Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 2 of 2)

“After a long survey of the western valley, I could observe only one spot that presented the appearance of a tomb: accordingly I set the men to work, and when they had got a little below the surface, they came to some large stones; having removed these, I perceived the rock had been cut on both sides, and found a passage leading downwards, and in a few hours came to a well-built wall of stones of various sizes, through which we contrived to make a breach; at last on entering, we found ourselves on a staircase, eight feet wide and ten high, at the bottom of which were four mummies in their cases, lying flat on the ground, and further on four more: the cases were all painted, and one had a large covering thrown over it like a pall. These I examined carefully, but no further discoveries were made at this place, which appears to have been intended for some of the royal blood.

“Not fifteen yards from the last tomb I described, I caused the earth to be opened at the foot of a steep hill, and under a torrent which, when it rains, pours a great quantity of water over the spot: on the evening of the second day, we perceived the part of the rock which was cut and formed the entrance, which was at length entirely cleared, and was found to be eighteen feet below the surface of the ground. In about an hour there was room for me to enter through a passage that the earth had left under the ceiling of the first corridor, which is thirty-six feet long and eight or nine wide, and when cleared, six feet nine inches high. I perceived immediately, by the painting on the ceiling, and by the hieroglyphics in bas-relief, that this was the entrance into a large and magnificent tomb. At the end of the corridor, I came to a staircase twenty-three feet long, and of the same breadth as the corridor, with a door at the bottom, twelve feet high; this led to another corridor thirty-seven feet long, and of the same width and height as the former one, each side, and the ceiling sculptured with hieroglyphics and painted; but I was stopped from further progress by a large pit at the other end, thirty feet deep and twelve wide. The upper part of this was adorned with figures, from the wall of the passage up to the ceiling; the passages from the entrance, all the way to this pit, were inclined at an angle of about eighteen degrees. On the opposite side of the pit, facing the passage, a small opening was perceived, two feet wide, and two feet six inches high, and a quantity of rubbish at the bottom of the wall; a rope, fastened to a piece of wood that was laid across the passage, against the projections which form a kind of door, appears to have been used for descending into the pit, and from the small aperture on the other side hung another, for the purpose, doubtless, of ascending again; but these and the wood crumbled to dust on touching them, from the damp arising from the water which drained into the pit down the passages. On the following day we contrived a bridge of two beams to cross the pit by, and found the little aperture to be an opening forced through a wall, which had entirely closed the entrance, and which had been plastered over and painted, so as to give the appearance of the tomb having ended at the pit, and of there having been nothing beyond it. The rope in the inside of the wall, having been preserved from the damp, did not fall to pieces, and the wood to which it was attached was in good preservation. When we had passed through the little aperture, we found ourselves in a beautiful hall, twenty-seven feet six inches by twenty-five feet ten inches, in which were four pillars, three feet square. At the end of this room, which I shall call the entrance hall, and opposite the aperture, is a large door, from which three steps lead down into a chamber with two pillars, four feet square, the chamber being twenty-eight by twenty-five feet; the walls were covered with figures, which, though in outline only, were as fine and perfect as if drawn only the day before. On the left of the aperture a large staircase of eighteen steps, descended from the entrance-hall into a corridor, thirty-six feet by seven wide; and we perceived that the paintings became more perfect as we advanced further; the figures are painted on a white ground, and highly varnished. At the end of this ten steps led us into another, seventeen feet by eleven, through which we entered a chamber, twenty feet by fourteen, adorned in the most splendid manner by basso-relievos, painted like the rest. Standing in this chamber, the spectator sees himself surrounded by representations of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. Proceeding further, we entered another large hall, twenty-eight feet square, with two rows of pillars, three on each side, in a line with the walls of the corridors; at each side is a small chamber, each about ten or eleven feet square. At the end of this hall we found a large saloon, with an arched roof or ceiling, thirty-two feet by twenty-seven; on the right was a small chamber, roughly cut, and obviously left unfinished; and on the left there is another, twenty six by twenty-three feet, with two pillars in it. It had a projection of three feet all round it, possibly intended to contain the articles necessary for the funeral ceremonies; the whole was beautifully painted like the rest. At the same end of the room we entered by a large door into another chamber, forty-three feet by seventeen, with four pillars in it, one of which had fallen down; it was covered with white plaster where the rock did not cut smoothly, but there were no paintings in it. We found the carcass of a bull embalmed with asphaltum, and also, scattered in various places, an immense quantity of small wooden figures of mummies, six or eight inches long, and covered with asphaltum to preserve them; there were some others of fine baked earth, coloured blue, and highly varnished. On each side of the two little rooms were some wooden statues, standing erect, four feet high, with a circular hollow inside, as if to contain a roll of papyrus, which I have no doubt they once did. In the centre of the saloon was a SARCOPHAGUS of the finest oriental alabaster, nine feet five inches long, and three feet seven wide; it is only two inches thick, and consequently transparent when a light is held within it; it is minutely sculptured, both inside and out, with several hundred figures, not exceeding two inches in length, representing, as I suppose, the whole of the funeral procession and ceremonies relating to the deceased. The cover had been taken out, and we found it broken in several pieces in digging before the first entrance: this sarcophagus was over a staircase in the centre of the saloon, which communicated with a subterraneous passage, leading downwards, three hundred feet in length. At the end of this we found a great quantity of bats’ dung, which choked it up, so that we could go no further without digging; it was also nearly filled up by the falling in of the upper part. One hundred feet from the entrance is a staircase, in good preservation, but the rock below changes its substance. This passage proceeds in a south-west direction through the mountain. I measured the distance from the entrance, and also the rocks above, and found that the passage reaches nearly half-way through the mountain to the upper part of the valley. I have reason to suppose that this passage was used as another entrance; but this could not be after the person was buried there; for, at the bottom of the stairs, under the sarcophagus, a wall had been built, which entirely closed this communication; hence it should appear, that this tomb had been opened again with violence, after all the precautions mentioned had been taken to conceal the existence of the greater part of it; and as these had been carefully and skilfully done, it is probable that the intruder must have had a guide who was acquainted with the place.”

