In viewing cursorily the statuary of the ancient Egyptians, the
investigator is first struck with the colossal proportions adopted by
their sculptors. In those days, when iron was unknown, and when bronze
was the manufactured metal, men contrived without the use of
gunpowder, to remove vast masses of granite from their quarries, and
to shape these masses into the form they chose. Had they a hero to
whom they would pay honour? Forthwith his figure was immortalised in
colossal granite. How these vast masses, when separated from the rock,
and chiselled into statues, were removed to their destination in the
court, or at the entrance of a temple, is a point not satisfactorily
determined. That thousands of lives were spent, year after year, in
the production of the vast monuments which now lie scattered in
confusion about the valley of the Nile is certain; and some men
contemplate this large expenditure of human muscle upon these rude
masses, with a gentle melancholy that is not altogether called for.
There was a spirit in the work that made it noble. And here it is well
that the visitor shall see the opinion of a man whose conclusions were
based upon profound erudition in his art, on the subject of ancient
Egyptian art, artistically viewed. In his lectures on sculpture,
Flaxman says, "Their (the Egyptian) statues are divided into seven
heads and a half, the whole weight of the figure is divided into two
equal parts at the _ospubis_, the rest of the proportions are natural
and not disagreeable. The principal forms of the body and limbs, as
the breasts, belly, shoulders, biceps of the arm, knees, shin-bones,
and feet, are expressed with a fleshy roundness, although without
anatomical knowledge of detail; and in the female figures these parts
often possess considerable elegance and beauty. The forms of the
female face have much the same outline and progression towards beauty
in the features as we see in some of the early Greek statues, and,
like them, without variety of character; for little difference can be
traced in the faces of Isis, in her representations of Diana, Venus,
or Terra, or indeed in Osiris, although sometimes understood to be
Jupiter himself, excepting that in some instances he has a very small
beard, in form resembling a peg. The hands and feet, like the rest of
the figure, have general forms only, without particular detail; the
fingers and toes are flat, of equal thickness, little separated, and
without distinction of the knuckles; yet, altogether, their simplicity
of idea, breadths of parts, and occasional beauty of form, strike the
skilful beholder, and have been highly praised by the best judges,
ancient and modern. In their basso-relievos and paintings, which
require variety of action and situation, are demonstrated their want
of anatomical, mechanical, and geometrical science, relating to the
arts of painting and sculpture. The king, or hero, is three times
larger than the other figures; whatever is the action, whether a
siege, a battle, or taking a town by storm, there is not the smallest
idea of perspective in the place, or magnitude of figures or
buildings. Figures intended to be in violent action are equally
destitute of joints, and other anatomical form, as they are of the
balance and spring of motion, the force of a blow, or the just variety
of line in the turning figure. In a word, their historical art was
informing the beholder in the best manner they could, according to the
rude characters they were able to make. From such a description it is
easy to understand how much their attempts at historical
representation were inferior to their single statues. What has been
hitherto said of Egyptian sculpture, describes the ancient native
sculpture of that people. After the Ptolemies, successors of Alexander
the Great, were kings of Egypt, their sculpture was enlivened by
Grecian animation, and refined by the standard of Grecian beauty in
proportions, attitude, character, and dress. Osiris, Isis, and Orus,
their three great divinities, put on the Macedonian costume; and new
divinities appeared amongst them in Grecian forms, whose
characteristics were compounded from materials of Egyptian, Eastern,
and Grecian theology and philosophy."
