Here is a classic image of the Great Sphinx in Egypt with some of the Giza Pyramids in the background. Three persons in Arab dress are included to give scale to the picture, one standing on a ledge near the chest of the Sphinx, and the other two tending to camels standing on the outstretched right paw of the Sphinx. Other figures are barely visible in the distance, approaching the Pyramid of Khafre, easily recognized because it is the only one to retain part of its original polished limestone casing at the peak. To the left is the Pyramid of Menkaure, with two peaks of the Pyramids of the Queens beyond that. The Pyramid of Khufu, sometimes called the Great Pyramid, is not visible in this view, being off to the right from this viewpoint.

The photo is by Félix Bonfils (1831-85), a Frenchman who moved to Beirut in 1867. At first studio was called ‘Maison Bonfils’ but in 1878 it was renamed ‘F Bonfils et Cie’. This image is identified as being from Maison Bonfils, and so dates between 1867 and 1878. The author titled this work ‘Le Sphynx et les pyramides de Cheffren et Mycérinus’ which translates as ‘The Sphynx and Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure.’