Photograph of the now-destroyed Tomb of Eve in Jeddah

[Photograph]. Tombeau d’Ève à Djeddah. Eve's Tomb at Jeddah.

[Saudi Arabia], 1875.

Albumen photograph mounted on card (96 x 56 mm). Dated in ink on reverse.

 1.500,00

Photograph of the small mosque outside Jeddah, now destroyed, which once stood above a tomb which popular Muslim tradition attributed to the burial of Eve. The tomb was dismantled by the authorities in February 1928 on the grounds that it encouraged superstition, and the site was further sealed with a concrete screed in 1975; today it is occupied only by a cemetery. However, early photographs of 19th century scenes survive. This one, dated 1875 on the rear, is captioned in plate in English and French, marking it as one of the souvenir photographs sold to European tourists who were becoming increasingly interested in touring the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, especially its holy sites, by the end of the 19th century.

One small tear, light fading.