A detailed map first published in the book “Description de L’Egypte” (1809-1828) shows the environs of Cairo and Giza as they stood during the French expedition in Egypt. A feature article tours the residential margins of the Egyptian capital at the time of the British occupation. A video shows a series of astonishing aerial photographs from the city shot in 1904 by Swiss photographer and ballooning pioneer Eduard Spelterini.

The archive of Al-Madaq is a website that reviews the history of Cairo through a number of singular maps, texts, photographs and artworks in order to rediscover them as valuable sources to read and understand the city. The site, which has been in development since 2018 and has recently launched its Arabic and English version, aims to provide a research tool in the form of an open access archive to the general public, with special focus on an Arab-speaking audience.

“During the January [25] Revolution and the years that followed, me and other Egyptian academics were asking [ourselves] what is the value of our academic knowledge production,” said historian Shehab Ismail, project founder and director of Al-Madaq, reflecting on the motivations behind the project. He told Al-Monitor, “We were asking questions about what we are doing, who we are creating historical knowledge for and how we can reach an Arab-speaking audience."

The result — Al-Madaq — is composed of three main elements. The first of these contains a collection of 14 historical maps in high resolution that traces a particular evolution of Cairo starting from the French expedition map of 1809 until a general map from 1920 by the Egyptian Survey Department. The maps, some of which contain tens or even hundreds of sheets, are geotagged onto satellite images in a way that allows the public to aggregate them and compare them to the current city of Cairo.