Egypt is the cradle of one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. A land fraught with secrets, legends and a completely unique culture. The New York Public Library recently posted over 9,000 stunning photographs and illustrations of the Middle East on its website. Some of the images date from the 17th century, while most of the photographs were taken at the beginning of the 20th century. These are the most magnificent examples of history, graphic and irrefutable. This is a story that cannot be returned, but which can always be admired by looking at these yellowed sheets of paper.
Alexandria.
Park in Cairo in the Qasr al-Nil area.
Mosque in Cairo.
Qasr al-Nil area in Cairo.
Camels in the desert.
Ascent to the pyramid.
The main and largest pyramid in Egypt - the pyramid of Cheops - was built on a rock to have a more solid foundation. And to prevent the pyramid from tilting, the rock was leveled before construction began. It is believed that initially the entire structure was covered with the Tours limestone, which eventually disappeared completely. Each block of which the pyramid consists of at least a cubic meter in size, and in total there are more than 2.5 million such blocks.
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Ezbekiyah Garden.
Bedouins in front of the pyramids in Giza.
Kafirs at the pyramids.
Karnak Temple of Thutmose III.
Juyushi Mosque. The mosque has been restored today.
Students at the Al-Azhar mosque.
Philae.
Statues of Osiris.
The road to Giza.
The road to the pyramids at Giza.
Step pyramid of Saqqara.
Sultan Hassan Mosque in the old part of Cairo.
Burial place of the Caliphs, Cairo.
Muslim rulers were called caliphs. This was the highest title, and the society ruled by the caliph was appropriately called the caliphate. This title was not successive - it cannot be passed on to a son, although in some dynasties (Ometsyads and Abbasids), this title was still inherited from father to son. Often the caliphs were spiritual leaders, and the direct rule of the people fell on the shoulders of the sultans.
The columns of the temple.
Obelisk in Heliopolos, Cairo.
Great temple.
View of the pyramids at Giza.
Pyramids at Giza.
If the pyramids in Giza were created from stone blocks, which, like bricks, fit tightly to each other, then the Great Sphinx in Giza was created from monolithic stone. It is carved out of a limestone rock and, as is now believed, was a kind of symbol of the Nile and the rising sun. No one still knows when, why, or, in fact, how the Sphinx was built. And the name of this statue was given later ("sphinx" is a Greek word), although in some sources it is called "the father of horror". Perhaps such an unflattering name for the statue appeared due to the fact that it was covered with sand for a very long time, and only the head remained on the surface. The sphinx was unearthed only in the 1920s.
Statues of Ramses.
Burial place of the Caliphs, Kait Bay Mosque.
Citadel of Mamelukes. Cairo.
The citadel and mosque of Muhammad Ali.
Great temple and sacred lake.