From the _natural_ wonders of the desert, let us next pass to some of
the _wonders of art_ which attract the attention of the traveler in
lands that once were as flourishing and powerful, as now they are
degraded and depressed. Most of these monuments are, indeed, in ruins;
but many of them still stand in all their original grandeur, and all are
enduring and faithful witnesses to the wealth and greatness of nations
that have now passed away forever.
The pyramids of Egypt are familiar, by name, to every intelligent
reader, not to say to every child. The largest of these stupendous
monuments, equally famous for their enormous size and their remote
antiquity, are those of Djiza, or (as now spelled) Gizeh, so called from
a village of that name, on the bank of the Nile, some three or four
miles above Cairo. The three which perhaps most attract the attention of
travelers, stand near each other, on the west side of the river, almost
opposite Cairo, and not far from the site of the ancient Memphis. A view
of them, and of the celebrated sphinx, which is spoken of hereafter, is
given in the engraving on the next page. When seen from a distance,
peering above the horizon, they display the fine distinct appearance so
often remarked by travelers in the various objects seen through the
clear, transparent atmosphere of the Egyptian climate. M. Savary, having
approached to within three leagues of them, in the nighttime, while the
full moon shone bright upon them, describes them as appearing to him,
under this particular aspect, like two points of rock crowned by the
clouds. On a nearer approach, their sloping and angular forms disguise
their real hight, and lessen it to the eye; independently of which, as
whatever is regular is great or small by comparison, and as these masses
of stone eclipse in magnitude every surrounding object, at the same time
that they are inferior to a mountain, to which alone the imagination can
successfully compare them, a degree of surprise is excited on finding
the first impression produced by a distant view so much diminished in
drawing near to them. On attempting, however, to measure any one of
these gigantic works of art by some known and determinate scale, it
resumes its immensity to the mind; since, on drawing near to the
opening, the persons who stand beneath it appear so small that they can
scarcely be taken for men.
[Illustration: THE SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS.]
The base of the great pyramid of Cheops, so named after a king of Egypt,
is estimated by Denon at seven hundred and twenty feet, and its hight at
four hundred and forty-eight feet, calculating the base by the mean
proportion of the length of the stones, and the hight by the sum of that
of each of the steps or stages. Its construction required so many years,
and employed such a multitude of laborers, that the expenditure for
garlic and onions alone, for their consumption, is said to have amounted
to one thousand and sixty talents, or more than twelve hundred thousand
dollars. Its interior is thus accurately described by the above
traveler.
“The entrance of the first gallery is concealed by the general outer
covering which invests the whole of the pyramid. It is, however,
probable, that the attention of the earlier searchers was by some
particular appearance directed to this spot. This gallery goes toward
the center of the edifice, in a direction sloping downward to the base:
it is sixty paces in length; and at the further end are two large blocks
of granite, an obstacle which caused some uncertainty in the digging. A
horizontal passage has been made for some distance into the mass of
stone; but this undertaking was afterward abandoned.
“Returning to the extremity of the first gallery, and working upward by
the side of the two granite blocks, you come to the beginning of the
first sloping staircase, which proceeds in an oblique direction upward,
for a hundred and twenty feet. You mount the steep and narrow gallery,
helping your steps by notches cut in the ground, and by resting your
hands against the sides. At the top of this gallery, which is formed of
a calcareous stone cemented with mortar, you find a landing-place about
fifteen feet square, within which, to the right of the entrance, is a
perpendicular opening called the well. This appears, from its
irregularity, to have been the result of a fruitless attempt at a
search, and has a diameter of about two feet by eighteen inches. There
were no means of descending it; but by throwing down a stone, it was
ascertained that its perpendicular direction could not be very
considerable. On a level with the landing is a horizontal gallery, a
hundred and seventy feet in length, running directly toward the center
of the pyramid; and at the extremity of this gallery is a small room,
called the queen’s chamber. This is an oblong square of eighteen feet
and two inches, by fifteen feet and eight inches; but the hight is
uncertain, the floor having been turned up by the avidity of the
searchers. One of the side walls has also been worked into, and the
rubbish left on the spot. The roof, which is formed of a fine calcareous
stone, very nearly brought together, has the form of an angle nearly
equilateral, but contains neither ornament, hieroglyphic, nor the
smallest trace of a sarcophagus. Whether it was intended to contain a
body, is uncertain; but, in this case, the pyramid must have been built
with a view of containing two bodies, and would not therefore have been
closed at once. If the second tomb was really that of the queen, the two
blocks of granite at the end of the first gallery, must have been
finally reserved to close all the interior chambers of the pyramid.
