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Treasure Trove examines the craze for massive pictures of Jerusalem
The Palestine Exhibition Company, which was started in Illinois in 1887, created giant biblical panoramas of Jerusalem for a Christian audience. The company made three Jerusalem scenes which debuted in Chicago, Minneapolis and Buffalo, N.Y.
These panoramas (also called cycloramas) were the biggest paintings in the world (over 1,800 square meters) and were displayed in a 16-sided rotunda. They were a popular form of entertainment before the invention of motion pictures—a viewer would stand in the centre of the rotunda and witness an all-encompassing spectacle.
The Jerusalem panorama was based on an original work by the Munich artist Bruno Piglhein who went to Jerusalem in 1885 with two other artists. For one year they sketched and photographed the scenery in Jerusalem, which they imagined was little changed in 2,000 years. They made a point of painting the local people, who they believed were dressed as they would have been in the time of the New Testament, and then they returned to Munich to create their giant work.
When the panorama was opened to the public in May 1886, it was greeted with great acclaim, with biblical scholars admiring the accuracy of the detail. After three years, it moved from Munich to Berlin and from there to Vienna where it was destroyed by a fire. Fortunately, a number of copies of the massive painting had been made including the three by the Palestine Exhibition Company.
Another copy of the Jerusalem panorama that initially toured Europe was exhibited in Montreal before being set up as a permanent exhibition at Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre (outside of Quebec City) in 1895. It is one of only 17 surviving 19th-century panoramas in the world, and the third oldest in its original rotunda.
This certificate is for five shares issued in 1888 for $100 each (the equivalent of $3,300 today). It includes a drawing of the Temple in Jerusalem from the perspective of Christian theology.
Jerusalem has been the subject of fascination for thousands of years, with the panoramas being just one example of this phenomenon. Jerusalem is known as the City of Peace. Here’s hoping that in 2025 the city can live up to that lofty aspiration.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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