opposite Shakke, on the east side. There is a short route over
the mountain from Derr to Assouan; but I preferred following
the banks of the river. The shore continued to be very sandy;
from an excavation made by the peasants, in search of treasure, I
perceived that the sands covered a stratum of rich alluvial soil,
whose surface was at a height which the water does not now reach,
even during the highest inundations. I had opportunities of making
the same observation in several other places; which seems to prove
that either the bed of the Nile or its inundations have been formerly
much higher in Nubia, than they are at present; for the earth is
evidently a deposit of its waters. The shore is quite barren from
Areyga northwards. At four hours we passed opposite to Songary. At
five hours, we came to the small village of Maleky (مالكي),
opposite the northern extremity of Wady Songary. In six hours and
a half, we arrived in front of the southern extremity of Wady el
Arab; the shore here is quite barren, and there is only a small
hamlet. In ten hours, we reached the banks of the river, opposite
Seboua, where are the fine ruins which I mentioned, in describing
my route southward.[52] They stand on the side of low hills, which
a narrow plain separates from the river. In front of the temple is
a propylon similar to that of the temple of Gorne at Thebes. It is
twenty-eight paces in length; [Illustration] and in the centre of
its two pyramidal wings is a small gateway, leading into the court
of the pronaos, two-thirds of which are buried in sand. The pronaos
has five columns, without capitals, on each of its longest sides;
in front of each column, and joined to it, is a colossal figure
(like those at Gorne), about sixteen feet in height, having the
arms crossed upon the breast, with the flail in one hand and the
crosier in the other; all these figures are much mutilated. The
walls of the propylon, and of the pronaos, having been constructed
of small blocks of very friable sandstone, are so much decayed,
that little now remains of the sculptures with which they were
originally covered; but a Briareus, with two bodies, may yet be
distinguished on the outside wall of the propylon. In front of
the entrance, there lies on the ground a colossal human statue,
the head and breast of which are buried in the sand; it probably
stood on the side of the gate, like the colossi at Luxor; it is a
male figure, and in the same attitude as the statues in front of
the temple of Isis at Ebsambal. In front of the propylon, and about
thirty yards distant from it, are two statues ten feet in height,
and seven paces from each other; their faces are towards the river,
and they are attached by the back to a stone pillar of equal height;
they are rudely executed, proportion being so little observed,
that the ears are half the length of the head; they both wear the
high bonnet, and represent unbearded male figures. An avenue of
sphinxes leads from the river to the temple; but the greater part
of them are now buried; four remain by the side of the two last
mentioned statues, differing from each other in size and shape, but
all representing the bodies of lions with the heads of young men,
and the usual narrow beard under the chin. I observed a hole on
the top of their flattened heads, intended, perhaps, to receive a
small statue. Near the temple are some mounds of rubbish and broken
pottery. The whole fabric appears to be of the remotest antiquity;
and to have been imitated by the more modern architects of Egypt;
for the propylon, and the pronaos with its colossal statues, are
found at Gorne, on a larger scale; the two statues in advance of the
propylon, are the miniatures of those in front of the Memnonium;
and the sphinxes are seen at Karnac. As it was long after sunset
before I quitted this temple, we proceeded only half an hour farther,
and alighted at the hut of an Aleykat Arab.
