POSTHUMUS, PRÆFECT OF EGYPT,
AND THE PEOPLE OF THE METROPOLIS,
[_honour_] TO THE MOST REVERED EMPEROR,
THE PROTECTING DIVINITY OF ALEXANDRIA,
THE DIVINE HADRIAN AUGUSTUS.
Now, since it is known that Hadrian lived from A.D. 76 to 130, it seems
clear that Pompey has no connexion with this pillar, and that it ought
no longer to bear his name. Some writers, however, are disposed to
believe that the inscription is not so old as the pillar, and this is
very likely to be the case.
This celebrated pillar has of late years been several times ascended.
The manner, as we have before stated, was this:--"By means of a kite, a
strong cord was passed over the top of the column, and securely fastened
on one side, while one man climbed up the other. When he had reached the
top, he made the rope still more secure, and others ascended, carrying
with them water of the Thames, of the Nile, and of one of the Grecian
Islands: a due supply of spirits was also provided, and thus a bowl of
punch was concocted; and the healths of distinguished persons were
drunk. This ascent was made when the British fleet was in Egypt, since
which time the ascents have been numerous; for, according to Mr.
Webster, the crew of almost every man-of-war which has been stationed in
the port of Alexandria have thought the national honour of British tars
greatly concerned in ascending the height of fame, or, in other words,
the famous height which Pompey's pillar affords. It is not unusual for a
party to take breakfast, write letters, and transact other matters of
business on this very summit; and it is on record that a lady once had
courage to join one of these high parties."
Besides this there are two obelisks. The first is of granite, and is
called Cleopatra's Needle, but it has become nearly certain that it was
removed hither from Heliopolis, and it is now, therefore, regarded as
the obelisk of Thothmes III. Its fallen companion also bears the name of
Thothmes, and, in the lateral lines of Remeses II, the supposed
Sesostris. One of these is still upright on its base; the other is
thrown down and almost entirely buried in the sand. "The former," says
Sonnini, "shows what the hand of man can do against time; the other what
time can do against the efforts of man."
They are both of red granite. According to a survey made by Dr. Clarke,
the base of the prostrate one measures seven feet square, and the length
is sixty-six feet. They are both covered with hieroglyphics cut into the
stone to the depth of two inches. These two monuments served to decorate
one of the entrances to the palace of the Ptolemies, the ruins of which
are contiguous[25].
Nothing[26], however, which remains in the vicinity of Alexandria
attests its greatness more satisfactorily than the catacombs on the
coast, near the Necropolis. Their size, although remarkable, is not so
striking as the elegant symmetry, and proportion of the architecture in
the first chamber, which is of the best Greek style, and not to be
equalled in any other part of Egypt.[27] They are at a short distance
from the canal, and are galleries, penetrating a prodigious way under
ground, or rather into the rock. They are supposed to have been at first
the quarries, which furnished stones for the construction of the
edifices of Alexandria; and, after having supplied the men of that
country with the materials of their habitations, while they lived, are
themselves become their last abode after death. Most of these
subterraneous alleys are in a ruinous state. In the small number of
those which it is possible to penetrate, are seen, on both sides, three
rows of coffins, piled on each other. At the entrance of some of these
galleries there are separate apartments, with their coffins; reserved,
no doubt, for the sepulture of particular families, or of a peculiar
order of citizens. These catacombs frequently serve as retreats for the
jackals, which abound in this part of Egypt, prowling in numerous
squadrons, and roaming around the habitations of man. These pernicious
animals are not afraid of advancing close up to the walls of the city.
Nay, more; they traverse its enclosure during the night; they frequently
spring over it by the breaches made in the walls; they enter the city
itself in quest of their prey, and fill it with howlings and cries. Dr.
