CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



523 



Ili-.tory. palace, 'are two, and sometimes foiir colossal statues of 

 V "^"Y~^ sand stone, or granite ; they are either seated, or in the 

 act of marching, the arms hanging upon their sides, arm- 

 ed with a crooked poignard. The pictures which de- 

 corated "the exterior of these diitt-rent palaces, re"presentfni- 

 litary subjects, sieges of cities, combats, offers of peace and 

 submission by barbarians, triumphs of heroes who have 

 . conquered ; the hero is represented by a young man of 

 six feet high, mounted on a car precisely of the form used 

 by the Greeks. The soldiers are scarcely one-fourth of 

 this si/.e. The enemies, put to the route, are men with 

 beards, with a cap like the Spaniards. The Egyptians 

 are armed with arrows; the barbarians with a buckler ; 

 they have also crooked sabres, lances, javelins, and a 

 straight sword ; the bridle of the horses resembles those 

 still used in Arabia. 



In approaching Luxor, ( see Plate CXLIX.) the great 

 objects crowded together at the entrance, are new to a 

 European. In front of two great moles, 55 feet high, 

 and distant only fourteen paces, stand two obelisks, 92 

 feet high, and between the obelisks and moles there are 

 two colossal statues of black granite, each 38 feet high. 



The first colonnade is ruined, the second still exists ; it 

 is formed of two ranges of eight columns ; the total height 

 being 56 feet, andthe diameter nine feet. At 28 paces to 

 the right and left of the great colonnade, were two other 

 ranges, 30 feet high, and four feet diameter. These struc- 

 tures, are on the eastern bank of the Nile. On the western 

 side, on the scite of the Memnonium, is the immense statue 

 of red granite, thrown down by Cambyses : its stature is 

 6t feet. Another smaller statue of rose granite is reckon- 

 ed the finest in Egypt. Between the Memnonium and 

 Medinet Abou, are two of the greatest statues in Egypt ; 

 their proportion is 55 feet ; they are seated on pedestals, 

 which are eleven feet high, (See Collection of Fragments, 

 PlatcCXLIX.) The space between Memnonium and Me- 

 dinet Abou, which is about a mile and a quarter, is cover- 

 ed with fragments of colossus. Here appears to have been 

 what Diodorus Siculus called the tomb of Osymandes. 

 The palace of Medinet Abcu has still preserved a peri- 

 ityle, 55 paces long, and 65 in breadth, formed by four 

 rows of columns, placed on the four sides of the court. 

 The columns are 45 feet high, and seven feet diameter ; 

 the materials good, and the execution fine. In the hiero- 

 glyphics, the large figures have two inches relief, the 

 smaller ones one inch. On the exterior of the palace 

 wall, a bas relief represents a chase of lions, and an at- 

 tempt at a descent by strangers, whose dress very much 

 resembles that of Indians. The Egyptians oppose the 

 descent by sea and land, and the barbarians are all 

 routed. Under this picture is seen the march of troops 

 heavily armed, and others armed lighter. The tombs of 

 the kings are situated about 3f miles from the river, in a 

 narrow valley, between the mountains of Lybia. In the 

 time of Strabo, 17 of these tombs were found, and, in- 

 cluding a grotto near the Memnonium, there is still the 

 same number. They will be particularly described in their 

 proper place. 



Such arc the outlines of the ancient and justly famed 

 capital of Upper Egypt, as given by learned travellers ; 

 and more especially by Denon, and the French Commis- 

 sion of Arts, who examined it with zeal and care, under 

 the protection of an armed foi-ce. 



Leaving Apollinopolis parva, andCoptos, on the east- 

 ern bank of the river, we find Tentyra, situated on the 

 western bank. Here three temples have existed ; the 

 greatest, (see Plate CXLIX.) dedicated to Isie, is upon 

 the same plan as that at Apollinopolis. The facade is 

 72 paces in breadth, and 145 in length. As the particu- 



lars will be detailed under the head of the Practice of Hut or jr. 