“Returning again from the queen’s chamber to the landing-place, you
ascend a few feet, and immediately find yourself at the bottom of a
large and magnificent staircase, or rather inclined plane, one hundred
and eighty feet in length, taking a direction upward, and still bearing
toward the center of the edifice. It is six and a half feet in breadth,
in which are to be included two parapets, each nineteen inches in
diameter, and pierced every three and a half feet, by oblong holes
twenty-two inches by three. The sarcophagus must have ascended this
passage, and the series of holes must have been intended to receive a
machine of some description, to assist in raising so heavy a mass as the
sarcophagus up so steep an ascent.
“The side walls of this ascending gallery rise perpendicularly for
twelve feet, and then form a sloping roof of an excessively high pitch,
not by a regular angle, but by eight successive projections, each of
them six feet in hight, rising above the other, and approaching nearer
to the corresponding projection on the opposite side, till the roof is
entirely shut in. The hight of this singularly contrived vault may be
estimated at sixty feet from the part of the floor immediately beneath.
The ascent of the staircase is facilitated by pretty regular but modern
footings cut in the floor; and at the top is a small platform, in which
is a thick block of granite, resembling an immense chest, imbedded in
the solid building, and hollowed out so as to leave alternate
projections and retirings, into which are let blocks of the same
material, with corresponding grooves and projections, intended forever
to conceal and protect the entrance to the principal chamber which is
behind them. It must have required immense labor to construct this part
of the edifice, and not less to have broken an opening through; so that
the zeal of superstition has here been opposed to the eagerness of
avarice, and the latter has prevailed. After mining through thirteen
feet of solid granite, a door three feet and three inches square, has
been discovered, which is the entrance to the principal chamber. This is
a long square, sixteen feet by thirty-two, and eighteen in hight. The
door is in the angle facing the gallery, corresponding to the door of
the queen’s chamber, below. When it is said that the tomb is a single
piece of granite, half-polished, and without cement, all that is
remarkable in this strange monument, which exhibits such rigid
simplicity in the midst of the utmost magnificence of human power, will
have been described. The only broken part is an attempt at a search at
one of the angles, and two small holes nearly round and breast high.
Such is the interior of this immense edifice, in which the work of the
hand of man appears to rival the gigantic forms of nature.”
To the above account by the accurate Denon, we subjoin the following
pleasing one by the celebrated Dr. Clarke. The impression made by these
monuments, when viewed at a distance, can never, he observes, be
obliterated from his mind.
“By reflecting the sun’s rays, they appeared as white as snow, and of
such surprising magnitude, that nothing we had previously conceived in
our imagination had prepared us for the spectacle we beheld. The sight
instantly convinced us that no power of description, no delineation, can
convey ideas adequate to the effect produced in viewing these stupendous
monuments. The formality of their structure is lost in their prodigious
magnitude: the mind, elevated by wonder, feels at once the force of an
axiom, which, however disputed, experience confirms—that in vastness,
whatsoever be its nature, there dwells sublimity!
“Having arrived at the bottom of a sandy slope, leading up to the
principal pyramid, a band of Bedouin Arabs, who had assembled to receive
us upon our landing, were much amused by the eagerness excited in our
whole party, to prove who should first set his foot upon the summit of
this artificial mountain. As we drew near its base, the effect of its
prodigious magnitude, and the amazement caused in viewing the enormous
masses used in its construction, affected every one of us; but it was an
impression of awe and fear rather than of pleasure. In the observations
of travelers who had recently preceded us, we had heard the pyramids
described as huge objects which gave no satisfaction to the spectator,
on account of their barbarous shape, and formal appearance: yet to us it
appeared hardly possible that persons susceptible of any feeling of
sublimity could behold them unmoved. With what amazement did we survey
the vast surface that was presented to us, when we arrived at this
stupendous monument, which seemed to reach the clouds? Here and there
appeared some Arab guides upon the immense masses above us, like so many
pigmies, waiting to show the way up to the summit. Now and then we
thought we heard voices, and listened; but it was the wind in powerful
gusts, sweeping the immense ranges of stone. Already some of our party
had begun the ascent, and were pausing at the tremendous depth which
they saw below. One of our military companions, after having surmounted
the most difficult part of the undertaking, became giddy in consequence
of looking down from the elevation he had attained; and being compelled
to abandon the project, he hired an Arab to assist him in effecting his
descent. The rest of us, more accustomed to the business of climbing
hights, with many a halt for respiration, and many an exclamation of
wonder, pursued our way toward the summit. The mode of ascent has been
frequently described; and yet, from the questions which are often
proposed to travelers, it does not appear to be generally understood.
