Finding aid for the Henri Joseph Sauvaire photographs from the duc de Luynes's
second expedition to the Holy Land, 1866
Beth Ann Guynn
Descriptive Summary
Title: Henri Joseph Sauvaire photographs from the duc de Luynes's second expedition to the
Holy Land
Date (inclusive): 1866
Number: 2019.R.32
Creator/Collector:
Sauvaire, Henri Joseph,
1831-
Physical Description:
3.75 Linear Feet
(73 photographs in 3 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The collection comprises a complete set
of albumen prints corresponding to the 73 exposures on paper negatives taken by Henri Joseph
Sauvaire between April 7 and May 14, 1866 during the second expedition to the Holy Land
sponsored by the duc de Luynes.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
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Language: Collection material is in
French.
Biographical / Historical
Henri Joseph Sauvaire was a French diplomat, numismatist, Orientalist and amateur
photographer. He was born in Marseilles on March 15, 1831, and was raised by his merchant
uncle and guardian, Maurius Sauvaire, whose extensive dealings in Beirut and the Middle East
exposed him to the Arabic world at an early age.
After receiving his baccalauréat in 1848 from the Facilté des Lettres d'Aix-en-Provence,
Sauvaire studied Arabic at the Lycée Thiers in Marseilles. He began his career in the French
consular service as a chancellery clerk in Alexandria in 1857. In 1865, he was named first
dragoman in Alexandria, and was also made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Sauvaire lived
in the Middle East from 1857 to 1883, holding posts in Beirut, Jerusalem, Syria, and Egypt.
His last appointment was in Casablanca, Morocco, where, in 1876, he was promoted to the
position of Consul.
Sauvaire took up photography as a hobby in the late 1850s and joined the Société de
Photographie in Marseilles in 1860 as a corresponding member. He circulated among the
amateur "Orientalist" photographers practicing in the Middle East and France. In the early
1860s he made several photographs of the Orientalist painter, Camille Rogier, including
portraits of him alone, with his family, in tableaux vivants staged in the artist's Beirut
studio, and present in scenes shot in and around Beirut and Lebanon. Examples of these
images can be found in the Musée d'Orsay. Sauvaire was also well-known for his architectural
and archaeological views of the Middle East, which he exhibited and published in France.
Sauvaire acted as the photographer for the duc de Luynes's second expedition to the Holy
Land. Luynes's desire to record all aspects of the Dead Sea basin – biological,
climatological, historical, archaeological – had already resulted in his sponsorship of an
expedition in 1864 to that region which included himself, naturalist, Louis Lartet,
physician, Gustave Combe, and photographer, Louis Vignes. In 1866, Luynes's continued
interest in the largely-unexplored biblical and later Christian sites of the area led him to
send the architect, Charles Mauss, who was then directing the restoration of the Crusader
church of Saint Anne and the cupola of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and
Sauvaire on a second expedition, this time to Transjordan to explore and record the Crusader
castles once part of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, especially Kerak Castle at Al-Karak
and Montréal in Shoubak.
Eschewing the fragility and weight of collodion or albumen glass plate negatives, and well
aware of the problems that environmental conditions could cause when using them, Sauvaire
chose instead to photograph using paper negatives. This proved to be a fortuitous decision,
not the least since on April 13, less than a week into the journey, the two mules carrying
Sauvaire's luggage and photographic equipment collapsed in the middle of a river. In the
course of the five-week expedition Sauvaire made 73 negatives, on some days managing to make
eight ten- to –fifteen-minute exposures after first preparing the negative paper and then
carrying his heavy equipment up a hill before setting up his camera and preparing for each
shot. Sauvaire also carried out epigraphic surveys, translating the inscriptions he found,
and helped Mauss with his surveys.
Luynes was well-pleased with the work accomplished by the team. In a letter to Sauvaire
dated 7 June 1866, presumably after Luynes had received the materials Sauvaire produced
during the expedition, he wrote to the diplomat, "Your talents as epigraphist and
photographer have been instrumental in conferring great value on the exploration undertaken,
by virtue of the authentic evidence with which you have provided it" (excerpted in Foliot,
"Louis Vignes and Henry Sauvaire…").
