neither the large one still lying at Thebes in fragments, nor this
statue in the Museum, which came out of the same temple—but another
statue still seated in its original position on the plain of Thebes,
and showing by numerous Greek and Latin inscriptions on the legs,
that _it_ was the statue of which Strabo, Pausanias, and other
ancient writers speak. The entire black statue, No. 38, is also _a_
Memnon statue, for it resembles in all respects the great colossus
with the inscriptions on its legs, and it has also the name of Memnon
written on it, and enclosed in an oblong ring, on each side of the
front part of the seat, and also on the back. If this colossus in the
Museum (No. 66) was entire in 1737, it may be asked how came it to be
broken? We cannot say further than the following statement:—Belzoni
went to Egypt in 1815, intending to propose to the Pasha some
improved mechanical contrivances for raising water from the river in
order to irrigate the fields. Owing to various obstacles, this scheme
did not succeed, and Belzoni determined to pay a visit to Upper Egypt
to see the wonderful remains of its temples. Mr. Salt, then British
Consul in Egypt, and Lewis Burckhardt, commissioned Belzoni to bring
this colossal head from Thebes. Belzoni went up the river, and,
landing at Thebes, found the statue exactly in the place where the
Consul’s instructions described it to be.[277] It was lying ‘near the
remains of its body and chair, with its face upwards, and apparently
smiling on me at the thought of being taken to England. I must say,
that my expectations were exceeded by its beauty, but not by its
size. I observed that it must have been absolutely the same statue as
is mentioned by Norden, lying in his time with the face downwards,
which must have been the cause of its preservation. I will not
venture to assert who separated the bust from the rest of the body by
an explosion, or by whom the bust has been turned face upwards.’ It
will be observed that the left shoulder of this figure is shattered,
and that there is a large hole drilled in the right shoulder. We
believe both are the work of the French who visited Thebes during the
occupation of Egypt by the French army in 1800; and there is no doubt
that Belzoni, in the above extract, means to attribute to them the
separation of the head and shoulders from the rest of the body. In
the magnificent work on Egyptian Antiquities, which has been
published at Paris, there is a drawing of this head, which is pretty
correct, except that the hole and the whole _right_ shoulder are
wanting. It seems that they drew the colossal bust in that form which
it would have assumed, had they blown off the right shoulder. From
what cause it happened we do not know, but they left the colossus
behind them; and Belzoni, alone and unaided, accomplished what the
French had unsuccessfully attempted.
“All the implements that Belzoni had for removing this colossus were
fourteen poles, eight of which were employed in making a car for the
colossus, four ropes of palm-leaves, four rollers, and no tackle of
any description. With these sorry implements and such wretched
workmen as the place could produce, he contrived to move the colossus
from the ruins where it lay to the banks of the Nile, a distance
considerably more than a mile. But it was a no less difficult task to
place the colossus on board a boat, the bank of the river being ‘more
than fifteen feet above the level of the water, which had retired at
least a hundred yards from it.’ This, however, was effected by making
a sloping causeway, along which the heavy mass descended slowly till
it came to the lower part, where, by means of four poles, a kind of
bridge was made, having one end resting on the centre parts of the
boat, and the other on the inclined plane. Thus the colossus was
moved into the boat without any danger of tilting it over by pressing
too much on one side. From Thebes it was carried down the river to
Rosetta, and thence to Alexandria, a distance of more than four
hundred miles: from the latter place it was embarked for England.
“The material of this colossus is a fine-grained granite, which is
found in the quarries near the southern boundary of Egypt, from which
masses of enormous size may be procured free from any split or
fracture. These quarries supplied the Egyptians with the principal
materials for their colossal statues and obelisks, some of which, in
an unfinished form, may still be seen in the granite quarries of
Assouan. There is considerable variety in the qualities of this
granite, as we may see from the specimens in the Museum, some of
which consist of much larger component parts than others, and in
different proportions; yet all of them admit a fine polish. The
colossal head, No. 8, opposite to the Memnon, No. 2, commonly called
an altar, will serve to explain our meaning.
“This Memnon’s bust consists of one piece of stone, of two different
colours, of which the sculptor has judiciously applied the red part
to form the face. Though there is a style of sculpture which we may
properly call Egyptian, as distinguished from and inferior to the
Greek, and though this statue clearly belongs to the Egyptian style,
it surpasses as a work of art most other statues from that country by
a peculiar sweetness of expression and a finer outline of face.