 Architecture, we shall here only remark, that there are v *" V" 1 *' 

 two fine zodiacs to be seen ; and that the sculpture of 

 the human faces is much superior to that in any other 

 place in Egypt. There was another smaller temple also 

 dedicated to Isis, and a third to Typhon. The ruins of 

 the city of Tentyra are said to cover about a square mile. 



In descending the valley, there are still the remains of Panopolir; 

 Panopolis, Lycopolis, and Hermopolis, some of which I.ycopolis, 

 yet exibited porticos, having eighteen columns ; besides Herraopo- 

 these, a multitude of fragments, in various other places, 

 are evidence of temples or palaces having once existed. 

 At Heliopolis, there remain only a solitary sphynx and Heliopoh's. 

 an obelisk, to mark the scite of the city of the sun where 

 Moses, Herodotus, and Plato were instructed in the learn- 

 ing of the Egyptians. 



Upon the whole, there are yet, it is said, in existence, Five pa- 

 in Upper Egypt, five palaces and 34 temples : the most la s and 

 ancient have been constructed chiefly with sand stone, tlurt y-f. 1 '- t ' 

 and a few with calcareous stone. Granite was only used upper* "* 

 in obelisks and colossal statues. Egypt. 



After the seat of empire was removed to Memphis, gra- 

 nite was made use of. The temple of Isis of Bahbeit was 

 built of it. Immense masses were extracted and carried 

 from Elephanta. The sanctuary of Minerva at Sais, and Sanctuary 

 Latona at Butos, said to be cubes of sixty feet, were of Minerva 

 floated 600 miles, from Philee and Elephanta. lubf * 



The city of Memphis, the second capital of Egypt, is {"" f * e 8 ' 

 so completely destroyed, that its precise situation has not 

 been clearly ascertained. It contained the celebrated Mem P" ls - 

 temple of Phtha, (the vulcan of the Greeks) ; also one 

 to Osiris, where the sacred ox was kept, and one to Se- 

 rapis with an avenue of sphinxes at some distance. Stra- 

 bo says, that there were many palaces situated along the 

 side of a hill stretching down to lakes and groves, 40 stadia 

 from the city ; and it is known that they crossed lakes to 

 convey their dead to the tombs, which were hewn out of 

 the rocks. But the annihilation of the Memphian temples 

 and palaces are compensated by the existence of the py- 

 ramids, which are alone sufficient to engage the attention 

 of mankind. At a place called Sakkara, they are scat- 

 tered over a space of twenty miles by seven. About 

 thirty still exist, and there are traces of many more. The 

 three largest are situated at Gee/, and named from their 

 founders Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerines. That of 

 Cheops, which is the largest, is 448 feet in height, and 

 728 on each side of the base ; Chephren 398 feet in 

 height, 655 on each side of the base ; and Mycerines 

 162 feet in height, and 280 on each side of the base. 



The stone with which they are built is calcareous, fine 

 grained, of a light grey colour, easily cut, light and po- 

 rous, and readily imbibes water. By analysis it con- 

 tains 95 carbonate of lime, 4 alumine, and 1 oxide of iron. 

 The masonry is laid in mortar similar to that used in Eu- 

 rope. 



The learned Mr Greaves, after much discussion, deter- 

 mines, from the best authorities, that the large pyramid 

 was built 490 years before the first Olympiad, or about 

 3000 years ago. 



A little to the east of the second, or Chephren's pyra- 

 mid, is the sphynx, cut out of the same sort of rock upon 

 which the pyramids are built ; the length is about 95 

 feet, and its height from the knees to the top of the head 

 38 feet. 



It is still a doubt for what purposes these great edi- 

 fices were constructed, whether for temples or sepul- 

 chres, or both. These points will be discussed at some 

 length, and the particulars of their construction detailed 

 under the articles TOM a and PYUAMID ; but, iu this ge- 



Sphyni. 



