The ruins of the temple of _Hermopolis_, or the great city of Mercury,
which were thought wonderful till the later discoveries in Egypt threw
them comparatively in the shade, give some idea of the great range and
high perfection the arts had attained in that country. Many parts of
these ruins have preserved their original position, without having been
altered or deformed by the works of modern times, and have remained
untouched for well nigh four thousand years. They are of freestone, of
the fineness of marble, and have neither cement, nor any other means of
union, except the perfect fitting of the respective parts. The colossal
proportions of the edifice, evince the power the Egyptians possessed to
raise such enormous masses. The portico is one hundred and twenty feet
long, and its hight sixty feet. Not a spring of an arch remains, to
throw light on the dimensions of the whole extent of the temple, or of
the nave. The architecture is still richer than the Doric order of the
Greeks. The shafts of the pillars represent _fasciæ_, or bundles; and
the pedestal, the stem of the lotus. Under the roof between the two
middle columns, are winged globes; and all the roofs are ornamented with
a wreath of painted stars, of an aurora color on a blue ground.
The temple of _Apollinopolis Magna_ is described by Denon as surpassing
in extent, majesty, magnificence, and high preservation, whatever he had
seen in Egypt, or elsewhere. This building is a long suite of pyramidal
gates, of courts decorated with galleries, of porticos, and of covered
naves, constructed, not with common stones, _but with entire rocks_.
This superb edifice is situated on a rising ground, so as to overlook,
not only its immediate vicinity, but the whole valley. On the right is
the principal gate, placed between two huge mounds of buildings, on the
walls of which are three orders of hieroglyphic figures, increasing in
their gigantic dimensions, insomuch that the last have a length of
twenty-five feet. The inner court is decorated with a gallery of
columns, bearing two terraces, which come out at two gates, through
which is the passage to the stairs, leading to the platform of the
mounds. Behind the inner portico are several apartments, and the
sanctuary of the temple. A wall of circumvallation is decorated both
within and without with innumerable hieroglyphics, executed in a very
finished and laborious style. This magnificent temple appears to have
been dedicated to the evil genius, the figure of Typhon being
represented in relief on the four sides of the plinth which surmounts
each of the capitals. The entire frieze, and all the paintings within,
are descriptive of Isis, defending herself against the attacks of that
monster.