Though the eyebrows are hardly prominent enough for our taste, the
nose somewhat too rounded, and the lips rather thick, it is
impossible to deny that there is great beauty stamped on the
countenance. Its profile, when viewed from various points, will
probably show some new beauties to those only accustomed to look at
it in front. The position of the ear in all Egyptian statues that we
have had an opportunity of observing is very peculiar, being always
too high; and the ear itself is rather large. We might almost infer,
that there was some national peculiarity in this member, from seeing
it so invariably placed in the same singular position. The appendage
to the chin is common in Egyptian colossal statues, and is
undoubtedly intended to mark the beard, the symbol of manhood; and it
may be observed not only on numerous statues, but also on painted
reliefs, where we frequently see it projecting from the end of the
chin and not attached to the breast, but slightly curved upwards.
Osiris, one of the great objects of Egyptian adoration, is often thus
represented; but the beard is generally only attached to the
_clothed_ figure, being, for the most part, but not always, omitted
on naked ones. The colossal figures, No. 8 and 38, have both lost
their beards. There is a colossal head in the Museum, No. 57, that is
peculiar in having the upper margin of the beard represented by
incisions on the chin, after the fashion of Greek bearded statues. It
is the only instance we have seen, either in reality or in any
drawing, of a colossus with a genuine beard. There is more variety in
the head-dresses of colossal statues than in their beards. No. 8,
opposite the Memnon, has the high cap which occurs very often on
Egyptian _standing_ colossi, which are placed with their backs to
pilasters. No. 38 has the flat cap fitting close to the head and
descending behind, very much like the pigtails once in fashion. The
Memnon head-dress differs from both of these, and has given rise to
discussions, called learned, into which we cannot enter here. On the
forehead of this colossus may be seen the remains of the erect
serpent, the emblem of royalty, which always indicates a deity or a
royal personage. This erect serpent may be traced on various
monuments of the Museum, and perhaps occurs more frequently than any
single sculptured object.
“Our limits prevent us from going into other details, but we have
perhaps said enough to induce some of our readers to look more
carefully at this curious specimen of Egyptian art; and to examine
the rest of the ornamental parts. The following are some of the
principal dimensions:—
The whole height of the bust from the top of the
head-dress to the lowest part of the fragment ft. in.
measured behind 8 9
Round the shoulders and breast, above 15 3
Height of the head from the upper part of the
head-dress to the end of the beard 6 0-1/2
From the forehead to the chin 3 3-1/2
“Judging from these dimensions, the figure in its entire
state would be about twenty-four feet high as seated on its
chair: which is about half the height of the _real_ Memnon,
who still sits majestic on his ancient throne, and throws his
long shadow at sunrise over the plain of Thebes.”
Many pages have been written in regard to the time when the arch was
first invented. It is not known that the two divisions of the city were
ever connected by any bridge.
“A people,” remarks Heeren, “whose knowledge of architecture had not
attained to the formation of arches, could hardly have constructed a
bridge over a river, the breadth of which would even now oppose great
obstacles to such an undertaking. We have reason to believe, however,
that the Egyptians were acquainted with the formation of the arch,
and did employ it on many occasions. Belzoni contends that such was
the case, and asserts that there is now at Thebes a genuine specimen,
which establishes the truth of his assertion. No question exists, it
should be observed, that arches are to be found in Thebes; it is
their antiquity alone which has been doubted. The testimony of Mr.
Wilkinson on this point is decisive in their favour. He tells us that
he had long been persuaded that most of the innumerable vaults and
arches to be seen at Thebes, were of an early date, although
unfortunately, from their not having the names of any of the kings
inscribed on them, he was unable to prove the fact; when, at last,
chance threw in his way a tomb vaulted in the usual manner, and with
an arched door-way, ‘the whole stuccoed, and bearing on every part of
it the fresco paintings and name of Amunoph the First,’ who ascended
the throne 1550 years B. C. We thus learn that the arch was in use in
Egypt nearly three thousand four hundred years ago,—or more than
twelve hundred years before the period usually assigned as the date
of its introduction among the Greeks.”