The rich alabaster sarcophagus, mentioned above, is now in the Soane Museum, Lincoln’s-inn-fields, London, and remains altogether unrivalled in beauty and curiosity. How it came there is thus described by Sir John Soane: —

“This marvellous effort of human industry and perseverance is supposed to be at least three thousand years old. It is of one piece of alabaster, between nine and ten feet in length, and is considered of pre-eminent interest, not only as a work of human skill and labour, but as illustrative of the customs, arts, religion, and government of a very ancient and learned people. The surface of this monument is covered externally and internally with hieroglyphics, comprehending a written, language, which it is to be hoped the labour of modern literati will one day render intelligible. With no inconsiderable expense and difficulty this unique monument was transferred from Egypt to England, and placed in the British Museum, to the trustees of which it was offered for two thousand pounds. After which negotiation, the idea of purchasing it for our national collection was relinquished; when it was offered to me at the same price, which offer I readily accepted, and shortly after I had the pleasure of seeing this splendid relic of Egyptian magnificence safely deposited in a conspicuous part of my museum.”

“On entering the sepulchral chamber,” says a writer, giving an account of the Soane collection, “notwithstanding intense anxiety to behold a work so unique and so celebrated as the Belzoni sarcophagus, I confess that the place in which this monument of antiquity is situated became the overpowering attraction. Far above, and on every side, were concentrated the most precious relics of architecture and sculpture, disposed so happily as to offer the charm of novelty, the beauty of picturesque design, and that sublimity resulting from a sense of veneration, due to the genius and the labours of the ‘mighty dead.’ The light admitted from the dome appeared to descend with a discriminating effect, pouring its brightest beams on those objects most calculated to benefit by its presence.

“The more,” says the same writer, speaking of the sarcophagus itself, “we contemplate this interesting memorial of antiquity and regal magnificence, the more our sense of its value rises in the mind. We consider the beauty and scarcity of the material, its transparency, the rich and mellow hue, the largeness of the original block, the adaptation of its form to the purpose, which was unquestionably to receive a body inclosed in numerous wrappings, and doubly cased, according to the custom of the Egyptians. We then examine the carving of innumerable figures, doubting not that the history of a life fraught with the most striking events is here recorded; gaze on the beautiful features of the female form sculptured at the bottom of the sarcophagus, and conclude it to be that of the goddess Isis, the elongated eye and the delicate foot closely resembling those drawings of her, given by the learned Montfaucon; and repeat the exclamation of Belzoni, when he declared that the day on which he found this treasure was the happiest of his life.

“Viewed by lamp-light, the effect of this chamber is still more impressive; for, seen by this medium, every surrounding object, however admirable in itself, becomes subservient to the sarcophagus. The ancient, the splendid, the wonderful sarcophagus is before us, and all else are but accessories to its dignity and grandeur. A mingled sense of awe, admiration, and delight pervades our faculties, and is even oppressive in its intensity, yet endearing in its associations.”

In respect to the tomb, in which this splendid monument was discovered, Belzoni, on his arrival in England, constructed and exhibited a perfect facsimile of it, which many of our readers will, doubtless, remember having seen.

“The ‘Tombs of the Kings,’ as their name implies[268 - Saturday Magazine.], are the sepulchres in which are deposited the earthly remains of the ancient Egyptian monarchs who reigned at Thebes; they are called by some Babor, or Biban el Molook– a traditional appellation, signifying the Gate or Gates of the Kings, which is by others applied to the narrow gorge at the entrance of the valley in which they are situated. This valley, as Champollion remarks, ‘is the veritable abode of death; not a blade of grass, or a living being is to be found there, with the exception of jackals and hyænas, who, at a hundred paces from our residence, devoured last night the ass which had served to carry my servant Barabba Mohammed, whilst his keeper was agreeably passing the night of Ramazan in our kitchen, which is established in a royal tomb entirely ruined.’

