seven feet high, of very fine workmanship. They are in a standing
posture, with one arm extended, as if holding a torch. They had many
other carved works, hieroglyphics, ornaments, &c.
The art of varnishing, and baking the varnish on clay, was in such
perfection among them, that I doubt whether it could be imitated at
present. Articles of the best sort of this manufacture, however, were
rather scarce, as there are but few to be found; while, on the contrary,
there are great quantities of the inferior sorts. Indeed, the few good
ones I met with were all in the great tomb of Psammuthis, and these are
of the most beautiful colour.
The art of painting was but simple among the Egyptians, as they had no
knowledge of shadowing to elevate their figures; but great credit is due
to them for their taste in disposing their colours. There is great
harmony even in the red and green, which do not always agree with us,
and which they knew how to mingle so well, that it produced a very
splendid effect, particularly by candle-light. Their drawings and
sculpture are but simple, and systematically done; notwithstanding
which, they knew how to impart a certain vivacity to their posture,
which animates their figures. They knew little or nothing of
perspective, and all that was done was in profile. The wall, or whatever
other place was to be ornamented, was previously prepared, by grinding
it very smooth. The first lines were done in red by a scholar, or one
not so expert as the master, who examined the outlines, and corrected
them in black. Specimens of this are to be seen in the tomb of
Psammuthis, as I shall have to mention hereafter.
When the outlines were completed, the sculptor began his work. He raised
the figure by cutting away the stone all round it. The angles are
smoothly turned, and the ornaments on the figure or garments are traced
with a chisel, which leaves a slight impression, and adorns the whole
figure. The last was the painter, who finished the piece. They could not
find any other colours than red, blue, yellow, green, and black. The
blue is divided into two sorts, the dark and the light. With these
colours they adorned their temples, tombs, or whatever they wished to
have painted. As there is no colour among these that could imitate the
living human flesh, they adopted the red for this purpose. The ornaments
were decorated with the other colours; and, though so few, I am sure
they are not all used in the same piece.
As to their architecture, I can only say it is in conformity with their
ideas. It is to be recollected, that they had a notion of returning to
life again, body and soul, after a period of three thousand years:
whence we may presume, that they intended to make their edifices last so
long, that they might see them again in good preservation. As to arches,
can we not prove, from the circumstance of their having made them in a
different form from ours, that they could also have made them of a
larger size, than we see to this very day in Thebes? Yes, I say, in
Thebes there are Egyptian arches. If any reader will observe Plate 44,
he will see an Egyptian arch which exists at Gournou, under the rocks
that separate this place from the valley Beban el Malook. The arch is
made in a manner entirely different from our own; but if the Egyptians
were inclined to have arches in their edifices, they might have
constructed them in their own manner, and of considerable sizes, equal
in proportion to the enormous blocks which we see in their edifices. No,
they did not want arches—they preferred having their temples crowded
with columns, which formed the finest embellishments of their edifices;
and I assert, that the number of these columns is no detriment to the
beauty or magnificence of these sacred places. On the contrary, without
these columns, their architecture would not have appeared to the
Egyptians so substantially firm, which was their principal object. This,
in my opinion, was their reason for not erecting arches. But I shall
endeavour farther to prove, that they knew how to make an arch with the
key-stone as well as we do. A traveller may wander among the ruins of
Thebes, and his attention be so much taken by the magnificence of the
great edifices, as to overlook what is inferior, especially what is
constructed of simple bricks, baked in the sun. Besides, he has a
preconceived notion, that the Egyptians were ignorant of the art of
turning an arch; so that, if he should see one, or even pass under an
archway, he would take it for granted, that it was the work of a later
people. I shall now describe the situation of several arches, which are
to be seen in Thebes; point out the purpose for which they were
evidently erected; and leave the reader to conjecture whether they were
made by the Egyptians, or by any other people.
