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Martin Kramer · Galleries

October 1973: Panorama and Myopia Share

A gallery curated by Martin Kramer | 18 pho to s | October 24, 2011

Sandbo x | Mart in Kram e r o n t he Middle East

In Cairo and Damascus, the Octo ber 19 73 war with

Israel is celebrated by museums o f similar design and
purpo se. At the center o f bo th attractio ns is a pano rama
(o r cyclo rama): a 36 0 -degree depictio n o f the key
battles o f the war. The co ncept is to immerse the visito r
in a "surro und" view o f a battle—in Egypt's case, the
cro ssing o f the Suez Canal, in Syria's, the battle fo r the
Go lan Heights—with visual and so und effects, stirring
narratio n, and martial music. Bo th sites have adjacent
gro unds fo r the display o f captured and destro yed Israeli
hardware, alo ngside examples o f the So viet-made
Egyptian and Syrian armament o f the day. The
co nstructio n o f pano ramas has beco me a No rth Ko rean
specialty, and the Egyptian and Syrian pano ramas are o f
No rth Ko rean design and executio n.

Scho o l gro ups, so ldiers, and lo cal and fo reign to urists

who visit these sites are to ld similar sto ries o f
triumphant victo ry, leaving no ro o m fo r ambiguity as to
the war's o utco me. A recent visito r described her
experience at the Cairo attractio n: "A vast pano rama o f
lights and no ise depicted the epic struggle to cro ss the
canal. I saw no mentio n o f the Israeli co unterattack. It
has been subsumed by myth and pro paganda." Ano ther
recent visito r to the Damascus pano rama made this

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o bservatio n: "If yo u relied o nly o n a visit to the
Pano rama fo r info rmatio n abo ut the war, yo u wo uld no t
kno w a) that Egypt was also invo lved in the fighting, b)
ho w lo ng the war lasted, c) ho w many peo ple died, o r d)
that Israel wo n."

It is o ften said that the myth o f the Octo ber "victo ry"
made acco mmo datio n with Israel thinkable, by erasing
the stigma o f the 19 6 7 defeat fro m Egyptian and Syrian
co nscio usness. But a much mo re persuasive case can
be made that Israel's turning the tide o f the 19 73 war
finally co mpelled Arab acceptance o f Israel. Israeli fo rces
o verwhelmed Arab armies o n two fro nts, even fro m the
mo st disadvantaged o pening po sitio n. The lesso n was
no t lo st o n the leaderships o f Egypt and Syria, and it
underpins their avo idance o f war with Israel in the
decades since.

In teaching the yo ung o nly part o f the sto ry o f 19 73,

these pano ramas sho w much less than 36 0 degrees o f
the truth—and in so me small way, ero de the fo undatio ns
o f such peace as the Middle East enjo ys. (They are also
mo numents to blind leader-wo rship, no w challenged by
the revo lutio n in Egypt and the uprising in Syria.)

This pho to gallery assembles nine pho to graphs o f each

pano rama, to which I append a few explanato ry
co mments and links. View, share, and co mment (yo u'll
need a Flickr acco unt fo r that).

(Please no te: Flickr galleries o nly allo w display o f

pho to graphs po sted o n Flickr by others. I didn't take any
o f these pho to s. Many thanks to tho se who to o k and
po sted them. To view the co ntext o f any pho to , just click
o n it. I may change the pho to graphs in this gallery, as
well as the text o f my co mmentary. If yo u have uplo aded
a po tentially relevant pho to graph to Flickr, please let me
kno w.)

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Sho rt link to this gallery: bit.ly/19 73pano ramas

Fo llo w Martin Kramer: Website | Facebo o k | Twitter

—October 24, 2011

O ct o b e r War Pano rama

by sixes & sevens

Mart in Kram e r says: The 19 73 Octo ber War Pano rama

in Cairo is lo cated in Nasr City, o n the airpo rt ro ad. No rth
Ko rean leader Kim Il-Sung pro po sed it to Egypt's
President Husni Mubarak during Mubarak's first visit to
Pyo ngyang in 19 8 3. It was inaugurated o n Octo ber 5,
19 8 9 . The Rough Guide describes the exterio r: "The
building lo o ks like a pavilio n in so me Co mmunist theme
park o f the 19 50 s and is deco rated with Mao ist-style
reliefs, but instead o f East Asian peasants and wo rkers
striding purpo sefully fo rward, it's Egyptian so ldiers in
fro nt o f the Pyramids." A sign in English at the entrance
reads: "Welco me to 19 73 Octo ber War Pano rama, enjo y
spending a go o d time by watching 19 73 Octo ber War
Pano rama acco mpanied by the so und effects and music
pro gram." Get a full to ur o f the attractio n in this video
clip. Go here fo r an (unsparing) Egyptian review o f the
experience.

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 1973 O ct o b e r War Pano rama
by vanLyden

Mart in Kram e r says: On the gro unds o f the Pano rama,

Egyptian so ldiers are depicted in a rubber dinghy,
cro ssing the Suez Canal.

