Bab el Futuh, a City Gate of Cairo, Antique Niebuhr Engraving, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776 of a city gate of Cairo, the gate known today as Bab el Futuh. The caption reads in Dutch Bad el fitûch, eene Poort te Káhira. and in French Bad el fitûch, une Porte de Káhira., meaning Bad el fitûch, a gate of Cairo.

Two massive round towers, crenellated at the top and pierced with arched windows, flank a deep recessed entrance. Between them a crenellated wall with a row of small arched windows rises over a broad arch, and through the gateway a street with buildings can be seen beyond. Stretches of city wall run off to either side, with a tree at the far left. The open ground before the gate is busy with figures: a rider on a rearing horse, a horseman with a figure on foot at the left, people in long robes walking in and out, a group seated at the foot of the right tower and a small dog. A sky of soft cloud fills the top of the plate.

The credit C. Brouwer fecit. is lettered under the lower right corner, and the plate number Tab: XIII. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the first volume of Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation of Carsten Niebuhr's account, its title page reading TOME PREMIER. Traduit de l'Allemand. A AMSTERDAM, chez S. J. BAALDE. A UTRECHT, chez J. VAN SCHOONHOVEN & COMP. MDCCLXXVI. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom edge. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.