Breasted Gallery

Looking down on the island of Philae and its temples, Egypt, 1905.Artist: Underwood & Underwood

Looking down on the island of Philae and its temples, Egypt, 1905. Over on the right is the square kiosk which the natives call Pharaoh's Bed; it has no roof and never was finished, but it is one of the gems of the palace. It dates back from the Roman age. The building with the large pylon is the lsis temple. That little obelisk is one of a pair - the other has been carried to England. They were created in the time of Ptolemy IX (about 557 BC) and are of especial interest because the one now in England was the monument which enabled Champollion to take the first steps in his decipherment of the hieroglyphic, before he employed the Rosetta stone. Stereoscopic card. Detail. From a series called Egypt Through the Stereoscope, text by James H Breasted

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Looking across the Sacred Lake to the great temple at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, 1905.Artist: Underwood & Underwood

Looking across the Sacred Lake to the great temple at Karnak, Thebes, Egypt, 1905. This sacred lake, now the wallowing pool for the buffalos of the neighbouring peasantry, has been the scene of the most gorgeous pageants when the victorious conquerors of Syria returned to celebrate their triumphs in the state temple. In his glittering barge, resplendent with gold and precious stones, the god was borne around this lake, followed by a long line of gaily decorated boats carrying the king, the white-robed priests and crowds of the royal favourites... while lines of wretched captives stood waiting to be led into the temple, there to be sacrificed. Stereoscopic card. Detail. From a series called Egypt Through the Stereoscope, text by James H Breasted

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

An Egyptian sakieh, or ox-driven bucket pump, Egypt, 1905.Artist: Underwood & Underwood

An Egyptian sakieh, or ox-driven bucket pump, Egypt, 1905. This machine, known as a sakieh, is familiar to us, in a less primitive form, as the bucket- or chain-pump. A wheel which you see out yonder next to the river, as it revolves over the water, carries an endless band of palm rope, which hangs in a loop in the waters beneath the wheel. Distributed at intervals along this band are carthern jars, which, at the wheel revolves and the band moves, are carried down into the water, filled and continually raised to the top. Stereoscopic card. Detail. From a series called Egypt Through the Stereoscope, text by James H Breasted

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images