The reader may imagine himself to be upon a staircase, every step of
which, to a man of middle stature, is nearly breast high; and the
breadth of each step is equal to its hight; consequently, the footing is
secure; and although a retrospect, in going up, be sometimes fearful to
persons unaccustomed to look down from any considerable elevation, yet
there is little danger of falling. In some places, indeed, where the
stones are decayed, caution may be required; and an Arab guide is always
necessary, to avoid a total interruption; but, upon the whole, the means
of ascent are such that almost every one may accomplish it. Our progress
was impeded by other causes. We carried with us a few instruments; such
as our boat-compass, a thermometer, a telescope, &c.: these could not be
trusted in the hands of Arabs, and they were liable to be broken every
instant. At length we reached the topmost tier, to the great delight and
satisfaction of all the party. Here we found a platform, thirty-two feet
square, consisting of nine large stones, each of which might weigh about
a tun; although they are much inferior in size to some of the stones
used in the construction of this pyramid.
“The view from the summit of the pyramid amply fulfilled our
expectations; nor do the accounts which have been given of it, as it
appears at this season of the year, (in the month of August,) exaggerate
the novelty and grandeur of the sight. All the region toward Cairo and
the delta resembled a sea covered with innumerable islands. Forests of
palm-trees were seen standing in the water; the inundation spreading
over the land where they stood, so as to give them an appearance of
growing in the flood. To the north, as far as the eye could reach,
nothing could be discerned, but a watery surface thus diversified by
plantations and by villages. To the south we saw the pyramids of
Sakkara; and, upon the east of these, smaller monuments of the same
kind, nearer to the Nile. An appearance of ruins might indeed be traced
the whole way from the pyramids of Gizeh to those of Sakkara; as if they
had been once connected, so as to constitute one vast cemetery. Beyond
the pyramids of Sakkara we could perceive the distant mountains of the
Said; and upon an eminence near the Libyan side of the Nile appeared a
monastery of considerable size. Toward the west and south-west, the eye
ranged over the great Libyan desert, extending to the utmost verge of
the horizon, without a single object to interrupt the dreary horror of
the landscape, except dark floating spots, caused by the shadows of
passing clouds upon the sand.
“The stones of the platform upon the top, as well as most of the others
used in constructing the decreasing ranges from the base upward, are of
soft limestone. Those employed in the construction of the pyramids, are
of the same nature as the calcareous rock on which they stand, and which
was apparently cut away to form them. Herodotus says, however, that they
were brought from the Arabian side of the Nile.
“The French attempted to open the smallest of the three principal
pyramids; and having effected a very considerable chasm in one of its
sides, have left this mark behind them, as an everlasting testimony of
their curiosity and zeal. The landing of our army in Egypt put a stop to
their labor. Had it not been for this circumstance, the interior of that
mysterious monument would probably be now submitted to the inquiry which
has long been an object among literary men.
“Having collected our party upon a soft platform before the entrance of
the passage leading to the interior, and lighted a number of tapers, we
all descended into the dark mouth of the larger pyramid. The impression
made upon every one of us, in viewing the entrance, was this: that no
set of men whatever could thus have opened a passage, by uncovering
precisely the part of the pyramid where the entrance was concealed,
unless they had been previously acquainted with its situation; and for
these reasons. First, because its position is almost in the center of
one of its planes, instead of being at the base. Secondly, that not a
trace appears of those dilapidations which must have been the result of
any search for a passage to the interior; such as now distinguish the
labors of the French upon the smaller pyramid, which they attempted to
open. The persons who undertook the work, actually opened the pyramid in
the only point, over all its vast surface, where, from the appearance of
the stones inclined to each other above the mouth of the passage, any
admission to the interior seems to have been originally intended. So
marvelously concealed as this was, are we to credit the legendary story
of an Arabian writer, who, discoursing of the wonders of Egypt,
attributed the opening of this pyramid to Almamon, a caliph of Babylon,
about nine hundred and fifty years since?
