Daily life
Cisterns Hammams Ottoman houses Cemeteries and mausoleums Mosques Bazaars and streets Alexandrian portraits
“View of the Grand Bazaar or Central Market”, intaglio engraving, François-Charles Cécile, illustrator, Jean-Baptiste Reville, graveur, Description de l’Égypte, État moderne, Planches, Vol. 2, pl. 96.2
View of rooftops across the town”, intaglio engraving, Nicolas-Jacques Conté, illustrator, Pierre-Gabriel Berthault, engraver, Description de l’Égypte, État moderne, Planches, Vol. 2, pl. 95.2
“View of a street leading to the Old Harbour”, intaglio engraving, Jean-Constantin Protain, illustrator, Jean-Baptiste Reville, engraver, Description de l’Égypte, État moderne, Planches, Vol. 2, pl. 96.1
The public market, or Bazaar, is located in the middle of the town, and is partly covered with old mats and palm fronds, thrown in bundles on crossbeams that run from one house to another […]. In front of the shops, there is a sort of bench, two to three feet high, surrounded by a wooden balustrade; there the merchants squat on a tatty carpet, constantly smoking a pipe, with an apathetic air, turning prayer beads between their fingers. The foodstuffs they have spread out around them consist merely of a few baskets filled with edibles, such as rice, lentils, beans, chickpeas, dates, onions and other dried fruits from Europe, such as almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts etc.
Henri-Joseph Redouté, carnet 2, f. 26-27, BnF, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, MS-15433
“Pipes”, ink wash and pencil, François-Charles Cécile, Edme-François Jomard, Description de l’Égypte, État moderne, Planches, Vol. 2, pl. II.21-42