4
 d e sig ne d b y t he D PR K o re a
by Paul Keller

Mart in Kram e r says: A frieze depicts the Egyptian

cro ssing o f the Suez Canal. Egyptian fo rces are seen
blasting the embankment with water ho ses (left), scaling
the embankment (center), and sending tanks acro ss a
po nto o n bridge into the breach (right). (Signed:
Pano rama Creato rs D[emo cratic] P[eo ple's] R[epublic]
Ko rea 19 8 9 .)

5
 O ct o b e r War Pano rama - mo saic
by minifastcar33

Mart in Kram e r says: The war's o utco me is no t the o nly

truth elided at the Octo ber War Pano rama This mo saic
depicts the war ro o m. There is President Anwar Sadat,
co mmander o f the Egyptian fo rces (right) and air fo rce
chief Husni Mubarak (left). In the actual pho to o f the
scene, the man standing to Sadat's right was the chief o f
staff, Saad Eddin el-Shazly. But Shazly had a bitter
falling-o ut with Sadat o ver the war's co nduct. So in his
stead, the mo saic depicts Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy, chief
o f o peratio ns. Mubarak do esn't appear in the o riginal
pho to , and so me say he wasn't even in the ro o m, a
claim that has beco me widespread since his fall fro m
po wer. (He is absent fro m this famo us gro up pho to in
the war ro o m o n Octo ber 10 , but I think he can be
spo tted in this clip.)

6
 K id s at war
by Carine&To m

Mart in Kram e r says: The main attractio n o f the

Octo ber War Pano rama is a 36 0 -degree, 136 -meter
cyclo rama o f the cro ssing o f the Suez Canal by Egyptian
fo rces and the capture o f Israeli po sitio ns o n its east
bank. Viewers are seated o n a central platfo rm, which
revo lves o ver the co urse o f thirty minutes. They view a
seamless sequence o f dio rama-type co nstructio ns that
blend into painted backdro p scenes. In this po rtio n:
Egyptian fo rces have o verrun the Israeli defensive line
and are advancing into Sinai. Scrawled o n the pillbo x:
"Allahu Akbar."

7
 O ct o b e r War Pano rama
by minifastcar33

Mart in Kram e r says: A detail sho ws Egyptians flush

with their reco nquest o f Qantara East, drinking fro m
canteens, smo king cigarettes, and perusing (captured?)
maps, while their abject Israeli priso ners lo o k o n. (In a
priso ner exchange at the end o f the war, Israeli traded
8 ,372 Egyptian POWs fo r the return o f 242 Israeli
POWs.) Fo r the larger Qantara tableau, which is quite
dramatic, go here.

8
 D SC 054 20
by Martin Misr

Mart in Kram e r says: A battle map in mo saic, sho wing

Egyptian fo rces thrusting acro ss the Suez Canal and into
Sinai. There is no mo saic depicting the Israeli
co unterattack acro ss the Suez Canal.

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 O ct o b e r War Pano rama
by minifastcar33

Mart in Kram e r says: So mething fo r everyo ne o n the

gro unds o f the Pano rama, where the spo ils o f war are
o n display.

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 Milit ary Muse um, C airo
by semerick30

Mart in Kram e r says: This painting is not fro m the

Octo ber War Pano rama. It hangs in the Natio nal Military
Museum, lo cated in the Citadel o f Cairo . After the No rth
Ko reans finished the Pano rama, they to o k o n
reno vatio n o f the o ld military museum. The wo rk was
co mpleted between 19 9 0 and 19 9 3. Under this mo re
general rubric, it was po ssible to put Mubarak at the very
center o f the tableau. (In the wake o f Egypt's revo lutio n,
this painting co uld be headed fo r the sto rero o m.) The
inscriptio n beneath, in Arabic and English, puts Octo ber
19 73 o n the same plane as so me o f histo ry's mo st
famed battles: "Egypt o f ho no r, Egypt o f authenticity and
histo ry, Egypt o f Qadesh and Hittin and Octo ber 19 73."
Co mpare this to the mural, in identical style, featuring
Hafez Asad (belo w).

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 T ishre e n War Pamo rama
by richardavis

Mart in Kram e r says: The Tishreen (Octo ber) War

Remembrance Pano rama lies abo ut two kilo meters
no rtheast o f Damascus. Again, it is No rth Ko rean wo rk,
co mmissio ned after its Egyptian precedents and o pened
to the public o n Octo ber 6 , 19 9 9 (less than a year
befo re the death o f Hafez Asad). Its exterio r takes the
fo rm o f a medieval fo rtress resembling a chess ro o k,
flanked by two auxiliary buildings. Befo re the co mplex
stands a statue o f Hafez Asad in military unifo rm, giving
the o rder to attack. The inscriptio n says "Architect o f
Octo ber, Martrydo m o r Victo ry." To ur the attractio n in this
clip. Here is a so mewhat mo re jaundiced view o f the
experience.