_March 26th._ In one hour and a half we came to Wady Medyk, which
stands on both sides of the river. The Senna-mekke grows here in
large quantities. The inhabitants of Medyk who retired to Esne
after the passage of the Mamelouks, had not yet returned. Many
of them died there of the small-pox.[53] In two hours and a half,
we passed opposite to Wady Nasrellab. In three hours and a half,
we came to El Nowabat, a ruined village, opposite to Thyale on the
east bank. The shore is here very narrow, and the western hills are
low, and sandy. At five hours and a half, we saw, upon the hills,
the ruins of several Greek churches. Seven hours, El Meharraka,
on both sides of the Nile. Upon the rocky hill, over the river,
stands a small ruined city, the houses of which had been built
partly of small stones, and partly of mud; they are of Arab
construction. Eight hours and a half brought us to the northern
extremity of Wady Meharraka, where the plain widens considerably,
being broader than in any other part north of Derr; though it is
cultivated at present only near the river. Here is the ruin of a
temple, consisting of a portico of fourteen massy columns, with
capitals of different sizes and [Illustration] forms, according to
the ancient Egyptian taste in architecture. They are encompassed
by a wall, which being joined to the entablature of the colonnade,
forms a covered portico all round. The southern wall has
fallen down, apparently from some sudden and violent concussion,
as the stones are lying on the ground, in layers, as when placed in
the wall; a proof that they must have fallen all at once. I observed
some hieroglyphics sculptured upon single stones lying about in
this part. The columns on the south side are joined to each other,
except the two centre ones, by a low wall, half their height, in
the same manner as those in the temple of the hawk-headed Osiris
at Philæ. There is one large entrance, and two smaller ones, and a
stair-case leading up to the top. Several paintings of Greek saints
are upon the walls; but no hieroglyphics, nor sculptures, of any
kind, are visible, not even the globe, common to all the Egyptian
temples; neither are there any sculptures on the columns. The walls
of this ruin are very neatly and well constructed. There are several
Greek inscriptions upon them, in red ink; but I could only read
the following clearly:
[Illustration]
I also copied the following inscription, which is upon the wall;
but I am unacquainted with the characters, and have no opportunity
at present of ascertaining what they are:
[Illustration]
There are besides, several inscriptions in the ancient popular
Egyptian character, such as is seen on the manuscripts of papyrus.
The whole portico stands upon a terrace of massy stones, eight
feet high towards the river; on this side is the great gate, but,
as there are no steps up to it, it is probable that it was used only
during the period of inundation, when vessels might moor close under
it; at present, the water does not reach the temple at the time of
the inundation. The portico is fifteen paces in length, and nine
in breadth: there is nothing about it which denotes it to be of
Egyptian origin, except the palm-leaves sculptured on the capitals
of the columns; it possesses, however, an imposing simplicity, and
belongs, I think, to the last epoch of Egyptian architecture. Close
to the walls of the portico are the remains of another building,
which had probably been a temple similar to the above, and not a part
of the same structure, for I could not perceive any corresponding
parts in the two buildings. A wall only remains, and the foundations
of the principal building; on the former are several sculptures,
one of which represents Isis sitting under a tree, and receiving
offerings; it is in high relief, unlike any thing of the kind I have
seen in Egyptian temples, and more resembling Grecian sculpture. This
circumstance, and the Grecian-like simplicity of the portico, lead
me to conjecture that both edifices were the work of the Ptolemies,
who constructed temples to the Egyptian deities in several parts
of Egypt, in which they imitated the architecture consecrated to
their worship. I saw no hieroglyphics on the wall.
There are large mounds of rubbish, and fragments of pottery, in
this place. Several travellers have expressed their astonishment
at the immense heaps of rubbish consisting chiefly of pottery which
are met with on the sites of ancient Egyptian towns; and, if we are
to attribute their formation to the accumulation of the fragments
of earthen vessels used by the inhabitants for domestic purposes,
they are indeed truly surprising; but I ascribe their origin to
another cause. In Upper Egypt, the walls of the peasants houses
are very frequently constructed in part of jars placed one over
the other, and cemented together with mud; in walls of inclosures,
or in such as require only a slight roof, the upper part is very
generally formed of the same materials; in the parapets also of the
flat-roofed houses a double or triple row of red pots, one over the
other, usually runs round the terrace, to conceal the females of the
family when walking upon it. Pots are preferred to brick, because
the walls formed of them are lighter, more quickly built, and have a
much neater appearance. They possess, likewise, another advantage,
which is, that they cannot be pierced at night by robbers, without
occasioning noise, by the pots falling down, and thus awakening
the inmates of the dwelling, while bricks can be removed silently,
one by one, as is often done, by nightly depredators, who break
into the houses in this manner. If then we suppose that pot walls
were in common use by the ancient inhabitants, the large mounds of
broken pottery may be satisfactorily accounted for. As for stone,
it seems to have been as little used for the private habitations
of the ancient Egyptians, as it is at the present day.
Near Wady Meharraka the island of Derar commences. At eight hours
and three quarters is the village of Korty. About two hundred yards
from the river stands a ruined temple; it is the smallest I have
seen, and may truly be called an Egyptian temple in miniature,
being only ten paces in length; the cella and adytum are yet
standing; the pronaos seems to be buried under the sand. Of the
sculptures, a few figures, and the winged globe over the gates,
remain; but the whole temple is in a very mutilated state. At the
end of nine hours and a half, we stopped at the house of a Shikh,
on the southern extremity of Wady Dakke (وادي دقّه).