First, to give the visitor an idea of the magnitude of the colossi of
the ancient Egyptians, let him notice from the southern extremity of
the saloon the gigantic cast of the face of Sesostris, placed against
the southern wall of the central saloon. This face is a cast from a
colossal statue of that great king of the Egyptians, which was one of
four discovered by the energetic Belzoni, in front of the great temple
of Ibsamboul in Nubia. It is a sitting figure, fifty feet high. These
colossal figures of the great Egyptian monarch were plentiful
throughout Egypt. As the visitor stands before this fragment of a
stupendous piece of sculpture, he may recall to mind the points in the
career of Giovanni Battista Belzoni. First, the boy helping his father
to shave the beards of the Paduans; then the young adventurer flushed
with hope, jogging on his way to Rome; then the grave young man, with
his vast physical development shrouded in the monkish habit; then, in
1800, when Napoleon was busy in Italy, the monkish garments thrown
aside, he wanders about the continent, stared at everywhere for his
size and strength of limb; then as lecturer on hydraulic machinery,
and exhibitor of feats of strength at Astley's Theatre; then, under
the patronage of the Pasha, constructing a machine to water some
gardens on the banks of the Nile; then engaged by the English Consul
in Egypt, Mr. Salt, to prosecute some of the investigations into the
monuments of antiquity, upon which that gentleman was expending much
time and money; and here he is for the first time recognised in his
true position. Of his labours as explorer of the tombs and temples of
ancient Egypt few people are ignorant. How, dressed as a Turk, he
transported the colossal granite bust of Memnon to Alexandria, and saw
it safely on its way to England; how he penetrated into the Temple of
Ibsamboul; how he patiently explored the rocks of the valley of
Beban-el-Malouk, beyond Thebes to discover the entrances to tombs, and
took exact copies of the thousands of figures he discovered upon
sepulchral walls; how he penetrated into the bowels of the pyramid of
Cephrenes, and found in the inmost chamber only the bones of a sacred
bull; how he was honoured on his return to his native city; and how a
desolate grave on an African shore was the end of his chapter--are
matters of exciting adventure that are read by thousands of young
people in the present day.
The visitor will see a strong family likeness in the colossal heads
that are in the saloon. Proceeding northward from the southern end of
the saloon, the visitor may rapidly notice the colossal fragments of
the statues of kings and high officers, which are all distinctly
marked. First, let the visitor examine two colossal heads (4-6),
wearing the kingly head-covering, and said to resemble the features of
Amenophis III., which were excavated under the superintendence of Mr.
Salt, at Gournah; and then the visitor may turn to a fragment marked
9, which is a colossal fist, found among the ruins of Memphis by the
French, and which fell, together with other valuable relics, into the
possession of the English on the capitulation of Alexandria in 1801.
This fist may well excite the admiration and respect of the most
determined pugilist of the present day. Hereabouts also are a
remarkable monument (12) found in the ruins of Karnak under the
superintendence of Mr. Salt, placed upon a white stone pedestal in an
angle of the wall of the great temple, and showing on each of its
sides representations of Thothmes III. of the 18th dynasty, holding
the hands of deities, said by some to be the moat curious specimen of
Egyptian bas-relief in the Museum; a fractured colossus (14) in black
granite, from Thebes, supposed to be part of a statue of Amenophis
III.; the colossal head (15) discovered at Karnak by Belzoni in 1818,
supposed to represent the features of Thothmes III.; the head and
upper part of a statue of Sesostris, known as the Young Memnon. Before
this, the most celebrated of the Egyptian specimens in the saloon, the
visitor should pause to learn something of it, and notice its
peculiarities for himself. Its name, 'Memnon,' is that given by the
Greeks to many of the colossi which they saw scattered about the
country when they made their way into Egypt. Memnon was the name given
by the ancient Greek writers to an Egyptian hero who had a great
reputation for his conquests, and was said to have done his share of
work in the famous Trojan war. This name having been given
indiscriminately to various statues, conveys no proof of their
identity, since it represents only a mythical hero, whose fame reached
Greece many centuries before our hero. Generally, this young Memnon is
held to be a portrait of the great Sesostris, who was either the first
or second Rameses; but some authorities declare that the weight of
evidence goes in favour of Amenophis III., who was a pharaoh, or
monarch, flourishing more than fourteen centuries before Christ. It is
certain, however, that we have here a carefully-elaborated portrait of
an Egyptian hero who flourished many centuries before our era. The
features have all the prominent parts noticed by writers on Egyptian
sculpture as characteristic of the Egyptian style. Here are the
wonderfully high and prominent ears (which must have been invaluable
peculiarities to Egyptian wits), the thick Ethiopian lips, the coarse
nose, and the full eyes, all carefully and skilfully chiselled.