“It would be unnecessary, were it possible, to give a detailed account of these tombs, or of the sculptures which they contain, and of which our interpretation is very limited, because they often refer to Egyptian mysteries of which we have but a scanty knowledge. The tomb, which of all others stands preeminently conspicuous, as well for the beauty of its sculptures as the state of its preservation, is undoubtedly that discovered and opened by Belzoni. It has been deprived within a few years of one of its chief ornaments. ‘I have not forgotten,’ says Champollion, in his twenty-second letter, ‘the Egyptian Museum of the Louvre in my explorations; I have gathered monuments of all sizes, and the smallest will not be found the least interesting. Of the larger class I have selected, out of thousands, three or four mummies remarkable for peculiar decorations, or having Greek inscriptions; and next, the most beautiful coloured bas-relief in the royal tomb of Menephtha the First (Ousirei), at Biban-el-Molouk; it is a capital specimen, of itself worth a whole collection: it has caused me much anxiety, and will certainly occasion me a dispute with the English at Alexandria, who claim to be the lawful proprietors of the tomb of Ousirei, discovered by Belzoni at the expense of Mr. Salt. In spite, however, of this fine pretension, one of two things shall happen; either my bas-relief shall reach Toulon, or it shall go to the bottom of the sea, or the bottom of the Nile, rather than fall into the hands of others; my mind is made up on that point!’”

No dispute, however, took place, and the bas-relief is now in the museum for which it was destined.

“Nearly two thousand years ago, these tombs were an object of wonder and curiosity, and used to attract visiters from different parts of the earth as they now do. It was the practice even then for many of those who beheld them to leave some memorial of their visit behind, in the shape of an inscription commemorating the date at which they ‘saw and wondered,’ to use the expression which is commonly found among them. Some of these inscriptions are curious: one of them is to the following effect: ‘I, the Dadouchos (literally Torch-bearer), of the most sacred Eleusinian mysteries, Nisagoras of Athens, having seen these syringes (as the tombs were commonly called), a very long time after the divine Plato of Athens, have wondered and given thanks to the God and to the most pious King Constantine, who has procured me this favour.’ The tomb in which this was written seems to have been generally admired above all others, though, as Mr. Wilkinson tells us, one morose old gentleman of the name of Epiphanius declares that ‘he saw nothing to admire but the stone,’ meaning the alabaster sarcophagus. There are many other inscriptions: some afford internal evidence of their dates, and among them are four relating to the years 103, 122, 147, and 189 of our era.

“A great many of the painted sculptures, which are found in these tombs, relate to the idolatrous worship of the ancient Egyptians, and the rites and ceremonies which they practised in connexion with it[269 - The folly of the Egyptians in respect to their deifications is well known; and for this they are ingeniously reproached by the Satirist.Who has not heard, where Egypt’s realms are named,What monster gods her frantic sons have framed?Here Ibis gorged with well-grown serpents, thereThe Crocodile commands religious fear.Through towns Diana’s power neglected lies,Where to her dogs aspiring temples rise;And should you leeks or onions eat, no timeWould expiate the sacrilegious crime.Religious nations sure, and blest abodes,Where every orchard is o’er-run with gods!]. But besides these, there are others which afford us a vast quantity of interesting information upon the subjects of their domestic usages and every-day life. In one chamber are depicted the operations of preparing and dressing meat, boiling the cauldron, making bread, lighting the fire, fetching water, &c. Another presents scenes in a garden, where a boy is beaten for stealing fruit; a canal and pleasure boats; fruit and flowers; the mechanical processes of various arts, such as sculpture, painting, the mixing of colours, &c. In the Harper’s Tomb, (so called from there being among the bas-reliefs figures of a man playing upon an instrument resembling a harp,) which was first visited by Bruce, there are some curious illustrations of the furniture which was in use among the Egyptians; tables, chairs, and sideboards, patterns of embossed silk and chintz, drapery with folds and fringe are there to be seen, precisely such, we are told, as were used in our own country some years ago when Egyptian furniture was in fashion.

“The ‘Tombs of the Kings’ bring many allusions of Scripture to the mind, as is remarked by Mr. Jowett, as in the passages of Mark v. 2, 3, 5, and particularly of Isaiah xxii. 16. ‘What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself on a rock?’

“Another passage of the same prophet might be applied to the pride which the tenants of these magnificent abodes took in resting as magnificently in death as they had done in life; he tells us (xiv. 18), ‘All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.’

“The mystical sculptures upon the walls of the chambers within these sepulchres, cannot be better described than in the words of Ezekiel, (viii. 8, 10): ‘Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door; and he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in, and saw; and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.’