Sauvaire and Mauss published their combined travel accounts as "De Karak à Chaubak: extrait
du journal de voyage de MM. Mauss et Sauvaire," in the
Bulletin de la
Société de géographie
(vol. 14, July-December 1867). Their accounts also appeared
in the second volume of the duc de Luynes's three-volume publication
Voyage d'exploration à la mer Morte, à Petra, et sur la rive gauche de Jourdain
(1874) as "Voyage de Jerusalem à Karak et à Chaubak." Fourteen of Sauvaire's photographs
were reproduced as lithographs by Eugène Cicéri for the accompanying
Atlas (eight of the 12 prints depicting Kerak Castle are erroneously attributed
to Vignes).
Over the course of his life in the Middle East Sauvaire assembled a large collection of
Arabic manuscripts and coins. Many of his scholarly publications, such as
Histoire de Jérusalem et d'Hébron depuis Abraham jusqu'à à la fin du XVe
siecle de J.-C.: fragments de la chronique de Moudjir-ed-din traduits sur le texte
arabe
(1876), were translations and commentaries on Arabic manuscripts. He also
wrote extensively on Muslim numismatics and metrology. Between 1875 and 1882, he published a
series of articles in
Journal asiatique titled "Matériaux
pour servir à l'histoire de la numismatique et de la mé́trologie musulmanes, traduits, ou
recueillis et mis en ordre" in which he assembled and organized a large and scattered body
of historical sources. The "Matériaux" has since served as a standard reference for the
study of Islamic numesmatics and meterology. Regarding the "Matériaux," Gustave
Schlumbereger noted in his eulogy of Sauvaire published in the
Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
(1896), "Thanks to his tireless research, we now have a complete and reasoned inventory of
all weights, of all the measures in use in Muslim countries throughout the Middle Ages and
until modern times. His work is an inexhaustible mine of information for the lexicography,
the language of law and the history of Arab civilization."
In 1883, Sauvaire retired at Robernier, France, near Marseilles, where he continued to take
photographs and publish articles on Arabic subjects such as his "Description de Damas," an
abridgment of the
Tanbīh al-țālib of al-Nu'aimī, published in
Journal asiatique (1894-1896). In 1889, the Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres bestowed the title of Correspondent upon him. Sauvaire passed
away at his home on April 4, 1896.
Sources consulted:
-"Obituary Notice: Henri Sauvaire,"
Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1896
. London: Published by the Society:
p. 617-619.
Blau, Daniel,
Henri Sauvaire (1831-1896): Voyage d'exploration à
Hebron, Karak, Djafar, El-Heca, Chaubak, Dausak, Twahné et Zatt-Rass
. Munich:
Daniel Blau, 2015. https://issuu.com/danielblau5/docs/buch_sauvaire_90dpi.
Foliot, Philippe, "Louis Vignes and Henry Sauvaire, Photographers on the Expeditions of the
Duc de Luynes,"
History of Photography, vol. 14, no. 3: p.
233-250.
-"Vignes, Sauvaire, Placet, Nègre and the Duc de Luynes."
Art of the
Photogravure
.
https://photogravure.com/highlights/vinges-sauvaire-placet-negre-and-the-duke
Font-Réaulx, Dominique de, "Sauvaire, Henri (1831-1896)," in John Hannavy (ed.),
Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography. New York:
Routledge, 2008: vol. 2, p. 1244.
Schlumberger, Gustave, "Éloge funèbre de M. Henri-Joseph Sauvaire, correspondant de
l'Académie," in:
Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
, 40ͤ année, N. 2, 1896: p.151-153.
https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1896_num_40_2_707
Administrative Information
Access
Restricted. Contact the repository for information regarding access.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Henri Joseph Sauvaire photographs from the duc de Luynes's second expedition to the Holy
Land, 1866, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2019.R.32.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2019r32
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 2019.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Beth Ann Guynn in 2020. She also wrote the finding aid.
Digitized Material
The collection was digitized in 2020 and the images are available online:
Related Archival Materials
The repository holds the original paper negatives made by Henri-Joseph Sauvaire on the
expedition, along with his original handwritten inventory of the negatives. These items can
be found in Materials relating to the duc de Luynes's expedition to the Dead Sea region,
accession no. 2019.M.20.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises a complete set of albumen prints corresponding to the 73 exposures
on paper negatives taken by Henri Joseph Sauvaire between April 7 and May, 14, 1866, during
the second expedition to the Holy Land sponsored by Honoré d'Albert, duc de Luynes, in this
case specifically to explore the Crusader castles and ancient sites of southern Jordan.