_March 27th._ After an hour’s march, we came to the ruin of a
temple, one of the finest remains of antiquity that is met with
in the valley of the Nile. In the front stands a large propylon,
thirty paces in length, in the centre of which is a gate similar to
that of the propylon at Edfou; before this gate lies a fragment of
the body of a sphinx. There are neither hieroglyphics nor figures
of any kind upon the outer wall of the propylon; in both the wings
are staircases leading up to the top, exactly similar in their
construction to those in the propylon at Philæ; the two wings
communicate with each other by a terrace over the gate: there are
numerous small chambers one above the other from the bottom to the
top, in both wings. On the wall which fronts the gate of the temple,
and on the sides of the gateway, are sculptures and hieroglyphics.
[Illustration]
Sixteen paces distant from the propylon is the entrance to the
pronaos, between two columns, united to the wall, which is half
their height; they have the same capitals as the columns of the open
temple at Philæ, which are seen no where else in Egypt, and which
are represented in the travels of Denon, who says that they approach
the Grecian style by the elegance of their forms. Upon the columns of
the temple of Dakke are various figures, among which, I particularly
noticed one of a _harper_. The pronaos is ten paces in length, and
seven in breadth: its roof is formed of enormous blocks of stone,
at least fifteen feet long. A door leads from the pronaos into a
narrow apartment, only four paces in breadth,[54] which communicates
with the adytum, by another door richly ornamented. On one side of
the adytum is a small dark chamber, in which is a deep sepulchre,
with a large lion sculptured in the wall immediately over it; and,
on the other side, behind the wall, is a passage, communicating
with the pronaos, and containing a staircase which leads up to the
top of the building. The adytum is about six paces square; beyond
it is another apartment, somewhat larger, communicating, by a small
gate, with a narrow passage inclosed between the wall of the temple,
and a thick stone wall which inclosed the building on three sides,
but of which the foundations only are now remaining. A large block
of granite lying on the floor of this apartment, is one of the few
instances wherein granite is found in the temples of Nubia. Along
the bottom of the walls are represented lotus plants in flower,
to which offerings are presented.
There are no historical sculptures in any part of this temple, but
the exterior walls, as well as all the apartments within, are thickly
covered with figures representing religious subjects: on the former
some of the figures are four feet in height; those on the latter
are all beautifully executed, and equal, to the best specimens of
the kind which travellers admire at Hermonthis and Philæ; indeed,
I prefer the figures in the chamber behind the adytum, to any that
are in the temples at those places: in no temple of Egypt have I
seen such correctness of design or gracefulness of outline: some of
the figures might have adorned a Grecian building. On each side of
the narrow apartment behind the pronaos is a small gate, opening
into the passage above mentioned; opposite to one of these gates
is an avenue leading down to the river, and on the outside of the
other are two long inscriptions; one of which is in hieroglyphics,
and the other, immediately below it, and, apparently, by the same
hand, in the common Egyptian character, like that on the rolls of
papyrus. I conjecture the latter to be a translation of the former,
and if so, it may prove to be of some interest. The propylon and
the whole of the temple seem to have been encompassed by a brick
inclosure, parts of which still remain, and traces of the rest
may be discerned under the mounds of sand. The Greek Christians
had appropriated this temple to their worship, several paintings
of saints yet remaining on the walls. In the gateway, and on the
wall of the propylon, are numerous Greek and Egyptian inscriptions,
by curious visitors; of the former I copied the following:
[Illustration]
I conjecture the temple of Dakke to have been built after the plan
of Philæ; although upon a smaller scale, its execution appeared to
me to be still more careful than that of Philæ: and it is extremely
interesting from the high preservation of all its details. Dakke
is probably the ancient _Pselcis_, and the small chapel at Kobban,
on the eastern side of the river, _Contra-Pselcis_. The temple at
Korty has retained its ancient name, _Corti_; and the portico of
Meharraka must therefore stand upon the site of _Hierosycaminon_:
the temples of Seboua, Hassaya, and Ebsambal, with their cities,
are consequently unknown to the itinerary of Antoninus.