Clarke says, that nothing so marvellous ever fell within his
observation[28]. Of the singular suburb styled the Necropolis or "city
of the dead," nothing remains. But about sixty yards east of some
excavations called the "Baths of Cleopatra," there is a little bay,
about sixty yards deep, with an entrance so nearly blocked up by two
rocks, that a boat only can obtain access[29]. At the bottom of this
bay, in the steep slope of the shore, there is a small hole, through
which it is difficult to pass: a passage of about thirty feet leads to
the first hall, in which the visitor can stand upright; on the right and
left are small square chambers, much filled up with sand, the ceiling
and cornice supported by pilasters. The former is vaulted, and covered
with a crystalized cement, on which are traced, in red, lines obviously
forming geometrical configurations on the subject of astronomy. A sun is
represented in the middle of the vault. The upright sides contain
vaulted niches; the hall is about twenty yards square. From this a door,
in the opposite side, leads to a larger hall, but the sand fills it up
from the floor to the ceiling at the further end, so that its dimensions
cannot be ascertained. Two small chambers, as before, are excavated on
two sides of this also; in the right-hand one there is an opening in the
wall, leading to a vast corridor, thirty-six feet long and twelve broad,
half choked up, three wells in the roof having probably served to admit
the rubbish. This leads to another fine apartment, with a portico on
each of its four sides, three of which have pilasters and cornice,
richly carved; the other parts of the wall are left quite plain, but
there are lines traced on the vaulted ceiling, indicating that it was
intended to have been cut into panels, with roses in the centres. From
this chamber you enter a beautiful rotunda, on the left, which appears
to be the principal object of the excavation; it is seven yards in
diameter, and about five high; it is regularly ornamented with pilasters
supporting a cornice, from which springs the cupola of the ceiling; nine
tombs, decorated like those first described, are seen around it. The
bottom is level with the sea; the water filters through, and is found a
short distance below the floor. This place is quite free from sand, so
that the whole of it can be seen; and the effect, when illuminated by
many torches, the light of which is reflected from the cement, is very
grand. The chamber preceding the rotunda also affords access to another
corridor, leading to various apartments, presenting similar appearances
to those already described. In one of them there is the springing of a
brick-arch running round it, intended, apparently, to support a gallery;
beneath is a hole, about half a yard square, which is the entrance to a
winding passage; but it is impossible to penetrate it far on account of
the sand and water. It is conjectured to have served for some religious
mystery, or for some imposition of the priests on the common people.
Through the centre portico of another chamber, similar to that before
described, but left unfinished, like many other parts of this
magnificent tomb, an apartment is entered, each side of which has three
ranges of holes for the reception of embalmed bodies, and pits of
various dimensions are dug in the floors of several of the rooms. There
is a great symmetry in the arrangement of all the apartments, so that
the plan of the excavation is regular. It was probably intended for a
royal cemetery, the bodies of the sovereigns being deposited in the
rotunda, and the other chambers serving as places of burial for their
relatives, according to their rank; and two large side chapels, with
collateral rooms, being appropriated to the religious rites of the
Goddess Hecate; as is rendered probable by the crescents which ornament
various parts of the place. Whatever was its destination, like all the
other cemeteries of Egypt it has been ransacked at some remote period,
and the bodies of its tenants removed.
Like all the other distinguished nations of antiquity, Egypt, after a
lengthened period of civil power, military glory, and dignified
learning, suffered a series of reverses of fortune, and finally sank
into a state of poverty and barbaric ignorance. Modern Cairo rose upon
the ruins of Alexandria, and has been enriched with its spoils; since
thither have been conveyed, at various times, not fewer than forty
thousand columns of granite, porphyry, and marble; erected in the
private dwellings and mosques. Its decay doubtless was gradual, but
fifteen centuries, during which it has declined, have evinced its
ancient opulence by the slowness of its fall.
In respect to its modern condition, among heaps of rubbish, and among
fine gardens, planted with palms, oranges, and citrons, are seen some
churches, mosques, and monasteries, with three small clusters of
dwellings[30].