The mode of building enormously strong walls with unburnt bricks is
peculiar to the Egyptians. Of this I trust there can be no doubt, from
the many instances clearly before our eyes; but if it be questioned, I
would inquire of any traveller, who has seen Thebes, whether he thinks
that the wall, which surrounded the avenue of sphinxes, or lion-headed
statues, which I discovered at Carnak, could have been made by any other
people. There are even some of these walls that enclose their sacred
places: and if it be objected to, on the supposition that some
subsequent nation, who adored the same gods, may have erected these
walls to preserve the holy edifices, I can boldly say: No, this was not
the case; for the walls are so connected with the Egyptian works, that
it is plain they were constructed at the same time with them. But what
is still more to the point, at Gournou there are various and extensive
tombs, excavated not in the rocks themselves, but in the plains at their
foot, twelve or fourteen feet below the surface, and extending a
considerable length under ground. The way to these tombs is generally by
a staircase, which led into a large square hall, cut in the rock, in
some instances ninety or a hundred feet long; and opposite the stairs is
generally the entrance into the tomb. It is to be observed, that these
halls entered into the original plan of the structure: there was nothing
to protect or to enclose them on any side but a wall, by which they were
completely surrounded. Without this, they would have been exposed to all
the rubbish of other tombs, which might have fallen in. The necessity of
building these walls is evident; and I have no doubt many travellers
will plainly see, that no other succeeding nation would have built these
enormous walls to preserve the tombs of the Egyptians. Now over the
stairs, which lead into the hall, there are some very high and majestic
arches, not only made of the same bricks, but connected with the walls
themselves; consequently, made by the Egyptians, and constructed with
the same key-stones as our own in the present day. There is also at
Gournou a great number of other buildings of sun-burnt bricks, of a
later date, which I hope will not be confounded with the others. Some of
these are built with a smaller sort of bricks; others with bricks taken
from the Egyptian walls; but their construction plainly shows the
difference of the people who erected them.
If we extend our observations on the Egyptian architecture, it will
appear, that the Egyptians undoubtedly have the merit of invention,
which I consider as the source of improvement, &c. The Greeks may claim
their having brought the art to great perfection; but it is well known,
that they took their principal hints from the Egyptians.
The Egyptians were a primitive nation. They had to form every thing
without any model before them to imitate. Yet so fertile was their
inventive faculty, that to this day new orders of architecture might be
extracted from their ruins. If we observe the Egyptian capitals, do we
not see a complication of orders in one mass, which, if divided, would
produce numerous hints for new ideas? If the lover of truth will but
inspect the various representations of the lotus on the capitals, he
will plainly see, that not only the Doric and the Corinthian orders have
been extracted from them, but that more might still be formed. There is
reason also to believe, that the Ionic order originated in Egypt. The
capitals of the columns of Tentyra, those in the small temple of Edfu,
and, lastly, the others in the small temple of Isis, in the island of
Philoe, sufficiently indicate this. The name of the deity, to which the
first and third of these temples are dedicated, seems to strengthen this
supposition. We well know, that Isis is the Io of the Greeks, from whom
the name of Ionic was no doubt derived; and it is very probable, that he
who introduced the order gave it that name, as having been taken from
the temple of the goddess.
The wonderful sculptures of the Egyptians are to be admired for the
boldness of their execution. Their enormous sizes rendered it difficult
for the artists to maintain their due proportions, which were according
to the height of the figure. For instance, if a statue were erected of
the size of life, the head was of the natural size; if the statue were
thirty feet high, the head was larger in proportion to the body; and if
fifty feet high, the magnitude of the head was farther increased. Had it
been otherwise in statues of so great height, the distance from the eyes
of the spectator would have so much diminished the size, that the head
would have appeared too small in proportion to the legs. The tedious
work of the endless hieroglyphics which are to be seen in every part of
every edifice, the numberless figures on the temples, tombs, obelisks,
and walls, must have required wonderful labour. They had only four sorts
of stones in general use for sculpture, the sandy, the calcareous,
breccia, and granite. All except the first are very hard, and what is
most singular is, we do not know with what tools they were cut out. We
have ocular demonstration, that the tools of the present day will not
cut granite without great difficulty, and I doubt whether we could give
it that smoothness of surface we see in Egypt. But I would observe it is
not unreasonable to suppose, that the granite and other stones were less
hard at the time of the Egyptians than they are at present. On the
calcareous stone the figures have angles so sharp, that the best
tempered chisel of our time could not produce the like; it is so hard
that it breaks more like glass than stone; and the granite is almost
impenetrable.
At the end of the above-mentioned plain in Gournou, at the foot of the
rocks which divide that valley from Beban el Malook, the excavation was
going on at the end of an avenue where sphinxes must have been. Here was
found a causeway gradually rising to some ruins, which being uncovered,
proved to be a temple, with columns doubly octangular, the only one of
such form I saw in Egypt. The temple is evidently ancient, but I dare
not affirm it to be Egyptian, though it has hieroglyphics, &c. It was
probably made by the Ptolemies; for the proportions of the plan, as far
as I could see, and the order of the columns, being totally different
from any others of the Egyptians, lead me to suppose this temple to be
of a later date. Farther on, just under the rocks, we discovered a
granite door nine feet high by five wide, and one and a half thick. It
is covered with hieroglyphics and figures neatly cut, and on the top it
has the winged globe and a cornice. It had been painted, and was buried
entirely under ground.