Certainly, when we recall the time, realise fully the antiquity and
the social state in which this great work was performed, we may see
the sculptor's dawning soul in the majestic repose of this head. The
lines are hard and stiff--have not the flow of the Parthenon
decorations; but here is nothing mean or poor,--all large, solid, and
carved with the force of a giant. The picturesque accounts of its
transmission from the Memnonium at Thebes to Alexandria are familiar
to the majority of readers, with the great Belzoni, with his
marvellous strength and energy, urging on the workmen. "I cannot help
observing," he tells us, "that it was no easy undertaking to put a
piece of granite of such bulk and weight on board a boat that, if it
received the weight on one side, would immediately upset; and, what is
more, this was to be done without the smallest help of any mechanical
contrivance, even a single tackle, and only with four poles and ropes,
as the water was about eighteen feet below the bank where the head was
to descend. The causeway I had made gradually sloped to the edge of
the water, close to the boat, and with the four poles I formed a
bridge from the bank into the centre of the boat, so that when the
weight bore on the bridge it pressed only on the centre of the boat.
The bridge rested partly on the causeway, partly on the side of the
boat, and partly on the centre of it. On the opposite side of the boat
I put some mats well filled with straw. I necessarily stationed a few
Arabs in the boat, and some at each side, with a lever of palm-wood,
as I had nothing else. At the middle of the bridge I put a sack filled
with sand, that, if the Colossus should run too fast into the boat, it
might be stopped. In the ground behind the Colossus I had a piece of a
palm-tree planted, round which a rope was twisted, and then fastened
to its ear, to let it descend gradually. I set a lever at work on each
side; at the same time that the men in the boat were pulling, others
were slackening the ropes, and others shifting the rollers as the
Colossus advanced.
"Thus it descended gradually from the mainland to the causeway, when
it sunk a good deal, as the causeway was made of fresh earth. This,
however, I did not regret, as it was better that it should be so, than
that it should run too fast towards the water; for I had to consider
that if this piece of antiquity should fall into the Nile, my return
to Europe would not be very welcome, particularly to the antiquaries;
though I have reason to believe that some among the great body of its
scientific men would rather have seen it sunk in the Nile than where
it is now deposited. However, it went smoothly on board. The Arabs,
who were unanimously of opinion that it would go to the bottom of the
river, or crush the boat, were all attention, as if anxious to know
the result, as well as to know how the operation was to be performed:
and when the owner of the boat, who considered it as consigned to
perdition, witnessed my success, and saw the huge piece of stone, as
he called it, safely on board, he came and squeezed me heartily by the
hand."
On the back of the statue are hieroglyphics describing the titles of
Rameses. Marked 21, is a colossal black granite statue of the third
Amenophis, also called Memnon, found also at Thebes in the year 1818.
The next remarkable object to which the visitor's attention may be
drawn is the sandstone statue of a monarch of the 19th dynasty, known
as Leti Menephta II. (26), found at Karnak by Mrs. Belzoni. Here the
characteristics of ancient Egyptian sculpture are strictly preserved,
the figure having the arms close to the body, the hands resting upon
the knees, and in the hands an altar, upon which is a ram's head.
Hereabouts, also, is the lower part of a kneeling statue of Sesostris,
supporting an altar, with the scarabaeus, or sacred beetle. Of the age
of the 18th dynasty (of which Amenophis III. was the most notable
monarch) is the restored group marked 29, which represents a guardian
of the temple of Amenra and his wife, seated upon a throne ornamented
with dedications to various deities. Having glanced at the limestone
bust (30), from Gournah, of a statue to a king, the visitor may turn
to a group (31) which represents an ecclesiastic, with his sister (who
is a priestess), and his little son, a priest to Amenophis II.--the
sister holding a bunch of lotus flowers. This group was found in a
tomb near Thebes. A headless statue, marked 35, with red colouring
matter upon it, extracted from a sepulchre in the neighbourhood of the
pyramids of Gizeh, is the next remarkable object deserving the general
visitor's notice; and hereabouts, also, is another group, in the old
Egyptian style (36), of an officer seated beside a female relation.
