[1][2] Robert often depicted scenes with ancient Egyptian and classical architecture, which was a common thematic subject of Romanticism.

[3] Despite the painting's setting, Robert had never visited Egypt, and likely based the work on studies of ancient Egyptian monuments in Rome.

[4] The main subject of the painting are nine female figures who are performing the farandole dance around the base of an obelisk.

[6][7] Some have interpreted the nine dancing figures in the work as being a reference to the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters,[8] a prominent French fraternity whose members included Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin.

[11][12] The work is also thought to have been inspired by the events leading up to the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, which was undertaken by Napoleon in 1798.