Plenty of Nothing

The Ikeda Mission in Egypt

On the way to France in 1864 the members of the Ikeda Mission took time to visit the Sphinx. Photo by Antonio Beato. Source.

Old Cairo Opera House

The Khedival Opera House was completed in 1869, and burned down in 1971. The first opera to be performed there was Verdi's Rigoletto. The Egyptian-themed extravaganza Aida had been commissioned for the grand opening, but was not ready until 1871.  Source.

Karnak, 1862

The Prince of Wales and friends visit Karnak, March 1862. Photograph by Francis Bedford. Source.

Egyptian Arkadia

Byzantine Egypt had a province named Arkadia. Source.

Kit Kat

How did Cairo get a district named Kit Kat? Ghita Skali's The Kit Kat Project digs into it.

Nilometer

The Egyptians built stone gauges to measure the annual Nile inundation from the time of the Pharoahs until the construction of the Aswan Dam put an end to the floods. Source.

Alexander the Great as a Pharaoh

This granite statue is thought -- on the basis of its curly locks -- to represent Alexander the Great. He was ruler of Egypt from 332 to 323 BC, but he didn't spend much time there. The statue currently resides in the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt.

Colossi of Memnon, 1930s

An aerial photograph of the Colossi of Memnon, taken in the 1930s. Source.

Theodosia of Constantinople

It's the feast day of Theodosia of Constantinople, who was executed after she knocked a man off a ladder while he was trying to destroy an icon of Christ. She exhibits a degree of severity that you usually associate with the iconoclasts. There's something of Michael Corleone about her. That gesture of her right hand, normally meant as a benediction, looks more like, "Hey, you just watch yourself."

This icon of the iconophile is housed at Mount Sinai Monastery, near where God told Moses, "Thou shalt not make any graven images." Watch a documentary in which a monk ruefully makes this very point.

Christian iconography developed directly out of Eastern Mediterranean pagan iconography. The Louvre has an Egyptian shroud painting in which a woman holds the same pose as Theodosia, except that she's holding an ankh in her left hand.

Boats on the Nile

Barche sul Nilo, by Beniamino Facchinelli. Source. These are feluccas with two lateen sails apiece.