Label Text:
After contracting a mysterious illness during an expedition in Egypt, John Beasley Greene’s life was cut short at the young age of 24. Yet the pioneering photographer achieved a great deal in his limited time. A founding member of the still-active French Photography Society, Greene traveled extensively in the Middle East and was the first practicing archaeologist to use photography to document excavation sites. This photograph depicts the partially-unearthed ruins of the funerary temple of Ramses II, one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs. The expansive 13th century BCE structure included its own kitchens, supply rooms, and a school to train young scribes.

-Taylor Anderson, Art Museum Advisory Board Curatorial Fellow, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Sept. 2016)

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2015.11

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