The first photographs Sauvaire took present views of the al-Ibrahimi and al-Bakka mosques
in Hebron, where the expedition stopped after leaving Jerusalem before traveling southeast
to the city of Al-Karak (Qīr Mōav). At Al-Karak, Sauvaire extensively photographed the
castle, the town and its ruined mosque, while Mauss surveyed the castle site. The men then
began a two-week tour across the Karak Plateau, traveling south to the Crusader castle at
Chaubak (Shoubak). Along the way, Sauvaire photographed the tomb and ruins of the mosque
dedicated to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of Muhammad and an early convert to Islam, at
Djafar (Al Mazāār Al Janbūt) and a trade route fort at Kalat el Heça. While Mauss was
exploring the mosque ruins at Djafar, Sauvaire unearthed inscriptions dating the building to
727 CE.
At Chaubak, Sauvaire was only able to photograph the exterior of the castle, known as
Montréal, from below the round hilltop on which it is situated, as the local inhabitants did
not allow the party close access to the site. One view includes the expedition's camp at the
base of the hill. The expedition returned to Al-Karak along a different route from whence it
came, allowing Sauvaire to photograph the ruins of a caravanserai at Dausak and the
late-Roman temple at Twahné (Twahne). Sauvaire's final photographs of the expedition are of
the Nabatean or Roman temples at Zat-Rass (Dhat Ras). In addition to documenting the ancient
sites visited by the expedition, Sauvaire's photographs include portraits of Mohammed
Midjaly, sheikh of Al-Karak, and of his son and cousin, as well as a view of a Bedouin
encampment near Djafar.
At the end of the handwritten inventory accompanying his original paper negatives Sauvaire
records the number of images he took at each site (and its general environs) as follows:
Hebron–8; Karak–47; Djafar-3; el Heça-2; Chaubak-5; Dausak-1; Twahné-1; Zat-Rass-6 (see:
"Voyage à Karnak et à Chaubak. Nomenclature des photographies prise pendant le voyage,"
special collections accession no. 2019.M.20). The titles of the photographs as found in this
finding aid are taken from this inventory. Place names are thus in Sauvaire's
nineteenth-century French, with the modern place name, when different, given in parentheses
at the heading for each site.
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series:
Series I. Henri Joseph Sauvaire
photographs from the duc de Luynes's second Expedition to the Holy Land, 1866.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Castles -- Jordan
Temples, Roman -- Jordan
Mosques -- West Bank
Subjects - Places
West Bank -- Description and travel
Jordan -- Description and travel
Hebron
Qīr Mōav -- Antiquities
Genres and Forms of Material
Albumen prints -- Jordan -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- West Bank -- 19th century
Photographs, Original.
Contributors
Sauvaire, Henri Joseph,
1831-
Series I.
Henri Joseph Sauvaire photographs from the duc de Luynes's second expedition to
the Holy Land, 1866
Arrangement
Arranged according to Sauvaire's original handwritten inventory by site (see accession
no. 2019.M.20).
box 1
2019.R32-1
Hebron: Vue à vol d'oiseau
box 1
2019.R.32-2
Hebron: Vue du minaret sud-ouest du Haram
box 1
2019.R.32-3
Hebron: Vue de la coupole de la Dyaweliye
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...avec la partie supérieure du mur d'enceinte antique
du Haram.
box 1
2019.R.32-4
Hebron: Fontaine arabe près de la porte sud-ouest du Haram
box 1
2019.R.32-5
Hebron: Entrée du bazar d'el-Khalil
box 1
2019.R.32-6
Hebron: Vue intérieure de l'escalier ouest qui conduit au Haram
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Sur la droite, portion notable du mur d'enceinte
antique.
box 1
2019.R.32-7
Hebron: Porte de l'escalier sud-ouest du Haram
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ... avec une portion du mur d'enceinte antique et du
minaret.
