Mosaic Club

Head of Niobe

Marble
Roman period (2nd century AD)
From Luxor
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization NMEC

‎ Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus, king of Phrygia in Asia Minor, and wife of Amphion who founded the Greek city of Thebes and built its walls. The Greeks considered her a patroness of education and knowledge, and a goddess of Thebes.
Niobe and Amphion had seven sons and seven daughters, all of them were of beauty and splendor, and Niobe always bragged about them, which provoked the jealousy and anger of the goddess( Leto) the wife of Zeus, who only gave birth to (Apollo) and (Artemis) . Which lead Leto to plan a revenge on Niobe, where Apollo killed the boys and Artemis killed the girls; Niobe wept for the loss of her children, until she turned to rock over the Mount Sipylus.

Egypt Through the Lens of the Zangaki Brothers

They were two Greek photographers who lived in Egypt in the late 19th century and had a photography studio in Cairo and another in Port Said.

The Zangaki brothers were famous for taking numerous photographs that reflected aspects of life in Egypt between 1860 and 1899, such as photographs of the pyramids , the Sphinx, the Nile flood , and Egyptian crafts. However, they excelled at photographing the city of Port Said, using these images in publications to attract tourists. The Zangaki brothers were also distinguished by their skillful portrayal of Eastern women, capturing their modesty and grace.

Interestingly, historians disagree on the brothers' real names; they only agree on their surname, Zangaki.