Rare and Amazing Color Photos of Daily Life in Egypt in the Early 1900s

Vintage photographic lantern slides show off the beautiful Egypt of the past that protests and instability have obscured

The lantern slide — a transparent image on glass that was magnified and projected onto a surface using a sciopticon “magic lantern” — came of age shortly after it was first introduced by Philadelphia daguerreotypists William and Frederick Langenheim in 1849.

The lantern slide greatly broadened the audience for photography, then still a young art, introducing it into academia and the cultural institutions of the day by allowing teachers and museum curators to illustrate their lectures and presentations with projected images.

Egypt - Arabs on Camels en route to Sakkara. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street, New York. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Partly submerged palms above Nile dam, Upper Egypt. Copyright, 1908, by Stereo-Travel Co. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Camels, desert. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Donkey and Cart, Kasr-en-Nil. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street, New York. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Policeman, Cairo. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection

Egypt: Arab porters, Alexandria. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Donkey Boy, Cairo. This slide colored by Joseph Hawkes. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Buffalo Market, Gizeh. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street, New York. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Arabian Horse and Sais, Cairo. This slide colored by Joseph Hawkes. Hooper. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Pyramids of Dashur from Sakkara. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street. Hooper. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Sunset on the Nile. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Arabic Window and Native Bazaar, Cair. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Pompey's Pillar, Alexandria. T. H. McAllister, Manufacturing Optician. 49 Nassau Street. Brooklyn Museum Archives

Egypt: Arab water-carrier girls. Brooklyn Museum Archives

(via Brain Pickings)