The Principal Monuments of Egypt

Hector Horeau, Lithographs from Panorama d’Égypte et de Nubie, 1841

Hector Horeau (1801-1872), born in Versailles, graduated from the École des Beaux Arts as an architect. One of his first commissions was to draw the illustrations for Cailliaud’s book recording his second journey to Nubia, “Voyage à Meroé”. Horeau made his own first journey to Egypt in 1837. After recording Cairo, the Pyramids, Sphinx, etc., he hired a boat and set off for Thebes. He ascended the Nile, stopping off at sites of archaeological interest including the tombs of Beni Hasan, Asyut, Dendora, as well as Luxor, Karnac, Philae, etc. On his return to France, Horeau reworked his drawings using the daguerrotype technique of Pierre Gustave de Lotbini ère. Horeau’s fame as an illustrator is closely linked to some of his most remarkable drawings, especially his well-known bird’s-eye view of the Nile from Alexandria as far as the temples of Abu Simbel and the Second Cataract, which serves as the frontispiece of Panorama d’Égypte et de Nubie.