“‘The Israelites,’ remarks Mr. Jowett, ‘were but copyists; the master sketches are to be seen in all the ancient temples and tombs of Egypt.’ These are the places in which the dead bodies of the inhabitants of ancient Thebes were deposited many ages ago; and notwithstanding the havoc which, during many years, has been made among them, the stores of mummies which they contain would almost appear to be inexhaustible; indeed, as a modern writer expresses it, it would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that the mountains are merely roofs over the masses of mummies within them. The coffins, which are made of sycamore-wood, serve as fuel to the Arabs of the whole neighbourhood. ‘At first,’ says Mrs. Lushington, ‘I did not relish the idea of my dinner being dressed with this resurrection wood, particularly as two or three of the coffin lids, which were in the shape of human figures, were usually to be seen standing upright against the tree under which the cook was performing his operations, staring with their large eyes as if in astonishment at the new world upon which they had opened.’

“The miserable beings who have fixed their dwellings in these cavern tombs, are as little civillized as could be expected; our female traveller describes them as having a wild and resolute appearance. ‘Every man was at this time (1828) armed with a spear, to resist, it was said, the compulsory levies of the Pacha, who found it vain to attack them in their fastnesses. I, who was so delighted with the beauty and peace of our new abode, felt quite disturbed to discover that the very spot where we encamped four years before, witnessed the massacre of many hundreds of Arabs, then in resistance against this recruiting system, and who were blown from guns, or shot, while endeavouring to make their escape by swimming across the river. The poor people, however, behaved with civility to us, and I felt no apprehension at going among them with a single companion, or even alone. To be sure we were obliged to take especial care of our property, for which purpose the chief of Luxor assisted us by furnishing half-a-dozen men to watch by night round the encampment. Nevertheless, once after I had gone to sleep, I was awakened by the extinguishing of the light, and felt my little camp-bed raised up by a man creeping underneath; he fled on my crying out, and escaped the pursuit, as he had the vigilance, of our six protectors.’

“The feelings occasioned by the sight of the numerous fragments of mummies which are to be found scattered in every direction in the neighbourhood of these tombs, must be to one of a reflective cast of mind peculiarly affecting. The Rev. Mr. Jowett, after speaking of his ascent to the top of the Libyan mountains, ‘which command a magnificent view of the winding of the Nile, and the plain of the hundred-gated Thebes,’ says, ‘as we were descending the other side of the mountain, we came suddenly on a part where thirty or forty mummies lay scattered in the sand, – the trunk of the body filled with pitch, and the limbs swathed in exceeding long clothes. The forty days spent in embalming these mortal bodies, (Genesis 1. 3.) thus give us a sight of some of our fellow-creatures who inhabited these plains more than three thousand years ago. How solemn the reflection that their disembodied spirits have been so long waiting to be united again to their reanimated body! and that this very body which, notwithstanding its artificial preservation, we see to be a body of humiliation, will on its great change become incorruptible and immortal.’”

The following observations are by Mr. Browne: —

“The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of ancient Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the city of Jove, the city with a hundred gates, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms the classical observations, and Homer’s animated description rushes into the memory: – ‘Egyptian Thebes, in whose palaces vast wealth is stored; from each of whose hundred gates issue two hundred warriors, with their horses and chariots.’ These venerable ruins, probably the most ancient in the world, extend for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and west they reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The river is here about three hundred yards broad. The circumference of the ancient city must therefore have been about twenty-seven miles. In sailing up the Nile, the first village you come to within the precincts is Kourna, on the west, where there are few houses, the people living mostly in the caverns. Next is Abu-Hadjadj, a village, and Karnak, a small district, both on the east. Far the largest portion of the city stood on the eastern side of the river. On the south-west Medinet-Abu marks the extremity of the ruins; for Arment, which is about two leagues to the south, cannot be considered as a part.

“In describing the ruins, we shall begin with the most considerable, which are on the east of the Nile. The chief is the Great Temple, an oblong square building, of vast extent, with a double colonnade, one at each extremity. The massy columns and walls are covered with hieroglyphics, a labour truly stupendous. 1. The Great Temple stands in the district called Karnak. 2. Next in importance is the temple at Abu-Hadjadj. 3. Numerous ruins, avenues marked with remains of sphinxes, &c. On the west side of the Nile appear, 1. Two colossal figures, apparently of a man and woman, formed of a calcareous stone like the rest of the ruins. 2. Remains of a large temple, with caverns excavated in the rock. 3. The magnificent edifice styled the Palace of Memnon. Some of the columns are about forty feet high, and about nine and a half in diameter. The columns and walls are covered with hieroglyphics. This stands at Kourna. 4. Behind the palace is the passage styled Bibân-el-Molûk, leading up the mountain. At the extremity of this passage, in the sides of the rock, are the celebrated caverns known as the sepulchres of the ancient kings. Several of these sepulchres have been described by Pococke, with sufficient minuteness; he has even given plans of them. But in conversation with persons at Assiût, and in other parts of Egypt, I was always informed that they had not been discovered till within the last thirty years, when a son of Shech Hamâm, a very powerful chief of the Arabs, who governed all the south of Egypt from Achmîm to Nubia, caused four of them to be opened, in expectation of finding treasure.

