Egypt - Following in Benwell's Footsteps in 2024

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Visit to Egypt March 2024    

(web page in development)


Travellers at Luxor 1877

'Travellers at Luxor' 1877 

 

Benwell site Luxor Temple 2024
Luxor Temple, 17 March 2024, from a similar viewpoint. Note the obelisk just outside the walls on the left, the minaret, top of the domed roof of the mosque, and the end of the row of column pillars on the right. 

 

Resting among Egytpian ruins at evening 1875

‘Resting among Egyptian ruins at evening’ 1875

You can see here that Benwell has used the same background of Luxor Temple that he recorded in his drawing or sketch made on his travels in the 1860s. The figures and groups in the foreground are different to those in 'Travellers at Luxor (above). Our visit was very useful, as it proved that this painting (place not specified in the title- just 'ruins') is in fact of Luxor Temple.


Benwell site Luxor Temple 2024
Luxor Temple, 17 March 2024, from a similar viewpoint. I am holding a photocopy of the painting!

 

Travellers at Luxor 1877, see above, by 3xgt granduncle Joseph Austin Benwell. It would have been drawn by Benwell on his travels in the 1860s and painted in his studio after his return to London. 


You can just see the obelisk, minaret and mosque (Abu Haggag Mosque) and the end of the row of columns. The sand/ground level was a much higher level then than it is now. This is well-documented, also mounds of sand can be seen in the painting. This explains why only a small part of the top of the mosque roof is visible in the photos - Benwell would have had a higher viewpoint in the 1860s. Also, the 'capitals' of the columns have been eroded. I am standing in the approximate spot he drew it from (looking from other direction in the last photo, below)..................................  It has been fascinating following in his footsteps 160 years later.................................(more to follow).



A A Caravan passing the Colossi of Memnon at Thebes 1876

'A Caravan passing the Colossi at Memnon, Thebes' 1876

Amenhotep III (reigned 1391-1353 BC) built a mortuary temple to the north of Thebes, which was later dismantled. All that now remains are the two gigantic statues of Amenhotep III that guarded the outer gates. The northern statue depicts Amenhotep with his mother, Mutemwia, while the southern statue depicts Amenhotep with his wife, Tiy and one of his daughters. They have stood since 1350 BC, and were well known to ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as early modern travelers and Egyptologists.


Colossi of Memnon 12 March 2024
A similar viewpoint of the Colossi of Memnon, taken early morning on 12 March 2024 on our way to the Valley of the Kings.

Amenhotep III (reigned 1391-1353 BC) built a mortuary temple to the north of Thebes, which was later dismantled. All that now remains are the two gigantic statues of Amenhotep III that guarded the outer gates. The northern statue depicts Amenhotep with his mother, Mutemwia, while the southern statue depicts Amenhotep with his wife, Tiy and one of his daughters. They have stood since 1350 BC, and were well known to ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as early modern travelers and Egyptologists.


Colossi of Memnon 12 March 2024

The Colossi of Memnon, 12 March 2024.

More to follow.......


'The Great Sphinx of Giza' 1886 (or, 'Resting caravan in front of the Sphinx of Giza'; or, 'Halt by the Sphynx, Egypt')

Material researched and written by Dee Murray. Website compiled by Dee Murray. All rights reserved.

All images on this website are either scanned or photographed from the author’s own resources, appear with permission of owners/copyright holders, or are in the public domain in digital format via websites such as HathiTrust, Openlibrary.org, the Internet Archive (archive.org) or Google Books. 

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