While my men were at work, I was in the habit of searching among these
tombs, and entered all the places and holes I could possibly squeeze
myself into. In the large tombs I caused the side wall or rock to be
struck with the large sledge hammer, to discover by the sound if any
cavity were near. One day the hammer not only gave a hollow sound, but
made an aperture a foot and half wide into another tomb. Having enlarged
the hole sufficiently to pass, we entered, and found several mummies,
and a great quantity of broken cases. The stones which had fallen from
the roof were as sharp as a razor, and as my shoes were not very strong,
my feet were cut in several places. These stones detach themselves from
the roof in flakes, which proves them to be much harder than when first
cut. In an inner apartment of this tomb is a square opening, into which
we descended, and at the bottom found a small chamber at each side of
the shaft. In one was a granite sarcophagus with its cover quite
perfect, but so situated, that it would be an arduous undertaking to
draw it out. Among the mummies I found some small papyri, and one
extraordinarily large.
When I did not choose to pass the river in the night to our habitation
at the temple of Luxor, I took up my lodging in the entrance of some of
the tombs along with those troglodytes. Nothing could be more amusing to
me. Their dwelling is generally in the passages between the first and
second entrance into a tomb. The walls and the roof are as black as any
chimney. The inner door is closed up with mud, except a small aperture
sufficient for a man to crawl through. Within this place the sheep are
kept at night, and occasionally accompany their masters in their vocal
concert. Over the doorway there are always some half-broken Egyptian
figures, and the two foxes, the usual guardians of burial-places. A
small lamp, kept alive by fat from the sheep, or rancid oil, is placed
in a niche in the wall, and a mat is spread on the ground; and this
formed the grand divan, wherever I was. There the people assembled round
me, their conversation turning wholly on antiquities. Such a one had
found such a thing, and another had discovered a tomb. Various articles
were brought to sell to me, and sometimes I had reason to rejoice at
having stayed there. I was sure of a supper of milk and bread served in
a wooden bowl; but whenever they supposed I should stay all night, they
always killed a couple of fowls for me, which were baked in a small oven
heated with pieces of mummy cases, and sometimes with the bones and rags
of the mummies themselves. It is no uncommon thing to sit down near
fragments of bones; hands, feet, or sculls are often in the way; for
these people are so accustomed to be among the mummies, that they think
no more of sitting on them, than on the skins of their dead calves. I
also became indifferent about them at last, and would have slept in a
mummy pit as readily as out of it.
Every human being can be happy if he likes, for happiness certainly
depends on ourselves. If a man be satisfied with what he has, he is
happy; but much more so when he thinks, that there is nothing more to be
got. It is somewhat singular to talk of happiness among people who live
in caves like brutes, or rather who live in sepulchres among the corpses
and rags of an ancient nation, which they know nothing of. But this is
trifling compared with their slave-like state, subject to the caprice of
a tyrannical power, who leaves them no chance of receiving any
remuneration for their labour, and no prospect of any change except for
the worse. But custom reconciles all this. The labourer comes home in
the evening, seats himself near his cave, smokes his pipe with his
companions, talks of the last inundation of the Nile, its products, and
what the ensuing season is likely to be. His old wife brings him the
usual bowl of lentils and bread moistened with water and salt, and when
she can add a little butter it is a feast. Knowing nothing beyond this,
he is happy. The young man’s business is to accumulate the amazing sum
of a hundred piasters (two pounds and ten shillings) to buy himself a
wife, and to make a feast on the wedding day. If he has any children,
they want no clothing: he leaves them to themselves till mother Nature
pleases to teach them to work, to gain money enough to buy a shirt or
some other rag to cover themselves; for while they are children, they
are generally naked or covered with rags. The parents are roguishly
cunning, and the children are schooled by their example, so that it
becomes a matter of course to cheat strangers. Would any one believe,
that in such a state of life luxury and ambition exist? If any woman be
destitute of jewels, she is poor, and looks with envy on one more
fortunate than herself, who perhaps has the worth of half-a-crown round
her neck; and she who has a few glass beads, or some sort of coarse
coral, a couple of silver brooches, or rings at her arms and legs, is
considered as truly rich and great. Some of them are as complete
coquettes, in their way, as any to be seen in the capitals of Europe. I
often noticed, that modesty was most apparent among the ugliest. These
do not care to let a stranger see their faces; as they have nothing to
gain by it, they deem it better to keep it covered; on the contrary, one
who hopes to excite admiration in the stranger, takes care that some
accident or other shall cause the veil, or cloth, or rag, covering her
face, to fall or turn aside. The artifice having succeeded, she pretends
to be quite anxious to cover herself again; but she is satisfied the
stranger has had his peep, and she passes on, proud that he knows her to
be pretty.
