Genre/Subject Matter:This street view outside the ‘Hamidiyah’, a two-storey building, described in the title as a government building constructed by Governor General Othman Pascha (cf. 1781.b.6/6; 1781.b.6/8), features many individuals in the foreground as well as a further multi-storeyed building on the right of the image. Awnings at the ground-floor level of the building on the right indicate that these may have been storefronts.The subject of this photograph is probably the same building identified in the drawing of a view inside the Masjid al-Haram (1781.b.6/2) as ‘front-side of the Hamidiyah’, indicating that the building – and therefore the viewpoint in this photograph – was probably situated south of the mosque.The style of the building is neo-classical with domed arches at the main portico as well as long square-shuttered windows on both floors. It was likely constructed during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) and was therefore relatively new at the time that this photograph was taken. To each side of the main entrance are iron railings and two gas-lamps.The negative has had hand-work applied, creating a drawing-like quality.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:IVPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Die H̱amīdijjah (von Othman Pascha erbautes Regierungsgebäude).’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.1 photographic print
Genre/Subject Matter:This west-southwest view inside the Masjid al-Haram of the Caaba and, behind it, the sacred mountain Jebel Abu Qubays (1220 ft / 460 m), which overlooks the Masjid al-Haram to the east. At the summit stands a squat, apparently unfinished structure which later became the Bilal mosque, according to later photographs, for example Photo 174/5 (
c.1907).The buildings that line the foothills of Abu Qubays, feature distinctive Ottoman-era architectural features, such as a
roshan(known elsewhere as mashrabiyya, or enclosed balcony), which are almost unchanged almost twenty years later in the same view by the Delhi-based photographers H. A. Mirza & Sons (Photo 174/5).Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:IIIPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Die Ka’bah.’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.Temporal Context:This photograph was likely taken by the Egyptian photographer, army engineer and surveyor Muhammad S̱ādiq Bey (1832-1902). The attribution is claimed by Durkje van der Wal in his publication
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje: The First Western Photographer in Mecca, 1884-1885, Amsterdam : Manfred & Hanna Heiting Fund, Rijksmuseum, 2011, p. 40. As such the picture is likely to date to his 1881 visit to the city. How Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje acquired the image is unknown.1 photographic printDimensions:169 x 210 mmFormat:1 photographic print pasted into volumeCondition:The print is in good condition with one minor surface loss in the lower portion of the image.Foliation:‘III’
Genre/Subject MatterThis panoramic view over Mecca showing most of the Masjid al-Haram and the northwest portion of the city is likely a print of a drawing after a photograph or series of photographs of the same view by the Mekkan photographer, and doctor, al-Sayyid ʻAbd al-Ghaffār.Numbers printed within the image refer to locations indicated in a key (in German) below the image. These are as follows: Office of the Qādhi; Castle on Jebel Hindi; Building housing the Zamzam well; Minbar; Maqām al-H̱anafī; Maqām al-Mālikī; and Maqām al-H̱anbalī.An additional note in German states that ‘the steps to the Caaba and the Maqām Ibrahīm, which is also the Maqām el-Schāfi’ī’, are obscured from view by the Zamzam building.'InscriptionsPrinted above image, in ink:IPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Die Moschee und der nordwestliche Theil der Stadt.’‘1. Amt des Qādhī’s. 2. Festung auf dem Djèbèl Hindī. 3. Gebäude des Zemzembrunnens. 7. Mimbar (Kanzel). 8. Maqām èl-H̱anafī. 9. Maqām èl-Mālikī. 10. Maqām èl-H̱ambalī. Die Treppen zur Ka’bah und der Maqām Ibrāhīm (zugleich Maqām ès-Schāfi’ī) sind hier durch das Zemzemgebäude dem Auge entzogen.’Scattered throughout image: numbers 1–3; 7–101 print (possibly lithographic) of a drawing after a photographDimensions:164 x 410 mmFormat:1 line engraving after a photograph, printed onto two pages and bound into volumeCondition:The print is in good condition with only minor surface dirt throughout.Foliation:‘I’
Genre/Subject Matter:This south-southwest view inside the Masjid al-Haram of the Caaba and surrounding structures is a print of a drawing after a photograph of the same view by the Meccan photographer, and doctor, al-Sayyid ʻAbd al-Ghaffār. This photograph, in the collection of the Universiteit Leiden's Oriental Institute, is reproduced as Fig. 14 in F. E. Peters,
