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Aswan Dam Photographs: Finding
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photCL Burndy 1
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Title: Aswan Dam Photographs
Dates (inclusive): 1899-1933
Bulk dates: 1899-1912; 1930-1933
Collection Number: photCL Burndy 1
Extent:
approximately 1750 photographs in 22 volumes and 7 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The Aswan Dam Photographs collection contains more than 1750 black-and-white photographs in 28 albums that documented the
construction of the first Aswan Dam
(later known as the Aswan Low Dam or the Old Aswan Dam), a masonry buttress dam located on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt,
between 1899 and 1902, as well as the first dam
heightening (1907 to 1912), the second heightening from (1930 to 1933), and work on the Asyut and Isna Barrages. Some of the
volumes are presentation albums inscribed
to civil engineers involved in the project.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
Aswan Dam Photographs, Burndy Library Collection. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Dibner Family, Burndy Library Collection, November 2006.
Custodial History
The albums were purchased for the Burndy Library Collection between 1999 and 2001
from book dealers including Marlborough Rare Books, C. J. Dennistoun Rare Books, and Charles B. Wood III Antiquarian Booksellers.
As part of the Burndy Library Collection, the volumes were identified as Aswan Dam ASW and given consecutive call numbers
in addition to their album numbers:
Album 1 (ASW 2); Album 2 (ASW 3); Album 3a (ASW 4); Album 3b (ASW 5); Album 4 (ASW 6); Album 5 (ASW 7); Album 6 (ASW 8); Album
7 (ASW 9); Album 8 (ASW 10);
Album 9 (ASW 11); Album 10 (ASW 12); Album 11 (ASW 13); Album 12 (ASW 14); Album 13 (ASW 15); Album 14 (ASW 16); Album 15
(ASW 17); Album 16 (ASW 18);
Album 17 (ASW 19); Album 18 (ASW 20); Album 19 (ASW 21); Album 20 (ASW 22); Album 21 (ASW 23); Album 22 (ASW 24); Album
23 (ASW 25); Album 24 (ASW 26);
Album 25 (ASW 27); Album 26 (ASW 28); Album 27 (ASW 29); Album 28 (ASW 30). ASW 1 was received by The Huntington Library as
an empty box marked "Collection Documents."
The first Aswan Dam (later known as the Aswan Low Dam or the Old Aswan Dam) is a masonry buttress dam located on the Nile
River in Aswan, Egypt. Construction on the dam began in 1899 and ended in 1902,
and at the time of its completion, it was the world's largest masonry dam. The dam was constructed as part of a British-led
effort, tasked largely to William E. Garstin, the British Under-Secretary of State for Public Works in Egypt,
to control river levels, reduce flooding, and improve irrigation and
agriculture in the Nile River region.
In 1898, the Egyptian Minister of Public Works, Hussein Fakhry Pasha, contracted the British engineering firm of John Aird
& Co. to construct the Aswan Dam, with Ransomes & Rapier acting as sub-contractors
for the project's ironwork. Maurice FitzMaurice served as the chief resident engineer for the project. The work was done primarily
by Egyptian workers and Italian granite masons. The foundation stone was laid by
Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught, on February 12, 1899, and he returned to open the dam officially on December 10, 1902.
Designed to create a reservoir to store annual floodwater for crop irrigation during dry seasons, the dam proved inadequate
to meet the water needs of its surrounding communities. As a result, two dam heightening
projects were under taken in 1907–1912 and in 1929–1933 to create additional reservoir space to hold water needed during times
of low river levels.
In addition to the dam itself, the Asyut Barrage (also spelled Assuit or Assiout) was finished in 1902, and the Isna Barrage
(or Esna) was completed in 1908.
In 1970, a new dam was completed south of the Aswan Dam known as the Sadd-el-Aali Dam (or Aswan High Dam).
The Aswan Dam Photographs collection contains 28 albums containing more than 1750 black-and-white photographs (most approximately
8 x 10 in. format), documenting the construction of the first Aswan Dam and Asyut Barrage from 1899 to 1902, the first dam
heightening from 1907 to 1912,
the Isna Barrage from 1907 to 1909,
and the second heightening from 1930 to 1933.
The images chiefly chronicle progress at the construction sites and depict laborers, masonry work, excavating, the transportation
of materials and equipment, and the building of the locks, buttresses, gates, canals, and bridges,
with many views of the Nile River. In addition there are images of repairs to the temple at Philae (in Albums 1, 3b, 4, and
12), and some photographs of ceremonies including the H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught
laying the foundation stone on February 29, 1908 (Album 10, pages 8-9), and the
laying of the final stone with Abbas II Hilmi, the Khedive of Egypt, on February 9, 1909 (Album 5, page 24).
