This photo is one of about a dozen which was in an envelope that was hand delivered to my great grandfather in care of the Russian Consulate in New York City on September 27, 1889. On one or another of the photos the location is identified as "Samarkand," and they certainly have the ancient air and magnificent scale of such a place! I call this photo "Cast of Thousands" because it reminds me of some of the old movies where they would literally hire thousands of people to fill in the crowds (unlike today, where they simply clone them in digitally!)