“Proceeding down this passage, which may be compared to a chimney about
a yard wide, we presently arrived at a very large mass of granite: this
seems to have been placed on purpose to choke up the passage; but a way
has been made round it, by which we were enabled to ascend into a second
channel, sloping, in a contrary direction, toward the mouth of the
first. Having ascended along this channel, to the distance of one
hundred and ten feet, we came to a horizontal passage, leading to a
chamber with an angular roof, in the interior of the pyramid. In this
passage we found, upon our right hand, the mysterious well, which has
been so often mentioned. Pliny makes the depth of it equal to one
hundred and twenty-nine feet; but Greaves, in sounding it with a line,
found the plummet rest at the depth of twenty feet.
“We threw down some stones, and observed that they rested at about the
depth which Greaves has mentioned; but being at length provided with a
stone nearly as large as the mouth of the well, and about fifty pounds
in weight, we let this fall, listening attentively to the result from
the spot where the other stones rested: we were agreeably surprised by
hearing, after a length of time which must have equaled some seconds, a
loud and distinct report, seeming to come from a spacious subterraneous
apartment, accompanied by a splashing noise, as if the stone had been
broken in pieces, and had fallen into a reservoir of water at an amazing
depth. Thus does experience always tend to confirm the accounts left us
by the ancients; for this exactly answers to the description given by
Pliny of this well.
“After once more regaining the passage whence these ducts diverge, we
examined the chamber at the end of it, mentioned by all who have
described the interior of this building. Its roof is angular; that is to
say, it is formed by the inclination of large masses of stone leaning
toward each other, like the appearance presented by those masses which
are above the entrance to the pyramid. Then quitting the passage
altogether, we climbed the slippery and difficult ascent which leads to
what is called the principal chamber. The workmanship, from its
perfection, and its immense proportions, is truly astonishing. All about
the spectator, as he proceeds, is full of majesty, and mystery, and
wonder. Presently we entered that ‘glorious roome,’ as it is justly
called by Greaves, where, ‘as within some consecrated oratory, art may
seem to have contended with nature.’ It stands ‘in the very heart and
center of the pyramid, equidistant from all its sides, and almost in the
midst between the basis and the top. The floor, the sides, the roof of
it, are all made of vast and exquisite tables of Thebaick marble.’ So
nicely are these masses fitted to each other upon the sides of the
chamber, that, having no cement between them, it is really impossible to
force the blade of a knife within the joints. This has been often
related before; but we actually tried the experiment, and found it to be
true. There are only six ranges of stone from the floor to the roof,
which is twenty feet high; and the length of the chamber is about twelve
yards. It is also about six yards wide. The roof or ceiling consists of
only nine pieces, of stupendous size and length, traversing the room
from side to side, and lying, like enormous beams, across the top.”
Mr. Salt, the traveler, having paid a later visit to the principal
pyramid, in company with a British officer, ascertained that the short
descending passage at its entrance, which afterward ascends to the two
chambers, is continued in a straight line through the base of the
pyramid into the rock on which it stands. This new passage, a view of
which is given in the cut below, after joining what was formerly called
the well, is continued forward in a horizontal line, and terminates in a
well, ten feet in depth, exactly beneath the apex of the pyramid, and at
the depth of one hundred feet beneath its base. Mr. Salt’s companion
likewise discovered an apartment immediately above the king’s chamber,
exactly of the same size, and of the same fine workmanship, but only
four feet in hight.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO ONE OF THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH.]
The base of the pyramid of Cephrenes, the next in magnitude, of the
pyramids of Gizeh, to that of Cheops, is estimated at six hundred and
fifty-five feet, and its hight at three hundred and ninety-eight. The
pyramid of Mycerinus has a base of two hundred and eighty feet, and an
elevation of one hundred and sixty-two. But, as well suggested by
Thompson, in his “Egypt Past and Present,” no mere detail of figures and
statistics, can convey an idea of the size of these vast bodies as they
impress us when we stand before them. “No idea,” he says, “can be given
of the great pyramid, by the statement that it covers an area of nearly
five hundred and fifty thousand square feet, measures seven hundred and
fifty feet upon each of its four sides at the base, and is four hundred
and sixty feet in hight, or that it would fill the whole length of
Washington square in New York, and exceed its breadth by half, and would
rise nearly two hundred feet higher than the spire of Trinity church.