At Thebes have lately been found, that is, about fifteen years ago,
several papyri; one of which gives an ancient contract for the sale of
land in this city. The following is a translation:—
“‘_In the reign of Cleopatra and Ptolemy her son, surnamed Alexander,
the gods Philometores Soteres, in the year XII, otherwise IX; in the
priesthood, &c. &c., on the 29th of the month Tybi; Apollonius bring
president of the Exchange of the Memnonians, and of the lower
government of the Pathyritic Nome._
“‘_There was sold by Pamonthes, aged about 45, of middle size, dark
complexion, and handsome figure, bald, round-faced, and
straight-nosed; and by Snachomnenus, aged about 20, of middle size,
sallow complexion, likewise round-faced, and straight-nosed; and by
Semmuthis Persineï, aged about 22, of middle size, sallow complexion,
round-faced, flat-nosed, and of quiet demeanour; and by Tathlyt
Persineï, aged about 30, of middle size, sallow complexion, round
face, and straight nose, with their principal, Pamonthes, a party in
the sale; the four being of the children of Petepsais, of the
leather-cutters of the Memnonia; out of the piece of level ground
which belongs to them in the southern part of the Memnonia, eight
thousand cubits of open field; one-fourth of the whole, bounded on
the south by the Royal Street; on the north and east by the land of
Pamonthes and Boconsiemis, who is his brother,—and the common land of
the city; on the west by the house of Tages, the son of Chalome; a
canal running through the middle, leading from the river; these are
the neighbours on all sides. It was bought by Nechutes the Less, the
son of Asos, aged about 40, of middle size, sallow complexion,
cheerful countenance, long face, and straight nose, with a scar upon
the middle of his forehead; for 601 pieces of brass; the sellers
standing as brokers, and as securities for the validity of the sale.
It was accepted by Nechutes the purchaser._
“‘APOLLONIUS, _Pr. Exch._’
“Attached[278] to this deed is a registry, dated according to the day
of the month and year in which it was effected, ‘at the table in
Hermopolis, at which Dionysius presides over the 20th department;’
and briefly recapitulating the particulars of the sale, as recorded
in the account of the partners receiving the duties on sales, of
which Heraclius is the subscribing clerk; so that even in the days of
the Ptolemies there was a tax on the transfer of landed property, and
the produce of it was farmed out in this case to certain ‘partners.’
“According to Champollion, the date of this contract corresponds to
the 13th or 14th of February, 105 B. C., and that of the registry to
the 6th or the 14th of May in the same year. Dr. Young fixes it in
the year 106 B. C.
“The contract is written in Greek; it is usually called the ‘Contract
of Ptolemais,’ or the ‘Papyrus of M. d’Anatasy,’ having been first
procured by a gentleman of that name, the Swedish consul at
Alexandria. Three other deeds of a similar kind, but rather older,
and written in the _enchorial_, or _demotic_ character, were brought
from Thebes, about fifteen years ago, by a countryman of our own, Mr.
G. F. Grey, the same gentleman who was fortunate enough to bring that
Greek papyrus which turned out, by a most marvellous coincidence, to
be a copy of an Egyptian manuscript which Dr. Young was at the very
time trying to decipher. These three deeds are in the enchorial
character, and accompanied with a registry in Greek. They all relate
to the transfer of land ‘at the southern end of Diospolis the Great,’
as the Greek registries have it. The Greek papyrus, too, of which we
just spoke, and the original Paris manuscript, of which it is a copy,
are instruments for the transfer of the rent of certain tombs in the
Libyan suburb of Thebes, in the Memnonia; and also of the proceeds
arising from the performance of certain ‘liturgies’ on the account of
the deceased. They have been invaluable aids in the study of ancient
Egyptian literature.”
The emperor Constantine, ambitious of foreign ornaments, resolved to
decorate his newly-founded capital of Constantinople with the largest of
all the obelisks that stood on the ruins of Thebes. He succeeded in
having it conveyed as far as Alexandria, but, dying at the time, its
destination was changed; and an enormous raft, managed by three hundred
rowers, transported the granite obelisk from Alexandria to Rome.
Among the treasures of antiquity, found in the Thebais, were, till very
lately, two granite columns, of precisely the same character as
Cleopatra’s Needles. Of these one remains on the spot; the other, with
great labour and expense, has been transported to Paris. When the French
army, in their attempt on Egypt, penetrated as far as Thebes, they were,
almost to a man, overpowered by the majesty of the ancient monuments
they saw before them; and Buonaparte is then said to have conceived the
idea of removing at least one of the obelisks to Paris. But reverses
and defeat followed. The French were compelled to abandon Egypt; and the
English, remaining masters of the seas, effectually prevented any such
importation into France.
“[279]Thirty years after Buonaparte’s first conception of the idea,
the French government, then under Charles X., having obtained the
consent of the pasha of Egypt, determined that one of the obelisks of
Luxor should be brought to Paris. ‘The difficulties of doing this,’
says M. Delaborde, ‘were great. In the first place, it was necessary
to build a vessel which should be large enough to contain the
monument, deep enough to stand the sea, and, at the same time, draw
so little water as to be able to ascend and descend such rivers as
the Nile and the Seine.’
