High-Tech Heritage: Planes, Photography, and the Ancient Past in the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon

Abstract:The French occupation and governance of mandate Syria and Lebanon after World War I coincided with the rise of aviation as a tool of intelligence gathering. Surveillance from the sky served both military and scientific objectives for the French deployed to the region, and the development of “aerial archaeology” soon captured the fascination of experts and the public. This article examines how aerial archaeology provided a means not just of exerting colonial control through the exercise of scientific collection but also provided a way to remain relevant in the event of an end to formal, territorial empire. “High-tech heritage”—aerial archaeology in this case—became an attractive model for colonial powers in a decolonizing world, offering new techniques for extracting information and for setting the terms of cutting-edge praxis.