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], 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 pre-eminently 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]. 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] 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], 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] 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.