box 1
2019.R.32-8
Hebron: Porte du minaret de la mosquée d'Ali-Bakka
box 1
2019.R.32-9
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Vue prise vers le sud et donnant l'ensemble
intérieur du beurdj
box 1
2019.R.32-10
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Vue prise du sud-ouest faisant voir l'angle
intérieur nord-est du beurdj
box 1
2019.R.32-11
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Face extérieure nord-est vue prise du
sud-est
box 1
2019.R.32-12
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Face intérieure avec l'inscription
box 1
2019.R.32-13
Karak: Angle nord-est de la forteresse avec toute la face
sud-est
box 1
2019.R.32-14
Karak: Face nord-est de la forteresse
box 1
2019.R.32-15
Karak: Petit beurdj demi circulaire de Bibars vu du nord-est
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Dans le fond à gauche, angle nord-est de la forteresse,
mentionné au numéro 13 et portion de la face nord-est du numéro 14.
box 1
2019.R.32-16
Karak: Ruines d'une mosquée
box 1
2019.R.32-17
Karak: Entrée ouest du souterrain qui donne accès dans la ville de
Karak
box 1
2019.R.32-18
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Vue prise du sud-ouest et donnant la face
extérieure ouest du beurdj
box 1
2019.R.32-19
Karak: Beurdj de Daher. Partie de la face nord du beurdj
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...a droite, flanc occidental de la forteresse.
box 1
2019.R.32-20
Karak: Porte de la mosquée
box 1
2019.R.32-21
Karak: Face nord-est de la forteresse et tranchées d'isolement taillées
dans le rocher
box 1
2019.R.32-22
Karak: Angle nord-est de la forteresse
box 1
2019.R.32-23
Karak: Angle nord-est de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Au fond à gauche, on aperçoit l'intérieur du donjon.
box 1
2019.R.32-24
Karak: Face extérieure sud-est de la forteresse, vue prise du
nord-est
box 1
2019.R.32-25
Karak: Angle est de la tour carrée qui flanque l'angle est des
fortifications de la ville
box 2
2019.R.32-26
Karak: Tour carrée de l'angle est
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Vue prise sur le versant du côteau opposé à cette
tour.
box 2
2019.R.32-27
Karak: Face sud-est de la ville,
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...comprise entre la tour carrée est et l'extrémité sud
de la forteresse.
box 2
2019.R.32-28
Karak: Vue générale de la ville prise du nord-est
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...du haut de la colline dite Ezzeheiza (le petit dos)
et située à l'ouest du dos de l'âne.
box 2
2019.R.32-29
Karak: Vue générale de la ville prise du nord-est et de la colline appelée
dos de l'âne
box 2
2019.R.32-30
Karak: Face sud de la tour carrée qui flanque l'angle est de la
ville
box 2
2019.R.32-31
Karak: Face nord-est de la tour carrée située au sud-est de la
ville
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...au nord-est de la tour demi-circulaire de Bibars.
box 2
2019.R.32-32
Karak: Enceinte extérieure de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Barbacanes et chemin de ronde. Entrée des
souterrains.
box 2
2019.R.32-33
Karak: Portion de l'enceinte extérieure de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Vue intérieure. Barbacanes, créneaux, chemin de ronde et
entrée des souterrains. Fait suite au numéro 32.
box 2
2019.R.32-34
Karak: Barbacanes et de l'enceinte extérieure de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry begins: Fait suite au numéro 33; and continues: Au fond, entrée des
souterrains.
box 2
2019.R.32-35
Karak: Barbacanes et créneaux des remparts extérieurs de la
forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Grand détail.
box 2
2019.R.32-36
Karak: Angle nord-ouest de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Vue prise à l'extérieur du sud-ouest.
box 2
2019.R.32-37
Karak: Angle sud-ouest du donjon de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Vue extérieure prise du nord-ouest sur le plateau
compris entre l'enceinte extérieure et la forteresse même.
box 2
2019.R.32-38
Karak: Portion de la face extérieure ouest de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Dans le fond, à droite, face intérieure du donjon.
box 2
2019.R.32-39
Karak: Vue intérieure du donjon de la forteresse prise du plateau
supérieur
box 2
2019.R.32-40
Karak: Face sud-est de la forteresse
box 2
2019.R.32-41
Karak: Angle sud-est du donjon de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry begins: Fait suite au numéro; and continues: Au pied du donjon,
ruines du Birket Nassar, et de l'aqueduc qui y amenait les eaux.
