Around 100 years ago, an Ottoman soldier who served in Palestine during World War I entrusted a wad of banknotes wrapped in fabric to Rusdu Efendi, a Palestinian merchant who ran a shop in Nablus, also known as “Sister of Damascus,” in Palestine. / VCG Photo

Rusdu Efendi didn’t break his promise. Throughout his life, he kept the currency and waited for the soldier to come back and get it. After he died, his nephew Ragip Hilmi El-alul continued his promise as Efendi delivered the banknotes to him. / VCG Photo

To this day, the family has kept the banknotes of the Ottoman soldier for over a century despite the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. / VCG Photo

Palestine was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for more than 400 years since the 16th century. Under the Ottoman rule, the Palestinian territory was organized into three states: Jerusalem, Gaza and Nablus, all linked to the Damascus Province. / VCG Photo