Photo of the Day 431

Man on Camel, Giza, Egypt, 1966

Photograph by Dean Conger

Sporting a kaffiyeh and robes, National Geographic photographer Dean Conger poses atop a camel near the pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Conger joined National Geographic as a staff photographer in 1959 and worked on assignments all over Europe, Asia, and the United States.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Abraham, the Friend of God," December 1966, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 401

Tomb Paintings, Bahariya Oasis, Egypt, 2001

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

Paintings adorn the walls of the mortuary complex of Zed-Khons-uef-ankh, who ruled Bahariya during Egypt's 26th dynasty (664-525 B.C.), a time when the isolated oases of the Western Desert were strategically important buffers against Libyan invaders. Archaeologists had been looking for his tomb since finding those of his relatives in 1938.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Egypt's Hidden Tombs Revealed," September 2001, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 370

Tutankhamun Tomb Mural, Valley of the Kings, Egypt, 2005

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

A mural on the north wall of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb maps out his journey to the next world. Here, the sky goddess Nut, second from left, welcomes Tut to the realm of the gods. The black, zigzaggy symbols in Nut's open palms symbolize a greeting.

Carved into the Valley of the Kings, Tut's tomb hid his mummy and funerary regalia until archaeologist Howard Carter revealed its contents to world acclaim in 1922. Though the peripheral rooms were looted in antiquity, the burial itself remained untouched.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The New Face of King Tut," June 2005, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 174

Tomb of Ti, Saqqara, Egypt, 1995

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

A wall relief from the fifth-century Tomb of Ti in Saqqara, Egypt, depicts kneeling scribes counting grains of wheat, and, above them, bakers mixing vessels of dough. Hieroglyphs, or picture symbols, were probably developed to add detailed information, such as time, place, and identity, to existing pictorial representations.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Age of Pyramids: Egypt's Old Kingdom," January 1995, National Geographic magazine)