To the north of the temple are the remains of an Arab town, where
I saw some tombstones with Cufic inscriptions similar to those
among the sepulchres of Assouan. The plain is covered with large
heaps of rubbish. From Dakke to Benbaan, a village opposite Darau,
twenty-five miles north of Assouan, there is a route of three easy
days across the western mountain; there is a spring in the way,
called Kurkur (قُرقُر), with date trees growing near it.
At the end of three hours travelling from our setting out in the
morning, we reached Wady Kostamne, situated on both sides of the
river. In five hours, Wady Gyrshe; at the northern extremity of
this village is a temple, cut out of the rock, which presents
a fine contrast to its neighbour at Dakke, having been executed
in the infancy of architectural art, when the artist produced an
imposing effect not by the gracefulness, but the magnitude of his
figures. This temple stands upon the top of a hill, the broad
declivity of which is covered with rubbish and some fragments
of colossal statues. In front, is a portico, consisting of five
square columns on each side, cut out of the rock, with a row of
circular columns in front, constructed of several blocks, and
[Illustration] which originally supported an entablature. Of these
columns only two remain. Before each of the square side columns
stands a colossal statue of sand-stone, about eighteen feet high,
holding a flail in one hand, the other hanging down; they all
represent male figures, with the narrow beard under the chin, and
the high sphinx cap upon the head: their shoulders are covered with
hieroglyphic inscriptions. On both sides of the portico is an open
alley, hewn in the rock, from whence, perhaps, the materials
of the front colonnade were taken. The pronaos, which is entered
from the portico by a large gate, is eighteen paces square, and
contains two rows, three in each, of immense columns, or rather
props, (for they are without capitals,) measuring five feet
by seven in the plan. In front of each of these columns is a
colossal figure, more than twenty feet in height, representing the
usual juvenile character, with the corn-measure or bonnet on the
head, the hands crossed upon the breast, and holding the flail and
crosier. Although these statues are rudely executed, the outlines of
their bodies being less correct even than those of the statues at
Seboua, and their legs mere round blocks, yet they have a striking
effect in this comparatively small apartment; indeed, accustomed
as I had been to the grandeur of Egyptian temples, of which I had
examined so many incomparable specimens, I was nevertheless struck
with admiration on entering this gloomy pronaos, and beholding these
immense figures standing in silence before me. They immediately
recalled to my memory the drawings I had seen of the caves near
Surat, and other Indian excavated temples, which, in many respects,
bear a strong resemblance to those of Nubia. On the side walls
of the pronaos are four recesses, or niches, in each of which
are three statues of the natural size, representing the different
symbolical male and female figures which are seen on the walls of
the temples of Egypt. The centre figures are generally clothed in a
long dress, while the others are naked. All these figures, as well
as the colossi, are covered with a thick coat of stucco, and had
once been painted; they must then have had a splendid appearance. A
door leads from the pronaos into the cella; in the centre of the
cella are two massy pillars, and on either side a small apartment,
which was probably a place of sepulture; in the floor of each are
high stone benches, which may have served for supporting mummies, or
perhaps as tables for embalming the bodies deposited in the temple;
the floors have been broken up in search of treasure, and are now
covered with rubbish. Behind the cella, and communicating with it
by a door, is the adytum, on each side of which is a small chamber,
also opening into the cella, exactly like those in the temple at
Derr. In the posterior wall of the adytum are four statues, above
the human size, seated; and in the centre of the floor is a large
cubical stone, the use of which I cannot determine; its sides are
quite smooth, and without any kind of sculpture. It may, perhaps,
have served as the pedestal of a statue; or is it an inverted
sarcophagus? Of the sculptures and hieroglyphics with which the
walls of this temple were covered, very little is now discernible,
the sand-stone being of a very friable nature, and soon falling
to decay; added to this, the walls are quite black with smoke
from the fires kindled by the neighbouring shepherds, who often
pass the night in the temple with their cattle; enough, however,
still remains to shew that the sculptures are rudely executed. The
colossal figures are in good preservation, particularly those of
the pronaos; those in the portico have been mutilated.