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 Po rt rait o f Haf e z …
by ianco we

Mart in Kram e r says: Hafez Asad, center, co mmands

his fo rces. The figure furthest to the right, ho lding
bino culars in hand, is the lo ng-time defense minister,
Mustafa Tlass. The scene is an extravagant glo ss o n a
well-kno wn pho to graph o f Asad and Tlass visiting the
fro nt line.

13
 K o re an G o lan
by freddyd

Mart in Kram e r says: The Syrian Pano rama is based

o n the identical principle as the Egyptian o ne: a central
platfo rm revo lves 36 0 degrees, pro viding a full view o f
the actio n in the 129 -meter circular dio rama. The Syrian
versio n depicts the fighting in and aro und Quneitra and
Mo unt Hermo n. In this particularly vivid segment, Syrians
(o n the right) assault the Israelis (o n the left) in clo se
co mbat o n Mo unt Hermo n. (View this in full size fo r full
effect.)

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 T ishre e n Pano rama 6
by fhartha

Mart in Kram e r says: The battle rages fo r the city o f

Quneitra. Artists: Kim Sing Cho l, O Kwang Ho , Ri Jae Su,
Ri Kap Il, Kim Cho l Jin, Cho e So ng Sik, Ri Jo ng Gap,
Kim Ki Do k, Cha Yo Sang, and Ri Yo n Nam. Here it
might be no ted, in passing, that Saddam Hussein
preceded Mubarak and Asad in co mmissio ning a
pano rama fro m No rth Ko rea. He had o ne built in Al-
Mada'in, near Ctesipho n, to depict the battle o f
Qadisiyah (6 36 ), in which Arab Muslims defeated the
Sassanid Persians. During the 20 0 3 Iraq war and its
aftermath, the Qadisiyah pano rama was pillaged and it
no w lies in ruin. In 20 10 , the Karbala pro vincial
go vernment anno unced it wo uld build an "Ashura
Pano rama," depicting the battle o f Karbala (6 8 0 ).

15
 K o re an p aint ing o f Salah ad - D in
by freddyd

Mart in Kram e r says: Fo r go o d measure, there are

po rtrayals o f o ther Arab/Muslim victo ries thro ugho ut
histo ry, including this o ne o f Saladin entering Jerusalem
(118 7). The Crusaders are abject in their submissio n, in
this unusual co mbinatio n o f No rth Ko rean so cialist
realism and go o d o ld Orientalism.

16
 Po rt rait o f Haf e z …
by ianco we

Mart in Kram e r says: This gallery is devo ted to Hafez

Asad. To the right and left are vario us memento s and
pho to graphs o f Asad with wo rld leaders. At the far end is
a hero ic po rtrait o f Asad acclaimed by his peo ple, in the
No rth Ko rean mural style.

17
 Po rt rait o f Haf e z …
by ianco we

Mart in Kram e r says: A clo ser view sho ws Hafez Asad

hailed by to p figures in the military and Baath party, and
all secto rs o f Syrian so ciety. Ballo o ns fly and even the
do ves regard Asad expectantly. (In the Egyptian versio n,
abo ve, Mubarak is surro unded by many mo re generals,
but the same do ves.)

18
 MIG and So yuz
by Philip Griffin

Mart in Kram e r says: On the gro unds adjacent to the

Pano rama, there is a display o f the usual array o f
hardware, such as the So viet-made MIG fighter jet o n
the left, and captured Israeli armo r and fragments o f
do wned Israeli aircraft. But the Syrian iteratio n has a
special feature: the So viet So yuz capsule that carried the
o ne and o nly Syrian co smo naut, Muhammad Faris. back
to earth fro m a So viet space statio n in 19 8 7. Faris was
made a Hero o f the So viet Unio n o n his return. (Ano ther
view here.)

19
 Assad & K im
by fhartha

Mart in Kram e r says: What are friends fo r? Hafez Asad

and Kim Il-Sung hang to gether at the Pano rama. They
met in real life in September 19 74, when Asad paid a
state visit to No rth Ko rea. Bo th leaders have since been
succeeded by their so ns, who went o n to co llabo rate o n
bigger pro jects . And if yo u, to o , are o ne o f a dwindling
number o f dictato rs, yo u might co nsider co ntracting
Mandusae o f Pyo ngyang to build a mo nument to yo u.
Here is a so rt o f pro spectus: "Need a massive
mo nument built fo r cheap and o n sho rt no tice? In this
age o f po st-So viet malaise, no o ne has maintained the
time-ho no red art o f building massively unnecessary
bro nze and co ncrete mo numents. No o ne, that is,
except the fine revo lutio naries o f the Mansudae Art
Studio s, o ne o f the largest co ntributo rs to the DPRK’s
eco no my. No t co ntent with keeping all o f the giant
mo numents and statues to themselves, the 40 0 0 artists
o f the studio wo rk in glo rio us revo lutio nary harmo ny to
pro vide the wo rld with great mo numents to great men.
Mansudae’s wo rk can be fo und in Syria at the Octo ber
War Remembrance Pano rama, in Senegal at the African
Renaissance Mo nument, and at state ho uses all o ver
Africa." Order yo urs no w—befo re it's to o late.

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