“They had probably been rifled in very ancient times; but how the memory of them should have been lost remains to be explained. One of those which I visited exactly answers Dr. Pococke’s description; but the other three appear materially different from any of his plans. It is, therefore, possible that some of those which he saw have been gradually closed up by the sand, and that the son of Hamâm had discovered others. They are cut into the free-stone rock, in appearance, upon one general plan, though differing in parts. First, a passage of some length, then a chamber; a continuation of the first passage turns abruptly to the right, where is the large sepulchral chamber, with a sarcophagus of red granite in the midst.

“In the second part of the passage of the largest are several cells or recesses on both sides. In these appear the chief paintings, representing the mysteries, which, as well as the hieroglyphics covering all the walls, are very fresh. I particularly observed the two harpers described by Bruce; but his engraved figures seem to be from memory. The French merchants at Kahira informed me that he brought with him two Italian artists; one was Luigi Balugani, a Bolognese, the other Zucci, a Florentine.”

The edifice at Luxor[270 - Parker.] was principally the work of two Egyptian monarchs, – Amunoph the Third, who ascended the throne 1430 years before the Christian era, and Rameses the Second – the Great, as he is surnamed, – whose era has been fixed at 1500 or 1350 B. C. The Amenophium, as the more ancient part erected by the former is called, comprises all that extends from the river on the south up to the great court; a colonnade, together with a propyla which bound it on the north, is thus a portion of it. The great court itself, with the propyla forming the grand entrance into the whole building, and the obelisks, colossal statues, &c., was the work of Rameses the Second, and is sometimes called the Rameseium; under this appellation, however, it must not be confounded with the great monument of the same monarch on the western side of the river. As this great edifice is very near the bank of the river where it forms an angle, the soil is supported by a solid stone wall, from which is thrown out a jetty of massive and well-cemented brick, fifty yards in length, and seven in width. Mr. Wilkinson says that it is of the late era of the Ptolemies, or Cæsars, since blocks bearing the sculpture of the former have been used in its construction; and the same gentleman communicates the unpleasant intelligence that the river having formed a recess behind it, threatens to sweep away the whole of its solid masonry, and to undermine the foundations of the temple itself. This jetty formed a small port, for the convenience of boats navigating the river. Mr. Hamilton says that its ruins very much resemble the fragments of the bridge called that of Caligula in the Bay of Baiæ; which is now generally believed to have been a pier for the purposes of trade. Dr. Richardson considered the workmanship of the embankment to be entirely Roman; and he suggests that the temple at Luxor was probably built on the banks of the Nile for the convenience of sailors and wayfaring men; where, without much loss of time they might stop, say their prayers, present their offerings, and bribe the priests for promises of future success.

“The entrance,” says Denon, “of the village of Luxor affords a striking instance of beggary and magnificence. What a gradation of ages in Egypt is offered by this single scene! What grandeur and simplicity in the bare inspection of this one mine! It appears to me to be at the same time the most picturesque group, and the most speaking representation of the history of those times. Never were my eyes or my imagination so forcibly struck as by the sight of this monument. I often came to meditate on this spot, to enjoy the past and the present; to compare the successive generations of inhabitants, by their respective works, which were before my eye, and to store in my mind volumes of materials for future meditations. One day the sheik of the village accosted me, and asked if it was the French or the English who had erected these monuments, and this question completed my reflections.”

Every spot of ground, intervening between the walls and columns, is laid out in plantations of corn and olives, inclosed by mud walls.

“We have little reason to suppose[271 - Knight.], that when Egypt formed a part of the Eastern empire, its former capital was at all raised from its fallen condition; and we have, unfortunately, but too much reason to conclude, that under the dominion of the Arabian caliphs, it sank yet deeper into desolation, and the destruction of its monuments was continued still by the same agency which had all along worked their ruin, – the hand of man. Though we have no distinct account of the injuries inflicted on it in this period, we may infer their extent, and the motives which operated to produce them, from the following remarks of Abdallatif, an Arabian physician of Bagdad, who wrote a description of Egypt in the fourteenth century. He tells us, that formerly the sovereigns watched with care over the preservation of the ancient monuments remaining in Egypt; ‘but, in our time,’ he adds, ‘the bridle has been unloosed from men, and no one takes the trouble to restrain their caprices, each being left to conduct himself as to him should seem best. When they have perceived monuments of colossal grandeur, the aspect of those monuments has inspired them with terror; they have conceived foolish and false ideas of the nature of these remains of antiquity. Every thing, which had the appearance of design, has been in their eyes but a signal of hidden treasure; they have not been able to see an aperture in a mountain, without imagining it to be a road leading to some repository of riches. A colossal statue has been to them but the guardian of the wealth deposited at its feet, and the implacable avenger of all attempts upon the security of his store. Accordingly, they have had recourse to all sorts of artifice to destroy and pull down these statues; they have mutilated the figures, as if they hoped by such means to attain their object, and feared that a more open attack would bring ruin upon themselves; they have made openings, and dug holes in the stones, not doubting them to be so many strong coffers filled with immense sums; and they have pierced deep, too, in the clefts of mountains, like robbers penetrating into houses by every way but the doors, and seizing eagerly any opportunity which they think known only to themselves.’ This is the secret of much of the devastation which has been worked among the monuments of ancient Egypt.”

