Thirteen photographs of Luxor’s river front, boats and townspeople, made between 1851 and 1898.
This gallery is about the town rather than the temple: the river front and landing place, the yearly flood, passenger and merchant boats, dovecotes among the houses, and the people who lived and worked there. River boats carried people and goods, and the Nile flooded the fields every year. For old views of the temple itself, see Luxor Temple in old photos; for the village and palm groves at Karnak, see Karnak in old photos.
Nine views of the river front, the flood, the boats and the gardens around Luxor.
The landing place at Luxor, from Frith’s 1857 Nile series. See the line of the bank where boats came in; the river linked the town, fields and ancient sites. Today a road and promenade run along the river front.
Luxor during the annual Nile flood; the catalogue title reads “pendant l’inondation”. Photographed by Antonio Beato, 1860s. See how the water reaches the edge of the town. The yearly flood no longer reaches the town now that the river is controlled by dams.
A panoramic view of Luxor town and the temple area on the Nile’s east bank; the catalogue gives 1864 from the source caption, which is unverified, and the photographer is not identified. Notice how the buildings are grouped along the river front.
Luxor and its temple from the Nile bank in the 1860s, when village houses still stood among the ruins. Photographed by Antonio Beato. Observe the houses crowded beside the temple. Today the temple is cleared and the houses stand beyond its walls.
Luxor and its temple seen from the north; the catalogue title reads “vue du nord”. Photographed by Antonio Beato, 1860s. Compare it with the riverbank view to see the town from a second side.
A passenger boat on the Nile at Luxor, photographed by Félix Teynard, 1851–52. See how the boat is built for the river. River traffic was central to movement through the region, and boats still carry visitors up and down the Nile from Luxor.
The traditional dovecotes, or pigeon towers, of Luxor, which combined practical animal keeping with a distinctive local building form. The photographer is not identified; the picture comes from a Royal Collection Trust album compiled by Rev. J. N. Dalton, dated 1879–82. Note the shape of the towers.
Date palms and the garden of the Luxor Expedition, photographed in 1851–52. The title names the French mission that removed an obelisk to Paris in the 1830s. See the palms in the foreground.
Merchant boats on the Nile at Luxor; the catalogue gives no photographer or date. Notice how the sails and hulls are arranged. Sailing boats still work the river today.
Four pictures of people. They are named only where the source names them, and the source names none of these individuals.
Arab musicians at Luxor, a scene of music-making, with the audience unknown; the catalogue gives 1864 from the source caption, which is unverified. Photographed by Antonio Beato. The people are not named in the source. See how the group is arranged for the camera.
Water carriers at Luxor, a scene of water carrying beside the Nile; the catalogue gives 1864 from the source caption, which is unverified. Photographed by Antonio Beato. The source does not name the people. Notice how the scene is arranged for the camera.
The Camerons having breakfast on the platform of Luxor railway station in 1898, with their rifles stacked in front of them. The photographer is not stated; the picture comes from an 1898 Nile campaign album at Cambridge University Library. The station belongs to a later phase of travel, when rail was reshaping journeys in Upper Egypt.
A portrait of an unidentified Egyptian man, photographed by Bedford in March 1862. Royal Collection Trust says he may have helped the royal party or been a local inhabitant. Royal Collection Trust’s title names Medinet Habu, but its own text says Karnak, so the place is not settled. The print is unsigned and uncaptioned, and Royal Collection Trust notes that a second print (RCIN 2861552) is signed “F Bedford Karnak”. Portraits like this show how people were represented in early travel photography, alongside the temple views.
Who and when. The pictures come from several hands. Félix Teynard’s two views of 1851–52 were published as Égypte et Nubie in about 1858, and the landing place is from Francis Frith’s 1857 Nile series. Five are by Antonio Beato in the 1860s, and one is Francis Bedford’s portrait of March 1862. Four have no named photographer: a panorama, merchant boats, a view of dovecotes from an album of the 1879–82 voyage of HMS Bacchante, and soldiers at the station in 1898.
Reading the photographs. Start with the river front, then see how the houses sit against the temple in the views from the bank and from the north. The last section shows people; they are named only where the source names them, and the source names none of them. Some dates come from source captions that the catalogues mark as unverified.
Medium, size and old title for each picture appear under the photograph itself. Links go to the holding institution’s record where one is available.