The Graf Zeppelin's Rendezvous with the Eternal Desert and Ancient Pyramids of Gizeh, Egypt
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Photograph
Keystone View Company
American, 1892–1963
The Graf Zeppelin's Rendezvous with the Eternal Desert and Ancient Pyramids of Gizeh, Egypt
1929
Gelatin silver print
Museum accession
1994.0428.0005
Inscriptions Printed in black ink on recto, LC and RC: Keystone View Company \ Manufacturers Publishers \ COPYRIGHTED \ MADE IN U. S. A. \\ Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., \ Chicago, Ill., London, England.
Printed in black ink on recto, BR: 8632 The Graf Zeppelin's Rendezvous with the Eter- \ nal Desert and Ancient Pyramids of Gizeh [sic], Egypt.
Printed in black in on verso: 8632 \ THE GRAF ZEPPELIN'S RENDEZ- \ VOUS WITH THE ETERNAL \ DESERT \\ It is impossible for the mind of man to \ grasp that vast stretch of time from the build- \ ing of the Giza pyramids more than 4,000 \ years ago, to the flight of the Graf Zeppelin \ when that lighter-than-air craft kept a rendez- \ vous with Egypt and the eternal desert. This \ close association of the new with the old arous- \ es in us strange emotions. It would not seem \ strange at all were we to hear the silent Sphinx \ emit a gasp of astonishment. \\ From the summit of the Great Pyramid we \ are looking east over the valley of the Nile. Beyond us lies a fertile land, green and smiling \ under the brightest of blue skies; at our feet, \ a dead stretch of sand, the beginning of the \ desert. Nowhere but from the summit of this \ great pyramid is there such a prospect of the \ most prodigal and unlimited wealth of life to be \ seen from the very heart of death. Behind us\ and about us is nothing but the silence and \ death of the desert. \\ Over on the horizon rise the roofs of Cairo. \ The river Nile is over there, too. It was the \ Nile and its cliffs that made possible the great \ pyramids. The cliffs furnished a limestone of \ the finest quality and the river, at high water, \ made possible the transportation of this stone. \\ Only about one-thirtieth of Egypt is pro- \ ductive. A population of 14,186,898—12,226 \ inhabitants per cultivated square mile—must be \ cared for. Knowing this, we can understand \ the necessity for utilizing the life-giving Nile \ to the utmost for the only rains this country \ receives are those rare cyclonic storms which \ come from the Mediterranean. \\ Copyright by Keystone View Company.
Printed in black ink on recto, BR: 8632 The Graf Zeppelin's Rendezvous with the Eter- \ nal Desert and Ancient Pyramids of Gizeh [sic], Egypt.
Printed in black in on verso: 8632 \ THE GRAF ZEPPELIN'S RENDEZ- \ VOUS WITH THE ETERNAL \ DESERT \\ It is impossible for the mind of man to \ grasp that vast stretch of time from the build- \ ing of the Giza pyramids more than 4,000 \ years ago, to the flight of the Graf Zeppelin \ when that lighter-than-air craft kept a rendez- \ vous with Egypt and the eternal desert. This \ close association of the new with the old arous- \ es in us strange emotions. It would not seem \ strange at all were we to hear the silent Sphinx \ emit a gasp of astonishment. \\ From the summit of the Great Pyramid we \ are looking east over the valley of the Nile. Beyond us lies a fertile land, green and smiling \ under the brightest of blue skies; at our feet, \ a dead stretch of sand, the beginning of the \ desert. Nowhere but from the summit of this \ great pyramid is there such a prospect of the \ most prodigal and unlimited wealth of life to be \ seen from the very heart of death. Behind us\ and about us is nothing but the silence and \ death of the desert. \\ Over on the horizon rise the roofs of Cairo. \ The river Nile is over there, too. It was the \ Nile and its cliffs that made possible the great \ pyramids. The cliffs furnished a limestone of \ the finest quality and the river, at high water, \ made possible the transportation of this stone. \\ Only about one-thirtieth of Egypt is pro- \ ductive. A population of 14,186,898—12,226 \ inhabitants per cultivated square mile—must be \ cared for. Knowing this, we can understand \ the necessity for utilizing the life-giving Nile \ to the utmost for the only rains this country \ receives are those rare cyclonic storms which \ come from the Mediterranean. \\ Copyright by Keystone View Company.
