Palestine Exploration Fund

Palestinian Exploration Fund's Quarterly Statement, July 1900
Palestinian Exploration Fund's Quarterly Statement, July 1900
PEF rock: Mark on boulder used by the PEF as a reference level (datum) for surveying the Dead Sea in the beginning of the 20th century

The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the study of the Levant region, also known as Palestine.[1] Often simply known as the PEF, its initial objective was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine – producing the PEF Survey of Palestine. Its remit was considered to fall between an expeditionary survey and military intelligence gathering.[2] There was also strong religious interest from Christians; William Thomson, Archbishop of York, was the first president of the PEF.

As a result, the PEF had a complex relationship with Corps of Royal Engineers of the War Department.[3] The PEF members sent back reports to the UK on the need to salvage and modernise the Levant region.[4]

  1. ^ "Palestine Exploration Fund moves to show Levantine heritage, culture off in London". Jordan Times. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference PEF1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference SR2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Ilan Pappé (2004) A history of modern Palestine: one land, two peoples Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-55632-5 pp 34-35