In the process of researching something else (this is how it usually works, and don’t even mention TVTropes)…

… I encountered this lovely group of photos by Félix Bonfils, a French photographer who was active in the Middle East in the 1800s. They are available in many places on the Internet, but I found them captivating and felt like they were worth a share.

Street vendors

Western Wall of the Temple, or the Wailing Wall

Group of Bedouin women

Western Wall

Western Wall

It looks as though some of these images may have been staged, others appear more or less candid – but they capture beautifully the feel of an age gone by.

To see more of Bonfils’ work, just do a Google image search for Felix Bonfils.

The Old Wolf has spoken.