Sphinx & Pyramids of Chefren and Mankaura, Giza – Photograph via NYPL Digital Gallery



The New York Public Library has shared an incredible gallery of over 9,000 photographs and illustrations of the Middle East from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. These include, books, albums and archival compilations.

Monuments of ancient Egypt and the Biblical world figured prominently in the early years of photography. French Academician François Arago (1786-1853) endorsed the new medium in 1839 claiming it would provide a labor-saving means “to copy the millions and millions of hieroglyphics which entirely cover the great monuments at Thebes, Memphis and Carnac, etc.” Immediately artist-travelers took chemicals, cameras, and photographic plates of metal, and later glass into the regions around the southeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, to record the famous sights that had been known previously to Westerners only through the intervention of the artist’s hand.

In addition to early photographic pioneers Du Camp, Salzmann, Robertson & Beato, and Frith, the collection includes work by image providers catering to tourist travelers in the last third of the 19th century, such as Arnoux, A. Beato, Bonfils, Lekegian, Sébah, and Zangaki. The selection offers resources for exploring Western impressions of the Middle East in that era through the lens of practitioners of the new medium of photography, and in turn through the expectations, preferences, and assumptions of its consumers.

Below is a curated selection of 30 photographs of Egypt from 1870-1875. Enjoy!



2. Cairo: Tombs of the Mamelukes to the citadel

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

3. The Al-Masalla Obelisk, Heliopolos (Cairo)

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

4. Alexandria

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

5. Tombs Chalifs, Lower Egypt

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

6. Cairo passage of Kasr-en-Nil [Qasr al-Nil]

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

7. Old Cairo: Sultan Hassan Mosque and the Citadel

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

8. Cairo: Garden of Ezbekieh [Azbakia]

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

9. Cairo: Mokattam, Giyuschi Mosque [al-Juyushi]

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

10. Tombs Chalifs, Kait Bay Mosque

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

11. Giza Pyramids and Tombs of Bedouins

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

12. View Towards the Pyramids of Giza

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

13. Route to Giza

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

14. Cairo: Kafr Near the Pyramids

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

15. Route to the Giza Pyramids

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

16. View of the Giza Pyramids

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

17. Climbing a Pyramid

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

18. Cairo: The Citadel and Mosque Mehemet Ali [Muhammad Ali Basha]

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

19. Cairo: Mosque el Azhar (the students)

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

20. Cairo Mosque el Mouaiyad [Mu’ayyad]

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

21. Brechin [el-Badrashin] Ramses II Colossus, Lower Egypt

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

22. Sakkara [Saqqara] Step Pyramid

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

23. Camels in the Desert

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

24. Luxor: The temple, Ramses statues

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

25. Luxor: Temple and Columns

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

26. Karnak: The Grand Temple

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

27. Karnak: The Grand Temple and Sacred Lake

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

28. Karnak Temple of Thothmes III [Tuthmosis III], the Statues of Amenhotep I

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

29. Thebes: Ramesseum, statues of Osiris

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

30. Phylae the Booth

Photograph via The New York Public Library Digital Gallery