Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

First World War Postcard of Native Women Carrying Water From The Nile, Egypt

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1900 - 1916

Overview

A black and white postcard depicting two women walking on the bank of a river. The women are dressed in floor length clothing with head scarves and bare feet. They both carry a two handled clay pot on their head and are walking away from the water’s edge. The postcard is in very good condition front and back with only very small fading of the proforma printing on the reverse. The top edge has perforations that suggest it was separated from another card. The front is printed with a description of the image, and the reverse has proforma printing.

Historical information

The image shows young Egyptian fellah woman carrying clay water jars, known locally in Egypt as a “ballas.” Such images, depicting people in traditional attire, were popular among tourists for documenting their journeys and compiling travel albums.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2022.1.180

Item type

Postcards

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Card

Width

87 mm

Height or length

136 mm

Inscriptions and markings

In machine printing, on the front “EGYPT. – Native womens carrying water from the Nile. On the reverse “POST CARD / EGYPT / L.C. - 210 / Femmes ind.genes porteuses d’eau du Nil.”

Keywords

First World War

Egypt

Place made

Egypt

Year

1900 - 1916

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Well provenanced