“In the month of February, 1831, when the crown of France had passed
into the hands of Louis Philippe, a vessel, built as nearly as could
be on the necessary principles, was finished and equipped at Toulon.
This vessel, which for the sake of lightness was chiefly made of fir
and other white wood, was named the ‘Luxor.’ The crew consisted of
one hundred and twenty seamen, under the command of Lieutenant
Verninac, of the French royal navy; and there went, besides, sixteen
mechanics of different professions, and a master to direct the works
under the superintendence of M. Lebas.
“After staying forty-two days at Alexandria, the expedition sailed
for the mouth of the Nile. At Rosetta they remained some days, and on
the 20th of June M. Lebas, the engineer, two officers, and a few of
the sailors and workmen, leaving the ‘Luxor’ to make her way up the
river slowly, embarked in common Nile-boats for Thebes, carrying with
them the tools and materials necessary for the removal of the
obelisk. The ‘Luxor’ did not arrive at Thebes until the 14th of
August, which was two months after her departure from Alexandria.
“Reaumur’s thermometer marked from thirty degrees to thirty-eight in
the shade, and ascended to fifty, and even to fifty-five degrees, in
the sun. Several of the sailors were seized with dysentery, and the
quantity of sand blown about by the wind, and the glaring reflection
of the burning sun, afflicted others with painful ophthalmia. The
sand was particularly distressing: one day the wind raised it and
rolled it onward in such volume as, at intervals, to obscure the
light of the sun. After they had felicitated themselves on the fact
that the plague was not in the country, they were struck with alarm,
on the 29th of August, by learning that the cholera morbus had broken
out most violently at Cairo. On the 11th of September the same
mysterious disease declared itself on the plain of Thebes, with the
natives of which the French were obliged to have frequent
communications. In a very short time fifteen of the sailors,
according to M. J. U. Angelina, the surgeon, caught the contagion,
but every one recovered under his care and skill.
“In the midst of these calamities and dangers, the French sailors
persevered in preparing the operations relative to the object of the
expedition. One of the first cares of M. Lebas, on his arriving on
the plain of Thebes, was to erect near to the obelisks, and not far
from the village of Luxor, proper wooden barracks—sheds and tents to
lodge the officers, sailors, and workmen on shore; he also built an
oven to bake them bread, and magazines in which to secure their
provisions, and the sails, cables, &c. of the vessel.
“The now desolate site, on which the City of the Hundred Gates once
stood, offered them no resources of civilised life. But French
soldiers and sailors are happily, and, we may say, honourably
distinguished, by the facility with which they adapt themselves to
circumstances, and turn their hands to whatever can add to their
comfort and well-being. The sailors on this expedition, during their
hours of repose from more severe labours, carefully prepared and dug
up pieces of ground for kitchen-gardens. They cultivated bread-melons
and watermelons, lettuces, and other vegetables; they even planted
some trees, which thrived very well; and, in short, they made their
place of temporary residence a little paradise, as compared with the
wretched huts and neglected fields of the oppressed natives.
“It was the smaller of the two obelisks the French had to remove; but
this smaller column of hard, heavy granite was seventy-two French
feet high, and was calculated to weigh upwards of two hundred and
forty tons. It stood, moreover, at the distance of about one thousand
two hundred feet from the Nile, and the intervening space presented
many difficulties.
“M. Lebas commenced by making an inclined plane, extending from the
base of the obelisk to the edge of the river. This work occupied
nearly all the French sailors, and about seven hundred Arabs, during
three months; for they were obliged to cut through two hills of
ancient remains and rubbish, to demolish half of the poor villages
which lay in their way[280], and to beat, equalise, and render firm
the uneven, loose, and crumbling soil. This done, the engineer
proceeded to make the ship ready for the reception of the obelisk.
The vessel had been left aground by the periodical fall of the waters
of the Nile, and matters had been so managed that she lay imbedded
in the sand, with her figure-head pointing directly towards the
temple and the granite column. The engineer, taking care not to touch
the keel, sawed off a section of the front of the ship; in short, he
cut away her bows, which were raised, and kept suspended above the
place they properly occupied, by means of pulleys and some strong
spars, which crossed each other above the vessel.
“The ship, thus opened, presented in front a large mouth to receive
its cargo, which was to reach the very lip of that mouth or opening,
by sliding down the inclined plane. The preparations for bringing the
obelisk safely down to the ground lasted from the 11th of July to the
31st of October, when it was laid horizontally on its side.
