Francis Frith became a photographer in 1856 and in that year embarked on his first tour of Egypt, returning during the following two years. In 1858 his images were published to wide critical acclaim. Frith used wet collodion-on-glass negatives, which were introduced in 1851. Collodion is a light-sensitive solution of ether and guncotton (cotton steeped in nitric and sulphuric acids). It was poured onto glass pates and had to be exposed in the camera while still wet. This process yielded a high level of detail in the image. However, using wet plates proved difficult in the intense heat of Egypt. This photograph was produced from one of Frith’s largest negatives (40.6 x 50.8 cm) and captures the monumentality of the Egyptian landscape and architecture, the dramatic light and its play on sand and stone.