The mass of masonry is what impresses you. Eighty-five million cubic
feet of solid masonry, gives you no very definite idea of the mass of
stone here piled together with such mathematical precision that
astronomical calculations could be based upon its angles and shadows.
No, you must see the mass itself, not now smooth and polished, as when
originally completed, but stripped of its outer casing, and showing tier
on tier of huge stones squared and fitted at mathematical angles, and
now forming a series of rude steps, each from two to four feet high,
extending to the very top. That top is now a platform about thirty feet
square; and the view from its elevation is unparalleled in the world!
Before you is Cairo, with its lofty minarets, and its overhanging
citadel, the mountains of Mokuttam skirting its rear; the green valley
of the Nile is spread out for miles northward and southward; at your
feet are the mounds of sand that cover the ancient Memphis; southward is
the whole range of pyramids to Sakkara; behind you are fragments of
other pyramids, the Libyan mountains, and the wide waste of the great
desert. But the present is lost in the associations of the past. You are
standing upon a monument that is known to have stood within a score of
four thousand years; that was as old as are our associations of Plymouth
rock, when Abraham came into Egypt, and journeyed to Memphis to enjoy
the favor of the king. He looked with wondering eyes upon this self-same
monument, and heard the _then_ dim tradition of the tyrant, who, having
built it for his own sepulcher by the sweat and blood of half a million
of his subjects, was compelled to beg of his friends to bury him
privately in some secret place, lest after his death, his body should be
dragged by the people from the hated tomb!”
The pyramids of Sakkara, which are numerous, are interesting on account
of the peculiarities of their structure. The largest of them is of an
irregular form, the line of the terminating angle being sloped like a
buttress reversed. Another, of a middling size, is composed of stages
rising one above another. The smaller ones are greatly decayed; but the
whole occupy an extent of two leagues. This multitude of pyramids
scattered over the district of Sakkara, Denon observes, prove that this
territory was the necropolis (city of the dead) to the south of Memphis,
and that the village opposite to this, in which the pyramids of Gizeh
are situated, was another necropolis, which formed the northern
extremity of Memphis. The extent of that ancient city may thus be
measured.
To these interesting accounts of this group of the pyramids, may be
subjoined the graphic sketch of Bayard Taylor, who visited them so
recently as 1851. “When we threw open the latticed blinds of our cabin,
before sunrise the next morning, the extraordinary purity of the air
gave rise to an amusing optical delusion on the part of my friend. ‘See
that wall!’ said he, pointing to a space between two white houses; ‘what
a brilliant color it is painted, and how those palms and these white
houses are relieved against it!’ He was obliged to look twice before he
perceived that what he had taken for a wall close at hand, was really
the sky, and rested upon a far-off horizon. Our donkeys were in
readiness on the bank, and taking Achmet with us, we rode off gayly
among the mud hovels and under the date-trees of Gizeh, on our way to
the pyramids. The rising sun shone redly upon them, as we rode out on
the broad harvest land of the Nile. The black unctuous loam was still
too moist from the inundation to be plowed, except in spots, here and
there, but even where the water had scarce evaporated, millions of germs
were pushing their slender blades up to the sunshine. In that prolific
soil, the growth of grain is visible from day to day. The Fellahs were
at work on all sides, preparing for planting, and the ungainly buffaloes
drew their long plows slowly through the soil. Where freshly turned, the
earth had a rich, soft luster, like dark-brown velvet, beside which the
fields of young wheat, beans and lentils, glittered with the most
brilliant green. The larks sang in the air and flocks of white pigeons
clustered like blossoms on the tops of the sycamores. There, in
November, it was the freshest and most animating picture of spring. The
direct road to the pyramids was impassable, on account of the water, and
we rode along the top of a dike, intersected by canals, to the edge of
the Libyan desert, a distance of nearly ten miles. The ruptures in the
dike obliged us occasionally to dismount, and at the last canal, which
cuts off the advancing sands from the bounteous plain on the other side,
our donkeys were made to swim, while we were carried across on the
shoulders of two naked Arabs. They had run out in advance to meet us,
hailing us with many English and French phrases, while half a dozen
boys, with earthen bottles which they had just filled from the slimy
canal, crowded after them, insisting, in very good English, that we
should drink at once and take them with us to the pyramids.
