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| Karnak: Avenue of Sphinxes. Postcard issued 1920 - 1929 |
Back in 2012 the New York Public Library put online a gallery of over 9,000 photographs and illustrations from the Middle East, dating from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. I've been scrolling through these amazing images and tonight I settled on the photos and postcards of Karnak Temple in Egypt. I visited this temple back in 2010 and snapped a pile of photos. Below is a mixture of the old (NYPL) and the new (mine) and as close as I could get to a Then and Now theme...
All older photos titled as per the NYPL catelogue
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| Karnak, the sphynx street. Postcard issued 1901 - 1907 |
Some of the older photos show just how much ancient monuments have been restored and in some cases just how little...
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Karnak: vue des colonnes du milieu (view of the middle columns) Created 1860 - 1869
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| My inadvertantly, almost exact shot in 2010 |
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| Thebes: Ramesseum, statues d'Osiris.Date Issued 1870 -1875 |
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| Not the same angle but part of the same series of statues |
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| Karnak: Gr[and] Temple, la colonne penchée (Grand Temple, leaning column. Date Issued 1870 - 1875 |
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| The granite pylon, Karnac. Date Issued 1862 |
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| I believe this is the same entrance and you can see just how much has been restored |
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| Thèbes. Palais de Karnak, grand pylone du s-o (Karnak Palace, great pylon of the so) Sate Issued 1852 |
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| View from the opposite side 2010 |
The following photos I do not have versions of, however I'm including them as examples of just how ruined the complex at Karnak once was and because they're just so very cool...
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| Karnak - Temple of Amon. Date Issued 1840 - 1899 |
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Karnak Temple of Thouthmes III [Tuthmose III], les statues d'Amenhotep I. Date Issued 1870 - 1875
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Anyway, thanks for coming to my Karnak Then and Now TED talk. If you ever get the chance to head there please do, this is but a slither of what there is to see of this incredible place.
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