While inspecting the interior apartments of this temple with a
lighted candle, for they receive no light but what is communicated
through the outer gate, I was joined in the adytum by the Shikh of
Gyrshe, who had hurried after me, on seeing us take the road to the
building. He begged me to give him half the treasure I had found,
or at least, a handful; but he was obliged to be contented with a
piece of wax candle. He shewed me the place where the Englishmen
(Messrs. Legh and Smelt), who had been here before me, found, as he
asserted, an immense treasure, with which they loaded their vessel;
one of the peasants had seen the gold! Similar tales are often
spread abroad; every peasant swears to their truth; and singular
as it may appear, all the inhabitants of Egypt, notwithstanding
the long residence of the French in that country, and the continual
passage of travellers, are still persuaded that the ancient temples
are visited for no other purpose than to search for treasure.
I am uncertain whether Gyrshe, or the more northern Dandour,
represents the ancient _Tutzis_. The spot upon which the temple
just described stands, is called by the natives Djorn Hosseyn
(جُرن حسين).
From Gyrshe, northward, the shore is very narrow; we rode over
the rocky mountain, which is close to the river, and, at the end
of six hours from Dakke, alighted at Merye (مريه), where we
slept. There are only a few families in the western Merye; but the
western Gyrshe is well inhabited.
_March 28th._ After a ride of one hour and a half, along the narrow
shore, we came to Wady Gharby Dandour, or the western Dandour
(غربي دندور), where I was surprised to meet with another
ruin of a temple, as the shore is so narrow, that no city of any
consequence could have been situated here. The shore, from the foot
of the rocky hills to the banks of the river, is only thirty paces
in breadth.
Before this temple stands a small propylon, or gateway, with a high
projecting cornice, resembling that at Tintyra. [Illustration]
Behind the propylon is the pronaos, with two columns in front,
similar to those of the temple of Dakke. The pronaos is seven paces
in length. Next follows the cella, and beyond that, the adytum;
there are a few sculptures on the walls of the adytum; on those
of the pronaos I observed lotus plants in flower, as at Dakke,
with persons making offerings to them. On the exterior wall of the
temple are figures in the style of those at Tintyra; I particularly
remarked a fine figure of Horus, with a finger on his lip. This
temple is, in general, extremely well built, and the sculptures
are of the best times; though I conceive it to be posterior in
date to the temple at Philæ, from a visible decline both in the
architecture and sculpture. In front of the propylon, towards
the river, is a stone inclosure, thirty-five paces in length,
by fifteen in breadth; the stones with which it is constructed
are in their rough state on the outside, but smoothly cut on the
interior. The wall fronting the river is fifteen feet in height,
and describes a slight curve. The floor of this inclosure, now
covered with stones and ruins, is considerably below the level on
which the propylon and the temple are built. Had it been a place
for sacred processions, or for sepulture? I have seen nothing like
it in any Egyptian temple; the stones and rubbish in its area,
render it probable that it had originally a roof. In the rock,
just behind the temple, a grotto is excavated.
In two hours, we came to Merowau (مرواو); the shore is no where
more than fifty yards in breadth; but is well cultivated. Merowau
belongs to Wady Gharby Dandour. Four hours and a half, Abou Hor. In
the rock, a little to the south of this place, a reservoir has been
cut, with an outlet, through which the water descends into a lower
and smaller basin; it is difficult to conceive for what purpose they
were intended, being so near the river. There are many jetties or
piers in the river, which prove how anxious the ancient inhabitants
had been to preserve and increase the portion of cultivable soil in
this part. Here are some rocky islands. In the sides of the western
hills adjoining Merowau and Abou Hor, are several small quarries,
and the foundations of ancient stone buildings. Like their ancestors,
the Nubians of the present day build their huts of stone, upon the
declivity of the hills, wherever the shore is very narrow, that
they may not encroach upon the cultivable ground. Where the plain
is broad their dwellings stand in the midst of it, and are formed
of mud only. Date trees, and the various species of acacia, grow all
along the shore; the latter produces, in the spring, a bitter fruit,
in shape like that of the Karoub, or locust tree; this the Arabs
gather and sell at Assouan to the merchants of Egypt, who use it in
tanning leather; it is called Garad (قَرَظ). Large quantities
of it, of a superior quality, grow in the neighbourhood of Siout,
and have rendered the tanneries of that place highly celebrated.