5
Sep
2009
Cornish Ruins
The countryside of Cornwall is dotted with old treasures, ruins that could range in age from centuries to millennia. But they all have a rich history.
Memory Of The Land
Lanyon Quoit is on the older end. Built around 2500 BC, this neolithic dolmen is a also known as The Giants Table. In later times, people, who couldn’t fathom how they were constructed, believed objects like this to be the work of a race of giants. Possibly part of a tomb mound or possibly a ritual site, this was undoubtedly a place of great significance to the builders. It does not appear as it originally did. In the 19th century, it ws knocked down in a strong storm. Originally it had four supports and was much taller. It was rebuilt by the locals in 1875 as we see it today. Not surprisingly, there are also stories that King Arthur visited here.
Legends Of Arthur
Some sites are less ancient, despite appearances. This is Tintagel Castle, built in the 13th century by an earl of Cornwall. He was convinced that this site on the coast was the place where Arthur was conceived in the legends of the fabled King. He had the castle built to appear older than it was. The site didn’t hold much importance and the castle was largely abandoned within a century and left to fall into the ruins we see today. In the time of the Victorians, there was a resurgence in interest in the legends of Arthur and Tintagel became a tourist destination. Images like this are less common in my portfolio to date, but is actually a composite image. My photo of Tintagel castle was overlaid over an early 1900’s letter from my great grandfather to great grandmother. The yellowed tones and the script helps add to a romantic feeling I was hoping to achieve with this image.
For more prints from the United Kingdom, please check out my Britain Gallery.
25
Aug
2009
Stonehenge On The Plains
On my last trip to the UK, there was some repeat stops. Since this was my 5th visit to Britain, this should not be a surprise, however. The truth was, that my last visit to Stonehenge had been over 4 years earlier and before I bought a digital SLR and truly got into photography seriously, so it was time to return.
Ancient Plains
The second time through, I skipped the audio tour. They may well have updated it in the past four years, but I really just wanted to wander around and take photos and enjoy the view in relative silence. Unfortunately, a large road is nearby, which somewhat kills the feeling of those still plains that must have once existed, but it’s still an incredible place to visit. The skies shifted a lot during our time there as clouds rapidly passed by and the light (when there was any light) was special.
Round The Henge
The day we visited, I noticed that a professor I’d seen on the history channel, Mike Parker Pearson, was filming a piece on Stonehenge. The professor has put forth one of the newest theories on the purpose of Stonehenge. He believed that there would be a second site near Stonehenge and discovered a wooden contemporary village down a nearby river. He put forth the idea that the wooden village was occupied primarily at the spring and fall equinoxes and that on those days, the people who built Stonehenge visited it to celebrate and to mourn the fallen whose cremated remains where left behind here. It makes logical sense for a people who were far more tied to the seasons than most of us are today. But you have to wonder if we will ever really know the minds of the people who built this place 5,000 years ago.
Ruins Of The Lost
A last view of this incredible ancient monument to a lost people. I’ve been twice and although I would love to see more of these ancient stone age sites, I would gladly visit Stonehenge again. I’d love to get the chance to visit on an Equinox and see what the ancients saw. Sadly, I’ve heard from more than one person that Stonehenge was a disappointment. It failed to live up to their expectations! I find it hard to believe, but it’s not as large as some people think it is, and for understandable reasons, you are not allowed close to the stones anymore. Still, try to imagine building something like this yourself with nothing but stone tools, creativity and ingenuity! I know I wouldn’t know where to begin designing it never mind erecting it! You absolutely have to put a site like this into context when you visit it.
For more prints from around Great Britain, please check out my Britain Print Gallery.
18
Aug
2009
Karnak Temple Prints
Columns of Karnak
Karnak Temple was the last of the ancient temple ruins we visited on our tour of Egypt. It was definitely the largest complex we visited, although I’d be torn to pick a best. We were told that the Nile had flooded these temples and knocked down most of the columns and walls. What we see today is the result of close to a 100 years of restoration (and correct me if I’m wrong, principally French assisted). But righting these columns and walls has also given a lot of insight into what the construction process on these ancient temples was like. This column, for instance is one of 134 eighty foot columns that once supported the roof of the Great Hypostyle Hall in the precinct of Amun-Re. If you look closely, you can see it’s not all one piece, but made up of many disks. It’s believed that the ancients laid a row of these disks, built up the earth around it, added another and repeated this process until the reached the top. After which, they cleared the earthen mound that had formed to reveal the completed columns. Of course, knowing the “secret” to the construction doesn’t diminish the grandeur of this old temple!
Obelisk of Hatshepsut
This photo was taken from within a small temple looking out the doorway at a lovely obelisk and the reconstructed rubble around it. There’s something about the dark shadows and the stark divisions between that and the golden light that really called to me. The Obelisk itself is historic, in honor of an ancient female pharaoh of Egypt. Hatshepsut represented something of a golden moment in the history but was also perhaps embarrassing to later male pharaohs. There’s evidence of an attempt to literally erase her from the physical record but it wasn’t a thorough attempt and there were objects that survived to tell us her story today.
Lost Guardians
These rams were the apparent victims of changing fashions. It’s believed the once lined an avenue, possibly between Karnak and Thebes. They were found buried away within the ruins of Karnak, socked away and disused. Goes to show that people have always been fashion conscious. As much work as apparently went into these statues, their time too came. This is why they are in such good shape today! It didn’t hurt that they and the wall behind them were being bathed in such pretty morning light when we saw them!