The collection consists of both nondescript albums with affixed photographs accompanied by typed or handwritten captions,
as well as more formal presentation albums, which include inscriptions of W. L. Lowe Brown, resident
engineer at the Asyut Barrage (Album 1); John Aird, whose company constructed the dam (Albums 2, 6, and 8)
Murdoch MacDonald, chief engineer beginning in 1902 (Album 3);
While most of the albums are limited to photographs and captions, Album 1 and 2 have an eight-page printed preface by William
E. Garstin and Albums 5 and 6
have two introductory pages of printed explanatory notes by Murdoch MacDonald.
Photographers engaged in documenting the construction and heightening projects were D.S. George (construction of the Aswan
Dam and first heightening),
F. Fiorillo (first heightening), A. Gianny (viewing of Aswan Dam), A. Marques (first heightening), and other unidentified
photographers.
The photographs from six albums were removed from their bindings
and are now housed as loose photographs in boxes (Albums 3a, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16). Some amount of photo duplication
can be found between albums.
Photograph titles in the contents list were transcribed, when available, from descriptive captions and titles provided by
the photographer or printed in albums; titles in square brackets were devised by the cataloger.
Within the materials, there are variant spellings of Aswan including Assuan and Asswan.
The albums are arranged in the following four series:
- Series I. Nile Reservoirs works at Aswan, 1899-1906
- Album 1: Nile Reservoir works at Aswan and Asyut, [1899-1902] (31 photographs)
- Album 2: Nile Reservoir works at Aswan and Asyut, [1899-1902] (31 photographs)
- Album 3: Nile Reservoirs: views of Assuan, No. 1, 1899-1900 (206 photographs)
- Album 4: Nile Reservoirs: views of Assuan, No. 2, [1899-1907] (98 photographs)
- Series II. Isna Barrage, 1907-1909
- Series III. First heightening, 1907-1912
- Album 8: First heightening, [1907]-1912 (21 photographs)
- Album 9: First heightening, [1907-1912] (20 photographs)
- Album 10: Assuan [sic] Dam No. 1, 1907-1909 (First heightening) (61 photographs)
- Album 11: Assuan [sic] Dam No. 2, 1909-1911 (First heightening) (60 photographs)
- Album 12: First heightening, 1907-1909 (93 photographs)
- Album 13: First heightening, 1909-1910 (98 photographs)
- Album 14: First heightening, 1910 (100 photographs)
- Album 15: First heightening, 1910-1911 (92 photographs)
- Album 16: First heightening, 1911-1912 (72 photographs)
- Album 17: First heightening, 1911-1912 (56 photographs)
- Series IV. Second heightening, 1930-1933
- Album 18: O.H.E.M.S. Aswan Dam second heightening, [1930-1933] (31 photographs)
- Album 19: Second heightening, 1930 (81 photographs)
- Album 20: Second heightening, 1930 (79 photographs)
- Album 21: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1931 (60 photographs)
- Album 22: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1931 (62 photographs)
- Album 23: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1931-1932 (62 photographs)
- Album 24: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1932 (60 photographs)
- Album 25: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1932-1933 (62 photographs)
- Album 26: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1933 (62 photographs)
- Album 27: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1933 (63 photographs)
- Album 28: Aswan Dam. Second heightening, 1933 (57 photographs)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Aswan Dam (Egypt) -- Photographs.
Buttress dams -- Photographs.
Dams -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Dams -- Nile River -- Photographs.
Earthwork -- Photographs.
Engineering -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Grouting -- Photographs.
Masonry -- Photographs.
Nile River -- Photographs.
Philae (Egypt) -- Photographs.
Semiskiled labor -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Skilled labor -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Sluice gates -- Photographs.
Unskilled labor -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Water resources development -- Egypt -- Photographs.
Photographs.
Photograph albums.
Presentation albums.
Aird, John, Sir, 1833-1911, former owner.
Fiorillo, F., photographer.
Garstin, William, Sir, 1849-1925, author of introduction, etc.
George, D. S., photographer.
Gianny, A., photographer.
Lowe-Brown, William Lowe, former owner.
Macdonald, Murdoch, Sir, 1866-1957, author of introduction, etc.
Macdonald, Murdoch, Sir, 1866-1957, former owner.
Marques, A., photographer.