When a young man wants to marry, he goes to the father of the intended
bride, and agrees with him what he is to pay for her. This being
settled, so much money is to be spent on the wedding-day feast. To set
up housekeeping nothing is requisite but two or three earthen pots, a
stone to grind meal, and a mat, which is the bed. The spouse has a gown
and jewels of her own; and, if the bridegroom present her with a pair of
bracelets of silver, ivory, or glass, she is happy and fortunate indeed.
The house is ready, without rent or taxes. No rain can pass through the
roof; and there is no door, for there is no want of one, as there is
nothing to lose. They make a kind of box of clay and straw, which, after
two or three days’ exposure to the sun, becomes quite hard. It is fixed
on a stand, an aperture is left to put all their precious things into
it, and a piece of mummy case forms the door. If the house do not please
them, they walk out and enter another, as there are several hundreds at
their command; I might say several thousands, but they are not all fit
to receive inhabitants.
While I was thus occupied in my researches at Thebes, we received news
that the Defterdar was to come up the Nile again. By this time I had
arranged my operations, and they were going on very well. At Carnak, one
morning previous to my crossing the Nile to Gournou, I set several men
to work on a spot of ground at the foot of a heap of earth, where part
of a large colossus projected out. Mr. Beechey, who sometimes visited
the ruins, did me the favour to superintend the work on that day; and,
on my return from Gournou, I had the pleasure to find the discovery had
been made of a colossal head, larger than that I had sent to England. It
was of red granite, of beautiful workmanship, and uncommonly well
preserved, except one ear, and part of the chin, which had been knocked
off along with the beard. It is detached from the shoulder at the lower
part of the neck, and has the usual corn measure, or mitre, on its head.
Though of larger proportion than the young Memnon, it is not so bulky or
heavy, as it has no part of the shoulder attached to it. I had it
removed to Luxor, which employed eight days, though the distance is
little more than a mile.
I had by this time accumulated at Luxor articles enough to fill another
boat, as large as that of the preceding year. Besides this head, which
is ten feet from the neck to the top of the mitre, I procured an arm
belonging to the same colossus, which measures also ten feet, and with
the head, will give a just idea of the size of the statue.
I brought also the famous altar, with the six divinities, in alto
relievo, which are the most finished works of any I have seen in Egypt.
It was thrown from its pedestal in a small temple in the north-east
angle of the wall inclosing the great temple of Carnak. The pedestal is
still there, and is of a kind of whitish marble. I had also four large
statues with the lion-heads; and the cover of the sarcophagus, of which
so much was said on my first visit. It cost some trouble, as may be
supposed, to remove a heavy piece of granite from those abysses, through
a place scarcely high enough to allow a man to sit on the ground, up an
uneven and craggy ascent, by the assistance of people, strangers to
every sort of order, and who had to contend with the dust that rose
under the feet, and the excessive heat from the number of labourers. I
had it conveyed over the water to Luxor, ready to embark, and it was
well that I did so.
Fortune seemed to favour me so far this time; for, no sooner had I
finished the operation, and made the above collection, than an order
came from the Defterdar Bey, who had arrived at Gamola, three miles
north of Thebes, to all the Cacheffs and Caimakans, who commanded on
both sides of Thebes, not to permit the English party to accumulate any
more antiquities, nor to allow the Arabs to work or sell any thing more
to them on any account.
I must inform my reader, that the two agents for the opposite party had
gone to Gamola on the arrival of the Bey, and requested him to send this
order, under the pretext, that they could not find or buy a single
article in consequence of the English, who laid their hands on every
thing. He did not want much persuasion to this; and immediately sent for
the chiefs of Gournou, Luxor, and Carnak, to whom he gave strict orders
as above.
The Sheik of Gournou came to tell us of the order the Bey had issued.
The poor fellow, who was rather attached to us, was sorry for his part,
but said he must obey. It was too late to set off that evening to see
the Bey, so I waited till early the next morning. On my arrival, I found
the mighty potentate seated in his divan, surrounded by his Cacheffs,
and a number of other attendants. He received me more coolly than on my
former visit. He inquired whether I had not yet made up my collection. I
answered, that, as long as I had his permission, I would still endeavour
to find something more.