Lost Egypt photographs capture Nile Valley life
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The Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute created Lost Egypt, a collection of photographs showing Egypt’s Nile Valley from 1880 to 1930.
The Survey drew the images from an archive of over 800 glass plate negatives. These photographs document ancient ruins, temples, river life, and portraits of Egyptians and Nubians, a people indigenous to the region south of Egypt. The prints offer a look at Egypt before major changes brought about by the modern era.
Some photographs bear the signatures of 19th-century photographers Zangaki and A. Beato, and closely resemble souvenirs sold to travelers at the time. The Epigraphic Survey made the collection as limited-edition prints. The photographs provide a historical record of a landscape and culture that has significantly changed. They show details of a time when monuments were still partially covered by sand and traditional ways of life were common along the Nile.