The village of Luxor[272 - Anon.] is built on the site of the ruins of a temple, not so large as that of Karnac, but in a better state of preservation, the masses not having as yet fallen through time, and by the pressure of their own weight. The most colossal parts consist of fourteen columns, of nearly eleven feet in diameter, and of two statues of granite at the outer gate, buried up to the middle of the arms, and having in front of them the two largest and best preserved obelisks known. They are rose-coloured, are still seventy feet above the ground, and to judge by the depth to which the figures seem to be covered, about thirty feet more may be reckoned to be concealed from the eye; making in all one hundred feet for their height. Their preservation is perfect; and the hieroglyphics with which they are covered being cut deep, and in relief at the bottom, show the bold hand of a master, and a beautiful finish. The gravers, which could touch such hard materials, must have been of an admirable temper; and the machines to drag such enormous blocks from the quarries, to transport them thither, and to set them upright, together with the time required for the labour, surpass all conception.

The temple is very near the river, says another writer, and there is a good ancient jetty, well built of bricks. The entrance is through a magnificent gateway facing the north, two hundred feet in front, and fifty-seven feet high, above the present level of the soil. Before the gateway, and between the obelisks, are two colossal statues of red granite; from the difference of the dresses, it is judged that one was a male, the other a female, figure. They are nearly of equal sizes. Though buried in the ground to the chest, they still measure twenty-one or twenty-two feet from thence to the top of the mitres.

The gateway is filled with remarkable sculptures, which represent the triumph of some ancient monarch of Egypt over an Asiatic enemy; and which we find repeated both on other monuments of Thebes, and partly, also, on some of the monuments of Nubia. This event appears to have formed an epoch in Egyptian history, and to have furnished materials both for the historian and the sculptor, like the war of Troy to the Grecian poet. The whole length of this temple is about eight hundred feet.

In speaking of the gate of this temple, which is now become that of the village of Luxor, Denon remarks: – “Nothing can be more grand, and, at the same time, more simple, than the small number of objects of which this entrance is composed. No city whatever makes so proud a display at its appearance as this wretched village; the population of which consists of two or three thousand souls, who have taken up their abode on the roofs and beneath the galleries of this temple, which has, nevertheless, the air of being in a manner uninhabited.”

The following observations, in regard to the sculptures at Luxor, are from the Saturday Magazine: —

“On the front of the great propyla, which form the principal entrance at Luxor, are a series of sculptures which have excited the wonder of all who have ever seen them. They are spoken of as being entitled to rank very high among works of ancient art; as Mr. Hamilton remarks in his admirable description of them, they far surpass all the ideas which till they were examined had been formed of the state of the arts in Egypt at the era to which they must be attributed. They are cut in a peculiar kind of relief, and are apparently intended to commemorate some victory gained by an ancient monarch of Egypt over a foreign enemy. The moment of the battle chosen, is when the hostile troops are driven back in their fortress, and the Egyptians are evidently to be soon masters of the citadel.

“The conqueror, behind whom is borne aloft the royal standard, in the shape of the Doum, or Theban palm-leaf, is of colossal size: that is, far larger than all the other warriors, standing up in a car drawn by two horses. His helmet is adorned with a globe with a serpent on each side. He is in the act of shooting an arrow from a bow which is full stretched; around him are quivers, and at his feet is a lion in the act of rushing forward. There is a great deal of life and spirit in the form and attitude of the horses, which are in full gallop, feathers waving over their heads, and the reins lashed round the body of the conqueror. Under the wheels of the car, and under the horses’ hoofs and bellies, are crowds of the slain; some stretched on the ground, others falling. On the enemy’s side, horses in full speed with empty cars, – others heedless of the rein, and all at last rushing headlong down a precipice into a broad and deep river which washes the walls of the town. The expression is exceedingly good; and nowhere has the artist shown more skill than in two groups, in one of which the horses having arrived at the edge of the precipice, instantly fall down; and the driver clinging with one hand to the car, the reins and whip falling from the other, – his body, trembling with despair, is about to be hurled over the backs of the horses. In the other, the horses still find a footing on the side of the hill, and are hurrying forward their drivers to inevitable destruction; these throw themselves back upon the car in vain. Some that are yet unwounded pray for mercy on their knees, and others in their flight cast behind a look of anxious entreaty; their limbs, their eyes, and their hands, sufficiently declare their fears. The breathless horses are admirable, – whether fainting from loss of blood, or rearing up and plunging in the excess of torture. Immediately in front of the conqueror are several cars in full speed for the walls of the town; but even in these the charioteers and men-of-war are not safe from the arrows shot from his unerring bow, and when wounded they look back on their pursuer as they fall. Further on, more fortunate fugitives are passing the river; in which are mingled horses, chariots, arms, and men, expressed in the most faithful manner, floating or sunk. Some have already reached the opposite bank where their friends, who are drawn up in order of battle, but venture not to go out to the fight, drag them to the shore. Others, having escaped by another road, are entering the gates of the town amid the shrieks and lamentation of those within. Towers, ramparts, and battlements, are crowded with inhabitants, who are chiefly bearded old men and women. A party of the former are seen sallying forth, headed by a youth whose different dress, and high turban, mark him out as some distinguished chieftain. On each side of the town are large bodies of infantry, and a great force of chariots issuing out of the gates, and advancing seemingly by different routes to attack the besiegers.