The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.In the left background, a fortified structure can be seen. This is identified as ‘Jiyad Castle’. Some Ottoman-era buildings can be seen in the nearer background, immediately outside of the mosque, including a large pale-coloured building almost immediately below the castle. This is referred to as the Hamidiyah and is likely a building constructed during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II.Numbers printed within the image refer to locations indicated in a key (in German) below the image. These are as follows: Gate of the Banī Shaybah; The Hijr [Ismail]; Building housing the Zamzam well; Stairs to the Caaba; Maqām Ibrahīm, which is also the Maqām el-Schāfi’ī’; Minbar; Maqām al-H̱anafī; Maqām al-Mālikī; Maqām al-H̱anbalī; front-side of the Hamidiyah.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:IIPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Die Moschee.’‘1. Das Thor der Benī Schēbah. 2. Das H̱idjr. 3. Gebäudes Zemzembrunnens. 4 und 5. Treppen zur Ka’bah. 6. Maqām Ibrāhīm (zugleich Maqām ès-Schāfi’ī). 7. Mimbar (Kanzel) 8. Maqām èl-H̱anafī. 9. Maqām èl-Mālikī. 10. Maqām èl-H̱ambalī. 11. Vorderseite der H̱amīdijjah. 12. Die Festung des Djijād.’Scattered throughout image: numbers 1–121 print (possibly lithographic) of a drawing after a photographDimensions:199 x 260 mmFormat:1 print of a drawing after a photograph, bound into volumeCondition:The print is in good condition with only minor surface dirt throughout.Foliation:‘II’
Genre/Subject Matter:This full-length seated portrait shows a Meccan woman in bridal attire. She faces forward and looks towards the camera, both her hands held up, palms facing forwards on each side of her body.The most prominent features of the woman’s attire are her imposing headdress and embroidered bib or collar-like piece, which extends from the neck to a width in excess of the woman’s body and then towards her thighs. The piece appears to be made from twisted and embroidered fabrics as well as chains of coins. Two long plaits extend from her neck downwards across this piece before being woven into longer metal wands, appearing to extend the natural length of the hair. A bell is at the end of each. The woman’s robe is likely made of embroidered silk and she wears two thick anklets about her ankles. Tattooed or painted arches extend from the bridge of her nose upwards along her brow bone and down again to her outer brows.The woman is seated on a cushion-strewn seat or divan, covered in a monochrome printed fabric, featuring trees and shrubbery. Beading and an overlapping edge is visible on the upright part of the seat.The negative has had hand-work applied, causing it to take on a soft-shaded paint-like quality in places.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XXVPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Mekkanerin im Brautanzug.'A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower left corner.1 collotype printDimensions:136 x 98 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XXV’
Genre/Subject Matter:This full-length seated portrait shows a woman from Mecca. She sits face forward, looking towards the camera.She wears a pale-coloured shirt with decorative details at the cuffs, which is pulled up at the elbows. Around her shoulders and across her lap a translucent black gauze shawl is slung. Underneath this she wears vertically striped trousers. Her headdress is of printed or embroidered material. She wears rings on the little finger of her left hand and on the ring finger of her right hand .The negative has had hand-work applied, causing it to take on a soft-shaded paint-like quality. In particular the original background has been substituted completely, except for the carpet on which her chair stands.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XXVPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Mekkanerin’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.1 collotype printDimensions:137 x 96 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XXV’
Genre/Subject Matter:This full-length portrait shows a bearded, described as a ‘sweet seller (Djiddah [Jeddah])’. The man stands face forward, looking towards the camera. He holds two corners of a rectangular tray which rests on a three-legged wooden table, made of bound branches.Many sticks topped with bird-like and other shapes stand perpendicular from the tray. A pile of wider stalks can be seen on the left of the tray. One or both of these may be
miswakstalks (Plural:
masawik), which are traditionally chewed to sweeten the breath prior to praying.The man wears a white, button-up
