It is a capriccio inspired by Church's travels to Europe and the Middle East from 1867 to 1869.

The composite image includes elements from sketches that Church made in different locations, including a rock-cut entrance from Petra in a cliff to the left, fallen capitals from the Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek in the lower left, Roman columns from Syria to the right, and in the distance across a body of water lie classical ruins that resemble the Acropolis of Athens or the Temple of Apollo [it; el; nl; fi] in Ancient Corinth, and the dome and minaret of a mosque from Istanbul.

In the foreground are three small human figures in conversation beside a road based on an oil study of three Bedouins.

Church designed a gilded frame for the painting, decorated with an eclectic mixture of Middle Eastern motifs, including stars and rosettes, and egg-and-dart and other moldings.

[2] The painting was bought by the railway tycoon William H. Osborn, a close friend and supporter of Church, and bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the death of his wife Virginia Reed (Sturges) Osborn in 1902.