“Our donkeys’ hoofs now sank deep in the Libyan sands, and we looked up
to the great stone-piles of Cheops, Cephrenes and Mycerinus, not more
than half a mile distant. Our sunrise view of the pyramids on leaving
Gizeh, was sufficient, had I gone no further; and I approached them,
without the violent emotion which sentimental travelers experience, but
with a quiet feeling of the most perfect satisfaction. The form of the
pyramid is so simple and complete, that nothing is left to the
imagination. Those vast, yellowish-gray masses, whose feet are wrapped
in the silent sand, and whose tops lean against the serene blue heaven,
enter the mind and remain in the memory with no shock of surprise, no
stir of unexpected admiration. The impression they give and leave, is
calm, grand and enduring as themselves.
“The sun glared hot on the sand as we toiled up the ascent to the base
of Cheops, whose sharp corners were now broken into zigzags by the
layers of stone. As we dismounted in his shadow, at the foot of the path
which leads up to the entrance, on the northern side, a dozen Arabs
beset us. They belonged to the regular herd who have the pyramids in
charge, and are so renowned for their impudence that it is customary to
employ the janissary of some consulate in Cairo, as a protection. I took
three of them and commenced the ascent, leaving Achmet and my friend
below. Two boys followed us, with bottles of water. At first, the way
seemed hazardous, for the stones were covered with sand and fragments
which had fallen from above, but after we had mounted twenty courses,
the hard, smooth blocks of granite formed broader and more secure steps.
Two Arabs went before, one holding each of my hands, while the third
shoved me up from the rear. The assistance thus rendered was not slight,
for few of the stones are less than four feet in hight. The water-boys
scampered up beside us with the agility of cats. We stopped a moment to
take breath, at a sort of resting-place half-way up, an opening in the
pyramid, communicating with the uppermost of the interior chambers. I
had no sooner sat down on the nearest stone, than the Arabs stretched
themselves at my feet and entertained me with most absurd mixture of
flattery and menace. One, patting the calves of my legs, cried out, ‘Oh,
what fine, strong legs! how fast they came up: nobody ever went up the
pyramid so fast!’ while the others added, ‘Here you must give us
backsheesh: everybody gives us a dollar here.’ My only answer was, to
get up and begin climbing, and they did not cease pulling and pushing
till they left me breathless on the summit. The whole ascent did not
occupy more than ten minutes.
“The view from Cheops has been often described. I can not say that it
increased my impression of the majesty and grandeur of the pyramid, for
that was already complete. My eyes wandered off from the courses of
granite, broadening away below my feet, to contemplate the glorious
green of the Nile-plain, barred with palm-trees and divided by the
gleaming flood of the ancient river; the minarets of Cairo; the purple
walls of the far Arabian mountains; the pyramid groups of Sakkara and
Dashoor, overlooking disinterred Memphis in the south; and the arid
yellow waves of the Libyan desert, which rolled unbroken to the western
sky. The clear, open heaven above, which seemed to radiate light from
its entire concave, clasped in its embrace and harmonized the different
features of this wonderful landscape. There was too much warmth and
brilliance for desolation. Everything was alive and real; the pyramids
were not ruins, and the dead Pharaohs, the worshipers of Athor and Apis,
did not once enter my mind.
“My wild attendants did not long allow me to enjoy the view quietly. To
escape from their importunities for backsheesh I gave them two piasters
in copper coin, which instantly turned their flatteries into the most
bitter complaints. It was insulting to give so little, and they
preferred having none; if I would not give a dollar, I might take the
money back. I took it without more ado, and put it into my pocket. This
rather surprised them, and first one, and then another, came to me and
begged to have it again, on his own private account. I threw the coins
high into the air, and as they clattered down on the stones, there
ensued such a scramble as would have sent any but Arabs over the edge of
the pyramid. We then commenced the descent, two seizing my hands as
before, and dragging me headlong after them. We went straight down the
side, sliding and leaping from stone to stone without stopping to take
breath, and reached the base in five or six minutes. I was so excited
from the previous aggression of the Arabs, that I neither felt fatigue
nor giddiness on the way up and down, and was not aware how violent had
been my exertions. But when I touched the level sand, all my strength
vanished in an instant. A black mist came over my eyes, and I sank down
helpless and nearly insensible. I was scarcely able to speak, and it was
an hour before I could sit upright on my donkey. I felt the pyramid in
all my bones, and for two or three days afterward moved my joints with
as much difficulty as a rheumatic patient.
