He also collected physical articles illustrative of the life of Palestinian peasantry and herders of the country, including rock and plant samples, house and farm tools, small archaeological finds, and ceramics.

His collection of 15,000 historic photographs and 5,000 books, including rare 16th century prints, and maps formed the basis of the Gustaf Dalman Institute at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, which commemorates and continues his work.

In his detailed appreciation of contemporary Palestinian customs and agricultural practices, Dalman was not limited to biblical illustrations or the recording of Arabic terms but took his examples to the pre-monotheistic past, as did other ethnographers of the time.

In the preface to Volume 1, Dalman alerts the reader to this: "Whoever undertakes such a task as a theologian cannot let himself be seduced by concentrating only on those points that at a first and perhaps very superficial glance seem to show biblical connections.

"[2] Throughout his text, he provides examples of how the most ancient customs are preserved by farmers across Palestine and Egypt, aspects that have either been forgotten owing to modernization and continuing conflict in this region that began with World War I. Dalman drew his wealth of knowledge on Palestinian agriculture and peasant life from his extensive communications with Tawfiq Canaan, enlarging on the same with other academic sources, such as the cosmographical work of Zakariya al-Qazwini,[3] and the botanical works of George Edward Post and Immanuel Löw.