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 catalog record  for this collection. Click here for the access policy  .
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).
 

Hebron

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

 

Al-Karak (Qīr Mōav)

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

 

El Heça (Kalat el Heça)

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

 

Chaubak (Shoubak)

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

 

Zat-Rass (Dhat Ras)

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