History in the Making – Mapping History: The Confluence of Archaeology and Cartography in Southwest Asia (Elvan COBB, Hong Kong Baptist University)

The emergence of archaeology as a scientific pursuit in the nineteenth century significantly altered perceptions of the Ottoman Empire within foreign imaginaries. Cartography, like archaeology, provided a seemingly objective epistemological engagement for foreigners to make sense of Southwest Asia as a place, while also underpinning imperial and colonial ambitions. The epigraphic journeys of American classicist John Sitlington Sterrett through the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s exemplify the interwoven nature of archaeology and cartography. Sterrett’s writings, bridging both disciplines, reflect a positivist approach. His meticulous field notes, interspersing compass readings and distance measurements for cartographic production with records of ancient inscriptions, reveal this perspective.  However, close examination of these records exposes the inherent subjectivity of Sterrett’s work. His observations, ultimately central to Heinrich Kiepert’s renowned maps of Anatolia, demonstrate how these ostensibly objective cartographic representations were profoundly shaped by Sterrett’s individual experiences, practices, and classical predilections.

Bio

Elvan is a historian of the built environment, especially focusing on the histories of place in the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. In her work, Elvan juxtaposes histories of space with histories of technology, archaeology, tourism, environment and the senses. She is currently working on a book manuscript where she investigates how spatial practices were altered with the advent of the railways in western Anatolia during the second half of the 19th century.