464 Egypt. 



and Hemsrisha ; Trenchis and Edfir we liad seen coming dp. 

 Ombos is very late, and very bizarre in its construction; five pil- 

 lars in front, and two entrances into two separate and parallel 

 ranges of apartments. Hematis is a small and curiously enriched 

 temple, originally unfurni&hed. Euneh, celebrated for its zodiac, 

 and unquestionably ihe finest portico in Egypt, is nothing but a 

 portico ; the body of the temple is buried, and the town built on 

 its roof. Edfir, in the same manner incumbered, is the most en- 

 tire in its accessories, at least of any other Egyptian temples; it 

 has all the accompaniments of propyla, area, inclosure, &c. quite 

 perfect: but all sunk in Thebes. I am literally afraid of saying 

 any thing of its gigantic size ; a size not only of extent, but 

 mass. The disjecta membra occupy many miles, and the largest 

 temple, that of Kamek, is 1200 feet in length alone, without 

 comj)rehending its dependent ^acella temples, to the number of 

 fifteen or twenty, with which it is surrounded. I do not remem- 

 ber a more positively subhme effect j)roduced by any architecture 

 I have ever seen, than the vista from the obelisk down the great 

 portico. — I cannot say how much it struck and astonished me, 

 when I suddenly turned round, without any preparation from 

 former travellers, and unexpectedly came upon the whole forest 

 of its pillars, enormous fragments of moss lintels, &c. 1 shall 

 well and long remember it : if I had seen nothing else in Egypt, 

 this would have repaid me for the worst part of the Egyptian 

 tour, the seventeen days voyage to Alexandria. — We occupied so 

 much time, as you may easily imagine, in taking the measure- 

 ments and plans of this city of temples, that we had less time, 

 perhaps, than was necessary, for the Tombs of the Kings ; but I 

 contrived, notwithstanding our hurry, to spend two entire days 

 there — a place of wonders, half seen, half lost; and perhaps ir^ 

 recoverably so, in the darkness of their strange emblems and lan- 

 guage ; but it is sufficiently impressive to confound and humble 

 modern conceptions. Most of these tombs are a series to long 

 strait excavations in the limestone rock, some of the length of 

 100 feet in galleries, opening into rooms, and terminating in the 

 large arched sepulchral chamber, where the body of the monarch 

 was deposited in a granite or alabaster sarcophagus. The Sar- 

 cophagus is already on its way to England. The sight of the stuc- 

 coed painting which I have got, will give you a better idea of its 

 unaccountable preservation, than any vague terms could possibly 

 *do. It is not only fresh, but fresher than any wall painting I have 

 ever seen at home after the first week. It is probable that its 

 date is very ancient, and may exceed, if Herodotus's Persiar\ 

 Chronology may be relied on, 1000 years before Christ. All 

 the injury it has received, has been subsequent to its late open- 

 ing ; the excessive rain for a day and a night at Thebes, almost 



proved 



