Throughout its impressive history the Middle East has both influenced people’s activities and simultaneously been transformed by them. In order to understand its people, their societies, and how our world continues to develop it is critical to understand the continually evolving Middle Eastern landscape. The Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL) at the Oriental Institute is dedicated to investigating this region through a longitudinal study of its landscapes. Three tasks embody CAMEL’s mission:
1. The systematic collection and organization of contemporary and historical spatial data pertaining to the Middle East,
2. The application of pioneering avenues of inquiry for investigating this data, and
3. The facilitation of the work of numerous researchers and members of the public seeking to better understand all or part of ancient or modern Middle Eastern landscapes. CAMEL offers access to data in its historical archive of spatial data as freely as legally possible.