thawbrolled up at the elbows over white trousers and a white headdress. He has one prominent bandage on his left foot.The man is photographed in a courtyard-like space with plants – some in wide wooden pots – foliage and a window, fronted by bars, visible in the background.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XXIVPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Süssigkeitskrämer (Djiddah).’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower left corner.1 collotype printDimensions:144 x 98 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XXIV’
Persien. Das Land und seine Bewohner. Ethnographische Schilderungen.Author: Jakob Eduard Polak.Publication details: Leipzig: F U Brodhaus.Physical Description: part I of two; octavo.1 volume (389 pages)This volume contains a table of contents giving chapter headings and page references. Each chapter heading is followed by a detailed breakdown of the contents of that chapter.Dimensions: 210mm x 125mm
Genre/Subject Matter:This group portrait shows a merchant, likely a Meccan, described in the title as the representative of the Grand Scharīf, and his Circassian slave.Both men wear embroidered or printed robes; while the man on the left’s outer robe is made of plain cloth, the merchant’s outer robe is made of material printed with a recurring, perhaps floral pattern and what appear to be embroidered lapels. He carries a string of beads in his right hand and wears a light-coloured turban. The man described as a slave wears a fez.The negative has had hand-work applied, causing it to take on a soft-shaded quality in places, particularly in the face of the merchant. The original background has been substituted completely.Temporal ContextThe photograph was taken between March 1886 and February 1887, according to Durkje van der Wal in his publication
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje: The First Western Photographer in Mecca, 1884-1885, Amsterdam : Manfred & Hanna Heiting Fund, Rijksmuseum, 2011, p. 36. This attribution is based on unpublished correspondence in the Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje Archive, University of Leiden Library.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XIPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Vornehmer Kaufmann (Bevollmächtigter des Grossscherifs) mit seinem cirkassischen Sklaven.’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.1 collotype printDimensions:249 x 185 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XI’
Genre/Subject Matter:This group portrait shows an Indian merchant and three Turkish officials as well as a young boy. The title notes that the Indian merchant is ‘distinguished’ or ‘noble’.While two of the men – seated at left and standing at left – each wear a janbiya at their waist under their outer robes, the man seated second from right holds a sword in its scabbard.The negative has had hand-work applied, causing it to take on a soft-shaded quality in places. In particular the original background has been substituted completely, aside from elements of the rug on which they are standing and seated.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Vornehmer indischer Kaufmann und türkische Beamte in Mekka.’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.1 collotype printDimensions:183 x 247 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘X’
Genre/Subject Matter:This full length seated portrait of two men shows two traders, from Mecca and Jeddah. Both face forward, looking towards the camera.The man on the left wears a medium-tone outer robe over a striped robe with a white turban. The man on the right wears a white outer robe over a buttoned inner jacket and a white turban.The two men are seated in what appears to be a courtyard space, with plants visible behind them.The negative has had hand-work applied, causing it to take on a soft-shaded quality in places. In particular, the part of the face of the man on the right that is shaded has been reinscribed.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XVPrinted beneath image, in ink:'Kaufleute (Mekka und Djiddah)'.A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower right corner.1 collotype printDimensions:128 x 90 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XV’
Genre/Subject Matter:This full-length seated portrait shows a bearded Indian pilgrim. He sits face forward, looking towards the camera.The man wears a full-length dark-coloured robe with a white undershirt visible on the left-hand side of his chest. He wears a light-coloured patterned skull cap and holds a walking stick in his clasped hands.The man is photographed in a courtyard-like space with foliage and a window, fronted by bars, visible in the background.Inscriptions:Printed above image, in ink:XXIIPrinted beneath image, in ink:‘Indischer Pilger.’A circular 'British Museum' blind stamp is located in the lower left corner.1 collotype printDimensions:138 x 97 mmFormat:1 collotype printCondition:The print is in good condition.Foliation:‘XXII’