Accession Number
1988/1.96.1-2

Title
The Memnonium, Thebes

Artist(s)
Francis Frith

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1857

Medium & Support
albumen print on paper

Dimensions
12 1/2 in x 17 1/4 in (31.8 cm x 43.8 cm);14 in x 18 in (35.56 cm x 45.72 cm);12 7/16 in x 17 3/16 in (31.6 cm x 43.7 cm);6 3/8 in x 9 in (16.2 cm x 22.9 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Frederick P. and Amy McCombs Currier

Subject matter
This photograph shows two buildings from the Memnonium complex at Thebes in Egypt. The background building, the Ramesseum, is a mortuary temple built by Ramesses II and completed circa 1250 BC. Its columns are decorated with statues of the pharaoh as Osiris, god of the underworld. The foreground figure sitting on the stone rubble in front of the complex provides a sense of scale and accentuates the barreness of the setting. The foreground building, which is partially cut off from view, appears much larger in scale and emphasizes the monumentality of the structures.

Physical Description
Two Egyptian buildings, each with columns, are depicted in a desert landscape with a man sitting on a pile of rubble in front of the complex.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
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Keywords
Ruins
Thebes
architecture (object genre)
columns
mortuary temples
necropolises
royal tombs
ruins
stone
stone (worked rock)
travel photography