“The rose-coloured granite of Syene (the material of these remarkable
works of ancient art), though exceedingly hard, is rather brittle. By
coming into contact with other substances, and by being impelled
along the inclined plane, the beautiful hieroglyphics, sculptured on
its surface, might have been defaced, and the obelisk might have
suffered other injuries. To prevent these, M. Lebas encased it, from
its summit to its base, in strong thick wooden sheathings, well
secured to the column by means of hoops. The western face of this
covering, which was that upon which the obelisk was to slide down the
inclined plane, was rendered smooth, and was well rubbed with grease
to make it run the easier.
“To move so lofty and narrow an object from its centre of gravity was
no difficult task,—but then came the moment of intense anxiety! The
whole of the enormous weight bore upon the cable, the cordage, and
machinery, which quivered and cracked in all their parts. Their
tenacity, however, was equal to the strain, and so ingeniously were
the mechanical powers applied, that eight men in the rear of the
descending column were sufficient to accelerate or retard its
descent.
“On the following day the much less difficult task of getting the
obelisk on board the ship was performed. It only occupied an hour and
a half to drag the column down the inclined plane, and (through the
open mouth in front) into the hold of the vessel. The section of the
suspended bows was then lowered to the proper place, and readjusted
and secured as firmly as ever by the carpenters and other workmen. So
nicely was this important part of the ship sliced off, and then put
to again, that the mutilation was scarcely perceptible.
“The obelisk was embarked on the 1st of November, 1831, but it was
not until the 18th August 1832, that the annual rise of the Nile
afforded sufficient water to float their long-stranded ship. At last,
however, to their infinite joy, they were ordered to prepare every
thing for the voyage homewards. As soon as this was done, sixty
Arabs were engaged to assist in getting them down the river, (a
distance of 180 leagues), and the ‘Luxor’ set sail.
“After thirty-six days of painful navigation, but without meeting
with any serious accident, they reached Rosetta; and there they were
obliged to stop, because the sand bank off that mouth of the Nile had
accumulated to such a degree, that, with its present cargo the vessel
could not clear it. Fortunately, however, on the 30th of December, a
violent hurricane dissipated part of this sand-bank; and, on the
first of January, 1833, at ten o’clock in the morning, the ‘Luxor’
shot safely out of the Nile, and at nine o’clock on the following
morning came to a secure anchorage in the old harbour of Alexandria.
“Here they awaited the return of the fine season for navigating the
Mediterranean; and the Sphynx (a French man-of-war) taking the
‘Luxor’ in tow, they sailed from Alexandria on the 1st of April. On
the 2nd, a storm commenced, which kept the ‘Luxor’ in imminent danger
for two whole days. On the 6th, the storm abated; but the wind
continued contrary, and soon announced a fresh tempest. They had just
time to run for shelter into the bay of Marmara, when the storm
became more furious than ever.
“On the 13th of April, they again weighed anchor, and shaped their
course for Malta; but a violent contrary wind drove them back as far
as the Greek island of Milo, where they were detained two days.
Sailing, however, on the 17th, they reached Navarino on the 18th, and
the port of Corfu, where they were kindly received by Lord Nugent and
the British, on the 23d of April. Between Corfu and Cape Spartivento,
heavy seas and high winds caused the ‘Luxor’ to labour and strain
exceedingly. As soon, however, as they reached the coast of Italy,
the sea became calm, and a light breeze carried them forward, at the
rate of four knots an hour, to Toulon, where they anchored during the
evening on the 11th of May.
“They had now reached the port whence they had departed, but their
voyage was not yet finished. There is no carriage by water, or by any
other commodious means, for so heavy and cumbrous a mass as an
Egyptian obelisk, from Toulon to Paris (a distance of above four
hundred and fifty miles). To meet this difficulty they must descend
the rest of the Mediterranean, pass nearly the whole of the southern
coast of France, and all the south of Spain—sail through the straits
of Gibraltar, and traverse part of the Atlantic, as far as the mouth
of the Seine, which river affords a communication between the French
capital and the ocean.
“Accordingly, on the 22d of June, they sailed from Toulon, the
‘Luxor’ being again taken in tow by the Sphynx man-of-war; and, after
experiencing some stormy weather, finally reached Cherbourg on the
5th of August, 1833. The whole distance performed in this voyage was
upwards of four hundred leagues.
“As the royal family of France was expected at Cherbourg by the 31st
of August, the authorities detained the ‘Luxor’ there. On the 2d of
September, King Louis Philippe paid a visit to the vessel, and warmly
expressed his satisfaction to the officers and crew. He was the first
to inform M. Verninac, the commander, that he was promoted to the
rank of captain of a sloop-of-war. On the following day, the king
distributed decorations of the Legion of Honour to the officers, and
entertained them at dinner.