‘Egyptian graves’ is the caption below this photo in the album my father brought back from Cairo in 1942. There is a contrast between grave styles: some like theirs pyramidal and reaching up to the sky from the open desert, others prefer to stay close to the ground, in the shade of a tree.
P.S. After submitting this photo for the ‘contrast’ challenge, I did some research about the graves in the foreground and responded to Laura’s comment below. I learned that they are in a modern Muslim cemetery built over the site of the quarry where some of the pyramid blocks came from. Since the time of this photo, 70 years ago, a wall has been built around the cemetery, hiding it from pyramid tourists.
I also discovered that the structure on the left of the photo is the pyramid tomb of Queen Khentkawes (c 4th Dynasty) built on top of a cube of rock which remained after blocks had been cut for the larger pyramids.
good use of contrast
Wonderfully interesting photo.
Thanks Angeline.
Thanks. I needed to find a contrast that wasn’t about dark vs light, since all the photos I’m submitting for this challenge are black and white. This one amused me, with its very different types of graves in the one shot.
I agree
Really interesting picture 🙂
Thanks Jennifer. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
What a great piece of history!
Lovely picture, one place my family and I want to visit…:)
So interesting. I wonder what determined the grave ‘style’. Was it social class? Kings in the pyramids and ordinary citizens closer to the ground? Your father’s photos are truly a treasure.
The ordinary citizens closer to the ground died quite recently, by comparison. The graves in the foreground are in a modern Muslim cemetery, built on the quarry of the pyramids, so I read. On the left is the pyramid tomb of Queen Khentkawes, officially discovered in the 1930s, a decade before this photo was taken.
If you go there, take a photo from this modern cemetery so I can see how much has changed in 70 years. Though, from recent photos I saw on Google images, there’s a wall built around the cemetery now so it might be no longer possible.
Good interpretation.
Thanks. I’ve looked at your blog, too, and found some amazing photos.