“In returning, in about an hour and a half we reached the ruined
pyramids of Abousir, where our path turned southward into the desert.
After seeing Cheops and Cephrenes, these pyramids are only interesting
on account of their dilapidated state and the peculiarity of their
forms, some of their sides taking a more obtuse angle at half their
hight. They are buried deep in the sand, which has so drifted toward the
plain, that from the broad hollow lying between them and the group of
Sakkara, more than a mile distant, every sign of vegetation is shut out.
Vast, sloping causeways of masonry lead up to two of them, and a large
mound, occupying the space between, suggests the idea that a temple
formerly stood there. The whole of the desert promontory, which seemed
to have been gradually blown out on the plain, from the hills in the
rear, exhibits traces here and there of ruins beneath the surface. My
friend and I, as we walked over the hot sand, before our panting
donkeys, came instinctively to the same conclusion, that a large city
must have once occupied the space between, and to the southward of the
two groups of pyramids. It is not often that amateur antiquarians find
such sudden and triumphant confirmation of their conjectures, as we did.
“On the way, Achmet had told us of a Frenchman who had been all summer
digging in the sand, near Sakkara. After we had crawled into the
subterranean dépôt of mummied ibises, and nearly choked ourselves with
dust in trying to find a pot not broken open; and after one of our
donkeymen went into a human mummy pit and brought out the feet and legs
of some withered old Egyptian, we saw before us the residence of this
Frenchman; a mud hut on a high sand-bank. It was an unfortunate
building, for nearly all the front wall had tumbled down, revealing the
contents of his kitchen. One or two Arabs loitered about, but a large
number were employed at the end of a long trench which extended to the
hills. Before reaching the house a number of deep pits barred our path,
and the loose sand, stirred by our feet, slid back into the bottom, as
if eager to hide the wonders they disclosed. Pavements, fresh as when
first laid; basement-walls of white marble, steps, doorways, pedestals
and fragments of pillars glittered in the sun, which, after the lapse of
more than two thousand years, beheld them again. I slid down the side of
the pit and walked in the streets of Memphis. The pavement of bitumen,
which once covered the stone blocks, apparently to protect them and
deaden the noise of horses and chariots, was entire in many places. Here
a marble sphinx sat at the base of a temple, and stared abstractedly
before her; there a sculptured cornice, with heavy moldings, leaned
against the walls of the chamber into which it had fallen; and over all
were scattered fragments of glazed and painted tiles and sculptured
alabaster. The principal street was narrow, and was apparently occupied
by private dwellings, but at its extremity were the basement-walls of a
spacious edifice. All the pits opened on pavements and walls, so fresh
and cleanly cut, that they seemed rather the foundations of a new city,
laid yesterday, than the remains of one of the oldest capitals of the
world.
“We approached the workmen, where we met the discoverer of Memphis, Mr.
Auguste Mariette. On finding we were not Englishmen, (of whose visits he
appeared to be rather shy,) he became very courteous and communicative.
He apologized for the little he had to show us, since on account of the
vandalism of the Arabs, he was obliged to cover up all his discoveries,
after making his drawings and measurements. The Egyptian authorities are
worse than apathetic, for they would not hesitate to burn the sphinxes
for lime, and build barracks for filthy soldiers with the marble blocks.
Besides this, the French influence at Cairo was then entirely
overshadowed by that of England, and although M. Mariette was supported
in his labors by the French academy, and a subscription headed by Louis
Napoleon’s name, he was forced to be content with the simple permission
to dig out these remarkable ruins and describe them. He could neither
protect them nor remove the portable sculptures and inscriptions, and
therefore preferred giving them again into the safe keeping of the sand.
Here they will be secure from injury, until some more fortunate period,
when, possibly, the lost Memphis may be entirely given to the world, as
fresh as Pompeii, and far more grand and imposing.
