those who enjoy picture books, it is a unique delight.

For those who are looking for a detailed history of Jerusalem, or who want to delve into current political or religious issues, this book isn’t written for them. It contains many images — most in fact — from the time before the Jewish state of Israel was created, but there are no political statements being made here.

Jerusalem offers a unique perspective. It is a beautiful tribute to an old region of major historical and religious significance.

The reviewer is a business consultant.

He can be reached at tbdybqz0e@mozmail.com

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 3rd, 2023