Large Speos - View taken from the Sand Slope (Temple of Ramesses II), Abu Simbel

Series Title: Égypte et Nubie, sites et monuments les plus intéressants pour l'étude de l'art et de l'histoire

Large Speos - View taken from the Sand Slope (Temple of Ramesses II), Abu Simbel

1851–52

Goupil et Cie

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

salted paper print from calotype negative

Measurements

Image: 23.9 x 30.8 cm (9 7/16 x 12 1/8 in.); Paper: 37.8 x 50.3 cm (14 7/8 x 19 13/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1992.234

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Location

Not on view

Description

While other images of Abu Simbel by Teynard, Maxime Du Camp, and Antonio Beato emphasize the massive scale of the two temples carved into the rocks, this view by Teynard sets the colossal sculptures into the context of the large cliffs and vast expanses of desert. Like the temple at Philae,the temple complex at Abu Simbel was relocated in 1968 to prevent its submersion beneath the lake formed by the Aswan High Dam. This view no longer exists.