“The impetuosity, with which the hero of the picture has moved, has already carried him far beyond the main body of his own army, and he is there alone amid the dying and the slain – victims of his valour and prowess. Behind this scene, the two lines of the enemy join their forces, and attack in a body the army of the invaders, which advances to meet them in a regular line. ‘Besides the peculiarities of the incidents recorded in this interesting piece of sculpture,’ says Mr. Hamilton, ‘we evidently traced a distinction between the short dresses of the Egyptians and the long robes of their Oriental enemies; whether Indians, Persians, or Bactrians; the uncovered and the covered heads; the different forms of the cars, of which the Egyptian contains two, and the others three warriors; and above all, the difference of the arms.’

“At one extremity of the west wing of the gateway, the beginning of this engagement appears to be represented; the same monarch being seen at the head of his troops, advancing against the double line of the enemy, and first breaking their ranks. At the other extremity of the same wing the conqueror is seated on his throne after the victory, holding a sceptre in his left hand, and enjoying the cruel spectacle of eleven of the principal chieftains among his captives lashed together in a row, with a rope about their necks: the foremost stretches out his arms for pity, and in vain implores a reprieve from the fate of his companions: close to him is the twelfth, on his knees, just going to be put to death by the hands of two executioners. Above them is the captive sovereign, tied with his hands behind him to a car, to which two horses are harnessed; these are checked from rushing onward by the attendant, till the monarch shall mount and drag behind him the unfortunate victim of his triumphs. Behind the throne different captives are suffering death in various ways; some held by the executioner by the hair of their head; others dragged by chariots or slain by the arrow or the scimitar. There is then the conqueror’s camp, round which are placed his treasures, and where the servants prepare a feast to celebrate his victory.

“We have described these sculptures at length, because they are undoubtedly one of the greatest of the many wonders of Thebes, and because in no other manner could we convey to our readers a proper notion of their merits.”

The following observations are by Lord Lindsay: —

“We visited the Temples of Luxor and Carnac. The former is a most magnificent pile, architecturally considered, but otherwise the least interesting of the four great temples of Thebes. You originally entered between four gigantic statues of Rameses the Great, and two superb obelisks, of which one only remains; – the French have carried off his brother, and every lover of antiquity must regret their separation. The obelisks, statues, and pyramidal towers, were additions by Rameses to the original edifice, founded by Amunoph the Third. From the propyla and obelisks of this temple an avenue, guarded by sphinxes, facing each other, extended northwards, to the great temple of Jupiter Ammon at Carnac; meeting it at right angles, the latter extending from west to east. The road we followed lay nearer the river, and led us through a comparatively small temple of Isis, that would have detained us longer in a less attractive neighbourhood, into the great court of Jupiter Ammon’s temple, the noblest ruin at Thebes. A stupendous colonnade, of which one pillar only remains erect, once extended across this court, connecting the western propylon or gate of entrance, built by Sesostris, with that at its eastern extremity, leading to the grand hall of Osirei, and the sanctuary. We ascended the former; – the avenue of sphinxes, through which the god returned, in solemn procession, to his shrine at Carnac, after his annual visit to the Libyan suburb, ascends to it from the river, – the same avenue traversed age after age by the conqueror, the poet, the historian, the lawgiver, the philosopher, – Sesostris, Cambyses, Homer, Herodotus, Thales, Anaxagoras, Solon, Pythagoras, Plato, – and now the melancholy song of an Arab boy was the only sound that broke the silence; but that poor boy was the representative of an older and a nobler race than that of the Pharaohs. Long did we gaze on the scene around and below us – utter, awful desolation! Truly, indeed, has NO been ‘rent asunder!’ The towers of the second or eastern propylon are mere heaps of stones, ‘poured down’ – as prophecy and modern travellers describe the foundations of Samaria – into the court on one side, and the great hall on the other; – giant columns have been swept away like reeds before the mighty avalanche, and one hardly misses them. And that hall, who could describe it? Its dimensions, one hundred and seventy feet by three hundred and twenty-nine, – the height of the central avenue of columns sixty-six feet, exclusive of their pedestals, – the total number of columns that supported its roof one hundred and thirty-four. These particulars may give you some idea of its extent; but of its grandeur and beauty – none. Every column is sculptured, and all have been richly painted. The exterior walls, too, are a sculptured history of the wars of Osirei and Rameses. Except those at Beit Wellee I have seen nothing in Egypt that would interest so much. In one corner, of especial interest, are represented the Jews captured by Shishak, and their king Rehoboam, with the hieroglyphical inscription ‘Jehouda Melek,’ the king of the Jews. This is the only reference to the Israelites found in Egyptian sculpture. Many have wondered at finding no allusions to their residence in Egypt; but I think without cause; for, except the pyramids, the tombs in their vicinity, those of Beni Hassan, and a few other remains, of but little interest, I do not believe that any monuments exist, coeval with Moses and the Exodus.”