box 2
2019.R.32-42
Karak: Vue du grand Birket Nassar et de la tranchée taillée dans le roc qui
protégeait les abords
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: A droite, talus et rocher sur lequel repose le
donjon.
box 2
2019.R.32-43
Karak: Extrémité sud-ouest du Birket Nassar
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Portion du donjon et de l'enceinte extérieure de la
forteresse.
box 2
2019.R.32-44
Karak: Face sud du donjon de la forteresse
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Inscription rongée par le temps. A droite, en raccourci,
le petit beurdj demi-circulaire de la face sud-est. Au pied du donjon Birket
Nassar.
box 2
2019.R.32-45
Karak: Beurdj de Daher
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Autre vue prise du nord-ouest et donnant la face
extérieure ouest du Beurdj avec la face intérieure sud.
box 2
2019.R.32-46
Karak: Sortie intérieure du tunnel qui donne accès à la ville
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...à quelque distance de la tour de Daher.
box 2
2019.R.32-47
Karak: Vue d'une partie de la ville, prise de l'angle sud-ouest de la
mosquée
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Quartiers des Maaitha, Madjali, Chorafa, Bobeysat, et.
Dans le fond, façade nord-est de la forteresse dominant la ville.
box 2
2019.R.32-48
Karak: Fenêtres de l'angle nord-ouest du château, vue prise du sud-ouest à
l'intérieur
box 2
2019.R.32-49
Karak: Vue de la face sud-est de la forteresse prise du Redjoum
Essabha
box 2
2019.R.32-50
Karak: Vue sud-est de la ville
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: Partie comprise entre le beurdj demi-circulaire et la
tour carrée de l'angle est.
box 3
2019.R.32-51
Portrait du cheikh Mosleh, fils de Mohammed Midjaly
box 3
2019.R.32-52
Karak: Vue de l'église grecque et d'une partie de l'enclos dans lequel nous
étions campés
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...avec la petite maison qui nous servait d'atelier.
box 3
2019.R.32-53
Portrait du cheikh Mohammed Midjaly et de son cousin Khalil
box 3
2019.R.32-72
Karak: Vue des fortifications ouest de la forteresse prise du wady
Safsafa
box 3
2019.R.32-73
Karak: Vue générale des fortifications ouest de Karak
Scope and Content Note
Inventory entry continues: ...prise du sommet du versant oriental du wady
Safsafa.
Djafar (Al Mazār Al Janbūt)
box 3
2019.R.32-54
Djafar: Vue du turbé de Djafar
box 3
2019.R.32-55
Djafar: Vue de la mosquée située au sud du turbé de Djafar
box 3
2019.R.32-56
Djafar: Vue d'un campement arabe qui se trouvait dans les environs du turbé
de Djafar
box 3
2019.R.32-57
El Heça: Face sud-ouest du kalat el Heça
box 3
2019.R.32-58
El Heça: Vue du pont sur lequel passe la route du hadj prise du sud-ouest à
quelque distance du kalat el Heça
box 3
2019.R.32-59
Chaubak: Face sud-ouest du sud des murs de la ville
box 3
2019.R.32-60
Chaubak: Face nord des remparts
box 3
2019.R.32-61
Chaubak: Vue prise plus vers l'est de la face nord-est des remparts de la
ville
box 3
2019.R.32-62
Chaubak: Vue est des remparts y compris la porte qui donne accès dans la
ville
box 3
2019.R.32-63
Chaubak: Face sud-est des remparts
box 3
2019.R.32-64
Vue des ruines de Dausak
box 3
2019.R.32-65
Vue du Qasr de Twahne
box 3
2019.R.32-66
Zat-Rass: Face nord-est du petit temple
box 3
2019.R.32-67
Zat-Rass: Face sud du petit temple
box 3
2019.R.32-68
Zat-Rass: Dètail intèrieur du petit temple
box 3
2019.R.32-69
Zat-Rass: Ruines du grand temple
box 3
2019.R.32-70
Zat-Rass: Ruines des propylées du grand temple
box 3
2019.R.32-71
Zat-Rass:Vue générale des ruines du grand temple et des
propylées