An Extraordinary Event, 2018

In the spring of 1887, Osman Hamdi Bey took these eight photographs at Boustan al Maghara in Ayyaa’, Saida. The location and most of the people who appeared in the pictures had probably never been photographed prior to this date. What prompted these photographs was the excavation of 19 sarcophagi from the Phoenician period, most of which were displayed temporarily in this garden before they left to Constantinople, where they remain until this day. These 8 photographs represent the only record of these finds prior to their departure.

Book of All Collections, 2017-19

"In 2016, Zaatari spent 6 months in the archive of the AIF, looking at all photographic collections, reviewing original contracts with owners of collections, reading reports of research missions and talking to the different members who did research throughout the years. Inspired by how archeology museums present items in their collections, the aim was to produce, for every collection, a sheet that includes a picture count, provenance, researcher names, contractual elements and that describes collections contents telling the story of how they made it to be part of the AIF archive. The book is an insightful register that acts like a guidebook to the AIF collection."