The remains of this temple are thus described by Denon: —

“Of the hundred columns of the portico alone, the smallest are seven feet and a half in diameter, and the largest twelve; the space occupied by the circumvallation of the temple contains lakes and mountains. In short, to be enabled to form a competent idea of so much magnificence, the reader ought to fancy what is before him to be a dream; as he who views the objects themselves rubs his eyes to know whether he is awake. The avenue leading from Karnac to Luxor, a space nearly half a league in extent, contains a constant succession of sphinxes and other chimerical figures to the right and left, together with fragments of stone walls, of small columns, and of statues.”

“The most ancient remains,” says Mr. Wilkinson, “now existing at Thebes, are unquestionably in the great temple of Karnac, the largest and most splendid ruin[273 - In antiquity, the pyramids of Egypt surpass every other monument now existing; but they do not, of course, from the nature of their construction, at all vie with the magnificence of the ruins of Karnac. – Wilkinson.] of which, perhaps, either ancient or modern times can boast; being the work of a number of successive monarchs, each anxious to surpass his predecessor, by increasing the dimensions and proportions of the part he added.

“It is this fact which enables us to account for the diminutive size of the older parts of this extensive building; and their comparatively limited scale offering greater facility, as their vicinity to the sanctuary greater temptation, to an invading army to destroy them, added to their remote antiquity, are to be attributed their dilapidated state; as well as the total disappearance of the sculptures executed during the reigns of the Pharaohs, who preceded Osirtesen I., the cotemporary of Joseph, and the earliest monarch whose name exists on the monuments of Thebes[274 - Jacob went into Egypt with his whole family, which met with the kindest treatment from the Egyptians; but after his death, say the Scriptures, there arose up a new king, which knew not Joseph. Rameses-Miamun, according to archbishop Usher, was the name of this king, who is called Pharaoh in scripture. He reigned sixty-six years, and oppressed the Israelites in a most cruel manner. He set over them task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens. “And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses; and the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigour, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; all their service wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.” – Prideaux.].”

Speaking of this magnificent edifice, and of the vast sphinxes and other figures, Belzoni says: – “I had seen the temple of Tentyra, and I still acknowledge that nothing can exceed that edifice in point of preservation, and the beauty of its workmanship and sculpture. But here I was lost in a mass of colossal objects, every one of which was more than sufficient of itself to attract my whole attention. How can I describe my sensations at that moment? I seemed alone in the midst of all that is most sacred in the world; a forest of enormous columns from top to bottom; the graceful shape of the lotus, which forms their capitals, and is so well proportioned to the columns; the gates, the walls, the pedestals, the architraves, also adorned in every part with symbolical figures in low-relief, representing battles, processions, triumphs, feasts, and sacrifices, all relating to the ancient history of the country; the sanctuary wholly formed of fine red granite; the high portals, seen at a distance from the openings, of ruins of the other temples, within sight; – these altogether had such an effect upon my soul, as to separate me, in imagination, from the rest of mortals, exalt me on high above all, and cause me to forget entirely the trifles and follies of life. I was happy for a whole day, which escaped like a flash of lightning.”

Here stood, and does now stand, a fragment of the famous vocal statue of Memnon, which, many writers attest, sent forth harmonious sounds, when first touched of a morning by the rays of the sun. The circumstance being attested by Strabo, Pliny, Juvenal, Pausanias, Tacitus, and Philostratus, it is assuredly not to be doubted. The first injury this statue received was from Cambyses; who ordered it to be sawed in two, in order to get at the secret. It was afterwards thrown down by an earthquake.

Some have supposed, that the sounds alluded to were produced by the mechanical impulse of the sun’s light. Others that, being hollow, the air was driven out by the rarefaction of the morning, which occasioned the elicitation of a murmuring sound. But some assert, that it saluted the morning and evening sun differently; – the former with animating sounds; the latter with melancholy ones. Darwin, in the true spirit of poetry, describes this statue as sending forth murmurs of indignation at the ravages of Cambyses: —

Prophetic whispers breathed from sphinx’s tongue;
And Memnon’s lyre with hollow murmurs rung.

In another passage, equally poetical, he makes it view with delight the waters of the Nile, rushing from the cataracts of Ethiopia: —