Passing some remarkable objects which remain for notice under a
separate head, and the lower part of a statue of Sesostris from Abydos
(42), the visitor should next pause before a figure marked 43. This
black granite statue is that of a queen of the 18th dynasty, and
mother of the great Amenophis III. She is represented, as the visitor
will perceive, seated upon a throne. A vulture, in an Athor-headed
boat, hovers over her; and upon the boat the learned may read her name
and dignities. Passing the upper part of a grey granite statue,
representing a king, probably of the 12th dynasty (44), which was
found in the neighbourhood of Gizeh, the visitor should halt before
the statue of an Egyptian scribe, marked 46. This sitting figure is
loaded with symbols. The pectoral plate suspended from his neck
describes the dignities of the great Sesostris; in his right hand is a
symbol of life, and in his left he holds a blade of corn. Near the
scribe the visitor will notice a heavily-draped figure of black
basalt, with the arms solemnly crossed, which was excavated from
behind the Memnon at Thebes. This statue represents a military chief
of the early part of the 18th dynasty, named Banofre. The figure
numbered 51 is that of a prince named Anebta, who lived in the 18th
dynasty: it is of calcareous stone, and was found at Thebes. The two
next statues are those of a royal scribe of the 19th dynasty, and an
officer connected with the libations to the god Amen-ra, both from
Thebes. Two fragments, marked respectively 54 and 55, are the feet of
a statue, and a colossal arm in red granite belonging to the colossal
head, conjectured to be that of Thothmes III., found in the sand in
the Karnak part of Thebes. Having examined these ponderous fragments,
the visitor should next notice the colossal red granite statue of
Sesostris found at Karnak (61), the kingly rank of the monarch being
marked by the hat and the royal apron; and the upper part of a statue
of the same monarch wearing the Pschent or crown of the Pharaohs, and
holding a crook and whip. The small statue of Bet-mes, a state officer
of the sixth dynasty, found in a tomb at Gizeh, is remarkable for its
extraordinary antiquity; and in this neighbourhood, also, is a statue
of an Ethiopian prince of the time of the great Rameses, named Pah-ur,
which was found by Belzoni in Nubia. The figure is kneeling, and
holding an altar. Passing the fragment, in grey granite, of a monarch
of the 18th dynasty (75), the visitor may pause before another object
taken from the French (81). It is the statue, from Karnak, of a high
priest of Amen-ra, seated, holding an ear of corn, and, like his
companions in stone, resting his arms upon his knees. Another
fragment, of green basalt, may be passed (83), which is from a
comparatively modern statue--that of a chamberlain in the reign of
Apries, of the 26th dynasty; and then the visitor should pause before
a white stone statue of the Ptolemaic period (92), which represents a
priest of the god Chons, or Hercules, holding an altar upon which is a
figure of the god; and hereabouts, also, he may remark another
specimen of white stone sculpture, being the colossal bust of a queen
of the 18th or 19th dynasty (93). Passing another fragment of a statue
of the great Rameses, the visitor should next direct his attention to
a dark granite statue, mutilated, of a high military officer, supposed
to have flourished about the 12th dynasty. Among other fragments
hereabouts, the visitor should not fail to examine the fragment (104)
found in Alexandria, at the base of Pompey's Pillar, upon which are
clearly traceable the figure of the great Rameses, being crowned by
divinities, and a list of his dignities; the red granite colossal fist
(106), presented to the Museum by Earl Spencer; and a curious
fragment, which represents parts of a royal scribe, with his writing
slab attached to his leg (103). Passing the curious double statue
(110), of a State officer of the time of the eleventh Rameses, the
visitor should once more halt before a basalt statue of a functionary
(111), of the 26th dynasty, found in 1785, in the Natron Lakes, near
Rosetta, and a granite group (113), representing, side by side, a
chief, and a royal nurse, with the chief's daughter. Amid another
group of fragments, the visitor should remark particularly an
arragonite torso (121); the upper part of an officer, holding a
standard (122); and a red granite bust of a monarch wearing the neumis
(125). A small black basalt statue, of the period of the 26th dynasty
(134) should be noticed. The figure, that of a palace officer, is
kneeling, and has dedications to the deities. Further on is a statue
of the third Thothmes, of the 18th dynasty (168), the head of which
has been restored. Here the visitor should remark the nine bows which
symbolise the enemies of the Egyptians. Having thus far noticed the
collection of statuary which represent human beings, the visitor will
gladly turn to those strange revelations of the ancient Egyptian mind
developed in the