Hollow
One final detail shot from Karnak, this wonderful bit of statuary an an ancient Pharaoh. I’m fairly certain we were told this was likely Ramses II. I also know that we were told that many of the statues of the Pharaohs were re-used. In a generation or two, the cartouche of the previous pharaoh would be wiped away and replaced with a new one. Sometimes archaeologists are able to discover who it was originally carved for through examination. Other times the best we can tell is the last pharaoh to be honored with a given statue. This one has obviously been damaged. Even so, enough details survive to impress us with the work of the ancient Egyptian sculptor.
For more prints from Egypt, please check out my Egypt Gallery.
16
Aug
2009
Luxor Temple Ruins
Luxor Ruins
Our first afternoon in Luxor, we wandered along the Corniche – the riverside walkway along the Nile (apparently used in Egypt but borrowed from the French). Our guide was pointing out things we could do, amongst which was the temple ruins at Luxor. We managed to come by just as the late afternoon sun was casting a warm glow over them. They look quite atmospheric, but they are not amongst the best ruins to visit. We were told we’d pretty much seen what there was to see but could visit. I’m not sure any of our group did visit, but I know this was as close as I got. I was satisfied with these wonderful shots of these ruins.
Luxor Temple
This is another perspective on the ruins – here you can see a distinctive New Kingdom temple with an obelisk. The temple ruins at Luxor was once the site of ancient Thebes and were dedicated to what was know as the Thebian Triad – the three gods popular in Thebes – Amun, Mut, and Chons. The temple was founded around 1400 BC. This shot catches a vibrant blue and gold sky with just a hint of the warm passing light casting on the stones.
For more temple ruins and prints from Egypt, please check out my Egypt Gallery.
28
Jul
2009
Egyptian Pyramids
There are many pyramids across Egypt, and if I ever make it back, I hope to see more of them, but I did get to see THE pyramids. THE pyramids being the ones on the Giza plateau in greater Cairo. These are the pyramids that were on the original list of the 7 wonders of the world. There were various iterations of this list – essentially a travel guide for the Ancient Greeks. When the 7 wonders were defined, the pyramids were almost 2000 years old already and another 2,000 years has passed since. That’s how incredibly old the pyramids are. And today, the only wonder of the ancient world that survives is the pyramids at Giza.
Footsteps of the Ancients - Khufu's Tomb
The last leg of our journey on local transport was a taxi. Being stuffed in the middle of a large station wagon taxi, I never got a peep of the pyramids that a few of the others in our group did. This instead was my first view of the largest of the 3 pyramids, the tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu. With the sun ahead of us, the only image I could possibly get shooting into the sun was a silhouette, but I made the best of it, casting my entire group of travel companions into silhouette as we marched up that hill to the pyramids. Khufu was the first of the pyramid builders at Giza. Construction of this pyramid took between 14 and 20 years and was probably completed around 2560 BC. Khufu reigned for 23 years and died in 2566 BC – so his lasting monument was constructed across most of his reign. I have other conventional shots of this pyramid, but this is the way I will always remember it, golden and silhouetted.
Wonders of Antiquity - Pyramid of Khafre
The second pyramid on the plateau at Giza was the tomb of the Pharaoh Khafre. The second pyramid could not outshine the first, so it was purposefully built smaller. Khafre is believed to be the son of Khufu, thus his reign and construction of his pyramid would have followed on the heels of his father’s. The top of this pyramid still has a bit of it’s original casing stones intact. All three pyramids would have originally appeared much different than today. What we see is the rough stone core. Originally, smooth limestone was applied to the outside. Some of it weathered away, but much was apparently stolen for building in Cairo in the middle ages. Khafre’s pyramid will always hold a special place for me as this was the one we went inside. Climbing in and out of that dark two way tunnel was quite an experience, but the thing I will most remember is the oppressive atmosphere inside. One of the group inside described it as thrice breathed air. Still, it was absolutely incredible, to stand where an ancient pharaoh was once interred.
Memories Remain - Menkaure's Pyramid
The last and smallest of the three pyramids was for Pharaoh Menkaure. There’s conflicting accounts of whether Menkaure was the son of Khafre of Khufu, but he succeeded Khafre as Pharaoh. Two coffins were found within this tomb in modern times. One held bones that were two modern to be the Pharaoh. A sarcophagi was also unearthed from the pyramid but lost in the sinking of a boat bound for Great Britain in 1838. There were smaller pyramids begun adjacent to Menkaure’s tomb, likely for family, but never completed. After this pyramid, no further were built at Giza.
Well Worn Roads - The Sphinx
The last thing we saw before leaving the plateau was one of the most enigmatic, the Sphinx. The best theory so far seems to be that the Sphinx was built by Khafre, possibly in his image. It was carved from solid stone on-site. It’s generally believed that there was a rock adjacent to the pyramid and the solution to removing the obstruction was to make it a monument itself. The pyramids seen behind in this shot are left to right, Menkaure and Khafre. Even now looking at these photos and remembering being there, it seems something like a dream. One of those things you see on TV and read about and never dream you’ll actually stand there, and I’m happy that I took the opportunity to visit.
You can see more prints from my adventure in Egypt in the Egypt Gallery.
