Accession Number
1980/1.200

Title
Abidôs. Temple de Séti I

Artist(s)
Pascal Sebah

Artist Nationality
Turkish (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1880

Medium & Support
albumen print on paper

Dimensions
17 in x 14 1/8 in (43.18 cm x 35.88 cm)

Credit Line
Transfer from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

Subject matter
This photograph provides an interior view of the mortuary temple of Seti I—a nineteenth-dynasty pharaoh from Egypt’s New Kingdom—now in a state of ruin. Two massive, stone colonnades establish the vertical edges of the composition, receding back and converging toward the lower-center of the photograph. The plunging orthogonals created by the image’s single-point perspective produces a sense of deep space, which is nevertheless interrupted by the flat stone surface of a wall opposite the viewer. Stark contrasts between dark and light tones enhance the picture’s visual drama, though they also obscure somewhat the architectural and sculptural details of the building.    

Physical Description
This photograph shows a narrow corridor flanked on either side by two rows of massive, stone columns. 

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Egypt
Seti
columns
columns (architectural elements)
hieroglyphics
ruins
temples (buildings)
travel photography