Karnak
1846-1849
Scottish artist David Roberts braved the deserts of Egypt in the 1830s to sketch these monumental ruins, capturing the Karnak temple complex long before modern archaeology dug it all up. You can see the massive columns and a towering obelisk standing against distant cliffs, while tiny travelers and camels on the sandy path emphasize just how gigantic these ancient structures really are. These detailed images were a sensation in Victorian London, acting like a 19th-century travel documentary that sparked a massive craze for all things Egyptian.