“I asked M. Mariette what first induced him to dig for Memphis in that
spot, since antiquarians had fixed upon the mounds near Mitrahenny (a
village in the plain below, and about four miles distant,) as the former
site of the city. He said that the tenor of an inscription which he
found on one of the blocks quarried out of these mounds, induced him to
believe that the principal part of the city lay to the westward, and
therefore he commenced excavating in the nearest sand-hill in that
direction. After sinking pits in various places he struck on an avenue
of sphinxes, the clue to all his after discoveries. Following this, he
came upon the remains of a temple, (probably the _Serapeum_, or temple
of Serapis, mentioned by Strabo,) and afterward upon streets,
colonnades, public and private edifices, and all other signs of a great
city. The number of sphinxes alone, buried under these high sand-drifts,
amounted to two thousand, and he had frequently uncovered twenty or
thirty in a day. He estimated the entire number of statues, inscriptions
and reliefs, at between four and five thousand. The most remarkable
discovery was that of eight colossal statues, which were evidently the
product of Grecian art. During thirteen months of assiduous labor, with
but one assistant, he had made drawings of all these objects and
forwarded them to Paris. In order to be near at hand, he had built an
Arab house of unburnt bricks, the walls of which had just tumbled down
for the third time. His workmen were then engaged in clearing away the
sand from the dwelling of some old Memphian, and he intended spreading
his roof over the massive walls, and making his residence in the exhumed
city. The man’s appearance showed what he had undergone, and gave me an
idea of the extraordinary zeal and patience required to make a
successful antiquarian. His face was as brown as an Arab’s, his eyes
severely inflamed, and his hands as rough as a bricklayer’s. His manner
with the native workmen was admirable, and they labored with a hearty
good-will which almost supplied the want of the needful implements. All
they had were straw baskets, which they filled with a sort of rude
shovel, and then handed up to be carried off on the heads of others.
“Strabo states that Memphis had a circumference of seventeen miles, and
therefore both M. Mariette and the antiquarians are right. The mounds of
Mitrahenny probably mark the eastern portion of the city, while its
western limit extended beyond the pyramids of Sakkara, and included in
its suburbs those of Abousir and Dashoor. The space explored by M.
Mariette is about a mile and a half in length, and somewhat more than
half a mile in breadth. He was then continuing his excavations westward,
and had almost reached the first ridge of the Libyan hills, without
finding the termination of the ruins. The magnitude of his discovery
will be best known when his drawings and descriptions are given to the
world. A few months after my visit, his labors were further rewarded by
finding thirteen colossal sarcophagi of black marble, and he has
recently added to his renown by discovering an entrance to the Sphinx.
Yet at that time, the exhumation of the lost Memphis, second only in
importance to that of Nineveh, was unknown in Europe, except to a few
_sarans_ in Paris, and the first intimation which some of my friends in
Cairo and Alexandria had of it, was my own account of my visit, in the
newspapers they received from America. But M. Mariette is a young man,
and will yet see his name inscribed beside those of Burckhardt, Belzoni
and Layard.
“We had still a long ride before us, and I took leave of Memphis and its
discoverer, promising to revisit him on my return from Khartoum. As we
passed the brick pyramid of Sakkara, which is built in four terraces of
equal hight, the dark, grateful green of the palms and harvest-fields of
the Nile appeared between two sand-hills, a genuine balm to our heated
eyes. We rode through groves of the fragrant mimosa to a broad dike, the
windings of which we were obliged to follow across the plain, as the
soil was still wet and adhesive. It was too late to visit the beautiful
pyramids of Dashoor, the first of which is more than three hundred feet
in hight, and from a distance has almost as grand an effect as those of
Gizeh. Our tired donkeys lagged slowly along to the palm-groves of
Mitrahenny, where we saw mounds of earth, a few blocks of red granite
and a colossal statue of Remeses II., (Sesostris,) which until now were
supposed to be the only remains of Memphis. The statue lies on its face
in a hole filled with water. The countenance is said to be very
beautiful, but I could only see the top of Sesostris’s back, which bore
a faint resemblance to a crocodile. Through fields of cotton in pod and
beans in blossom, we rode to the Nile, dismissed our donkeys and their
attendants, and lay down on some bundles of cornstalks to wait the
arrival of our boat. But there had been a south wind all day, and we had
ridden much faster than our men could tow. We sat till long after sunset
before the stars and stripes, floating from the mizzen of the Cleopatra,
turned the corner below Bedrasheyn. When, at last, we sat at our
cabin-table, weary and hungry, we were ready to confess that the works
of art produced by our cook, were more marvelous and interesting than
Memphis and the pyramids.”