Lost Egypt

Lost Egypt, Volumes I-III. A Limited Edition Portfolio Series of Photographic Images from Egypt’s Past.
The Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

The Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago produced a series of limited-edition photographs titled Lost Egypt. These exquisite photographic prints recapture images of the Nile Valley at the turn of the twentieth century, revealing glimpses of an Egypt that no longer exists.

The images reproduced in the portfolios are from the Survey’s unique archive of over eight hundred large-format glass plate negatives, which were taken in Egypt between 1880 and 1930 and which provide an extraordinary impression of the land and people of the Nile Valley as they appeared before the onset of the modern era. These views include the ruins of ancient monuments still half-buried beneath the sand, exquisite details of carved and painted temple walls, fleets of feluccas on the river, palm groves reflected in the waters of the inundation, and formal salon poses and ethnographic portraits of Egyptians and Nubians.

The prints in Lost Egypt are of considerable interest as examples of photography produced for early travelers to the Nile Valley, and some bear the signatures of the well-known nineteenth-century photographers Zangaki and A. Beato. The prints resemble in every detail those that were bought as souvenirs by nineteenth-century travelers.

The Portfolio Prints

Modern portfolios that contain new prints of early glass negatives are often mass-produced using an artificial light source and standard development techniques. The prints of Lost Egypt, however, were made individually, by hand, in the photographic studio at the field headquarters of the Epigraphic Survey, Chicago House in Luxor, Egypt, using the materials and methods that were employed by photographers of the nineteenth century and that are best suited for reproducing the fine details of glass negatives. The prints were produced on special printing-out paper imported from Paris by exposing the glass plates directly to the Egyptian sunlight. Exposure and toning were carefully monitored to produce the most beautiful image possible. The printing-out paper imbues the finished prints with the rich, dark sepia tones of early photographs, and because the strength of the sun and the exposure time are both variable, each image is unique. Finally, the prints are gold-toned for permanence and then dry-mounted and matted on archival board. Although the size of each image varies, each matted print measures 16” x 20”.

Volume I

• Dame turque sur divan, by Zangaki
• The Great Sphinx at Giza
• The Temple of Horus at Edfu
• Statue of Horus at Edfu
• Sety I and Iousaas
• Village Scene, by Antonio Beato
• Luxor Temple Across the Nile
• Offering Scene of Sety I
• The Mummy of Amenhotep II
• Dahabiyeh at Luxor

Volume II

• Temple of Abu Simbel
• The Nile during Inundation
• Femme turque, by Zangaki
• Tomb of Sety I
• Bishareen Family Portrait, by Zangaki
• Tomb of Sennofer
• Ptolemy VIII at Kom Ombo
• The Ozymandias Colossus at the Ramesseum
• Temple of Amun at Karnak
• Colossus of Ramesses II at Luxor Temple

Volume III

• Tomb of Ramose
• Voiliers arabes dans le Nil, by Zangaki
• Egyptian Farmers
• Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri
• A Lady from the Tomb of Userhat
• The Colossi of Amenhotep
• Queen Nefertari at Luxor Temple
• Temple of Luxor
• The Mosque of Abu’l Haggag at Luxor Temple
• Two Egyptian Women

Only 200 copies of each volume were produced, but select prints from Volumes I and II are still available for purchase from the last remaining copies. All proceeds support the work of the Epigraphic Survey. To order, please contact:

ISAC Museum Shop
1155 E 58th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
773.702.9509 (phone)
773.702.9853 (fax)
isac-museumshop@uchicago.edu