Twenty-eight loose original photos (26 albumen and two gelatin silver; including two duplicates), all ca. 22x28 cm (8 ¾ x 11 in) or slightly smaller. All but one photo is captioned in negative, twenty-two are signed “Zangaki,” two – “Peridis” and one - “Marquis & Fiorillo” in negative. Several photos slightly waved, several with minor creases or tears on extremities, two with small losses of corners, a few photos mildly faded, but overall a very good collection of interesting photos.

Interesting collection of early original albumen and gelatin silver photographs of Egypt from the late 19th–early 20th century, taken by the prominent local studios of Zangaki Brothers, Pappa Peridis, and Luigi Fiorillo. Twenty-two photos by the studio of Zangaki Brothers show Cairo (Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque, Citadel and nearby Arab village, the Nile at Bulaq, a street view), Aswan (the Nile and railway tracks with various machinery), Pyramids of Giza (general views with Mena House hotel, the Nile and palm groves or a small dam, a close-up view of the Great Pyramid), Philae Temple (general views taken from the north, Temple of Hathor), Karnak Temple (Great Hypostyle Hall), the First Cataract at Aswan, three views of the “Olga” dahabiya boat on the Nile (Swedish flag is visible, two locations are captioned – the Elephantine Island and Aswan), &c.

Two images by the Greek photographer Pappa Peridis depict the panoramic view of Cairo and the alley of destroyed sphinxes leading to the Pylon of Ptolemy III at the Karnak Temple. Other photographs include two views of the Philae Island and Temple – before and after it was flooded by the construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902 (the second image by Marquis & Fiorillo shows the scale of inundation by the raised level of the Nile), Cataract Hotel in Aswan (built in 1899) and a scene of an official celebration in a town on the river bank – most likely, Aswan (with visible flags of Great Britain and the Sultanate of Egypt).

"The Zangaki brothers were born on the island of Milos. It is not known where they learned photography but soon after their arrival in Egypt, they became established photographers. The Greek brothers' photographs are very commonly found in tourists' albums assembled in the Middle East in the latter part of the 19th century. From their Port Said studio, they were in an ideal position to sell to those on the Grand Tour" (Jacobson, K. Odalisques & Arabesques: Orientalist Photography, 1839-1925. London, 2007, p. 277). Luigi Fiorillo worked in Alexandria in the 1870s-1890s. Pappa Peridis was active in Port Said and Cairo in the 1880s-1900s, being apparently associated with the Zangaki Brothers.