1877 · Historic photograph
The Sphinx, visitors and a pyramid
E. Béchard; album photograph. A useful record of how the monument looked amid later sand levels and exploration.
Gallery 07 · Photographs, archaeology and film
The archive
is part of the story.
Real historical photographs capture Giza centuries after the ancient builders—but long before the modern tourist landscape. Each record is dated, linked and distinguished from our digital reconstructions.
Historical photograph records
These archive cards lead directly to the Library of Congress collection pages, where visitors can view and download the original materials as permitted by their rights notices. They are not AI-generated images.
c. 1880 · Historic photograph
Climbing the Great Pyramid
Library of Congress photograph records nineteenth-century visitors climbing the limestone masonry.
1860–1890 · Historic photograph
The Sphinx in an albumen print
A historic view held by the Library of Congress: the Sphinx as encountered by nineteenth-century travelers.
c. 1896 · Historic photograph
The Sphinx on a tourist route
A stereographic photograph of a famous monument already part of commercial tourism.
c. 1901 · Historic photograph
Pyramids from the south
Early twentieth-century stereographic landscape record.
c. 1906 · Historic photograph
Four pyramids of Giza
The larger plateau contains more pyramids than the famous three alone.
Watch · Licensed at the source
The media theater
Official films by Harvard University’s Giza Project. Video plays from YouTube only when you choose it; the film itself remains credited to its original creator.
Khufu Pyramid Complex · 3D tour
Harvard Giza Project visual tour of the pyramid and the surrounding royal mortuary complex.
Khufu Pyramid Temple · 3D tour
A closer look at the temple area, which changes our understanding of the pyramid as part of an interconnected ceremonial landscape.
The next archive additions
Properly licensed image enlargements, early excavation plans, historical Luxor photographs, and then-versus-now overlays. We will verify each image’s date and reproduction rights before hosting it locally.