1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



13 



breast, and passes through a ring, from which is suspended an amulet 

 in shape like a cross ; the feet are bare, the hand and arm perfect. A 

 great likeness is observable in the faces of both the figures, but the 

 lips of the elder are thicker, and the nose and face are altogether more 

 Egyptian; the hair of the latter is also curled, but is not so thick as 

 that of the yovniger, and the ears are shown, in which are earrings ; 

 the ilress, which is much shorter, is not so full over the person, but 

 equally tine in the texture ; on the feet are sandals, the fastenings of 

 which are nunutely executed, and are entirely diH'erent from the Greek 

 or Roman style. Some remains of colours are to be observed on the 

 dress, blue and red. There does not appear to be any hieroglyphical 

 inscription on it. Innnediately under the columns which separate tlie 

 saloons are two colossal lions which were given by Lord Prudhoe ; 

 they are of red Egyptian granite ; on each are two tablets or car- 

 touches, on which the learneil hare read the names of Amenothoph, 

 the second and third; there are also on them two other tablets, the 

 characters of which Ir.ive not yet been ilecipliered ; they were brought 

 from Nubia, from Delphi, MO miles beyond the Cataract. The atti- 

 tuile which is given them, although from the locality whence they 

 wore removed evidently betokens their great antiquitv, is more true 

 to nature than in the generality of similar figures of Egyptian (h^sign ; 

 one is lying on the right, and the other on its left side ; the right fore 

 leg in one is under the body, all but the [law ; the left is stretched 

 across the chest, and the paw, tinned flat down, rests on that of the 

 right, the under of which is turned upwards; thus the two paws meet 

 like two hands when brought flat together : the eves are very long, 

 and have nuich resemblance to those of Egyptian human statues. There 

 are two small lion sphinxes which much resemble these ; they were 

 found by Captain Caviglia when he uncovered the sphinx of the Py- 

 ramiils, in a small temple, placed between its legs ; they are of soft 

 calcareous stonc^ and have been painted red ; their length is about aU 

 inches ; one has a head in the style of the sphinx, and on a plinth are 

 some figures, which are no part of the original design, they are not 

 hieroglyphics. Of the other, the lower part of the face is gone ; this 

 has also a low head-dress, and a mane carved in lines down the breast, 

 and wliat is singular, neither of them possesses much of the Egyi>tian 

 character, though found in such a situation. No. 1 1 is the figure of a 

 liawkheaded spliinx, which was found by Belzoni at Ipsamboul, The 

 ram's head in this room, which formed the head of a colossal sphinx, 

 was taken from the avenue at Carnac, and is of soft calcareous stone ; 

 the face is 3 feet inches in length, and the horn in the curve 4 feet 

 11 inches, the tip of which is broken off; on the top of the head is an 

 oblong hole, 44 inches by 4 deep. From the spirit shown in the 

 sculpture of this head, as also in those of the lions, it is to be seen 

 that the Egyptians excelled far more in their delineation of animals 

 than of the human form ; that hardness and inanimation, which is the 

 characteristic of the latter, is not to be complained of in the other. 

 What was the origin of the sphinx, and they are found in Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa, wdiat mystery was hidden in so strange a shape, ami 

 still wrapped in obscurity, the general opinion of antiquaries, that a 

 lion's head, united to a woman's body, was to denote the rise of the 

 Nile, when the sun is in tlie signs of Leo and Virgo, will not suit those 

 witli a male head or a ram's head. Winkleman thinks the Andro- 

 sphinx typifies the male and female principles of worship united in 

 one form, and it is so found in India; the (jreek sphinx was a female 

 and a lion ; the Egyptian and Jewish, a lion with a man's head ; in 

 Arracan, it is a female ; in Java, half a woman and half an elephant ; 

 and in hidia the fourth incarnation of Vishnu is a man lion. Tliere 

 are in this room two obelisks of black marble ; they are the only ones 

 in the Museum ; the one on the right as you enter is that mentioned 

 by Niebur in his travels; it has been broken into two pieces ; they 

 are now together; the lower part, which is perfect, is about S feet in 

 height ; it was found fixed into the side of a doorway of a house in 

 Cairo, and the broken part ser\ ed for a sill ; the north side has a car- 

 touche under the usual symbol of the goose and dise, and another per- 

 fect, supposed to contain the name ; they are repeated on the oijjiosite 

 side, and nowhere else ; the hieroglyphics on the north and south sides 

 are the same; those on the east and west are different, but resemble 

 eacli other ; the first are much better executed than tlie other ; the 

 bird is perhaps one of the best specimens of sculpture found in Egypt ; 

 the arch on which it is chisseled out is rounded with great skill ; the 

 shadow thrown by the edges formed by the erasion in the stone, added 

 to the shadow cast from the rounded pait on the deep incision, gives 

 a line relief to the lighter and higher jiarts ; the feathers of the wing 

 are also beautifully raised, and the eye is well delineated. The one 

 opposite, which is about the same size, is not so well executed ; it has 

 the same cartouche cut on the four sides ; the hieroglyphics are the 

 same on both of these obelisks, but differently placed ; the sistrum is 

 shown on both, and what is supposed to be the proper name on the 

 Alexandrian sarcophagus, as also the pveuomen, is the same which 



appears on these. It was the opinion of Denon that obelisks and gate- 

 ways which are often found insulated before the temples were votive 

 orterings to the collective gods. The colossal head on which is the 

 mitre, called the Teshr, was found by Bel/.oni at Cainac, east of the 

 Nile; it is of red granite, and is highly polished, and of much larger 

 dimensions than the one opposite, called the lesser Memnon; the face 

 has much more of the Ethiopian character, and does not possess the 

 softness which is seen in the other, and is evidently of an earlier date; 

 the height from the top of the mitred crown is It) feet; the beard-case 

 and left ear only are destroyed ; the colossal arm lying near it belonged 

 to this statue, and from its being straight and in a falling position 

 shows it must have been an upright one ; in the hand are the remains 

 of a staff or sceptre. The cap is fastened with bands under the chin. 

 From the position of the arm and head its height must have been at 

 least 2(i feet, and it is observable in this, as in almost all the Egyptian 

 figures, that the ear is placed too high on the head. 



The colossal figure marked 21 was discovered in the ruins of a 

 temple behind the Colossi at Thebes, between the Memnonium and 

 Medinet Abu ; it is an exact model of the great figure of iMemnoii at 

 Thebes, the exact height of which is 7o feet; it is in a sitting posi- 

 tion, and has a close-fitting cap on the head, on the front of which is 

 the as|)ic serpent. The beard and lower part of the chin are broken. 

 The stone is a breschia, and Uioks black, but it is a dark gray, and has 

 bright yeUovv particles in it, and is the only statue of that kind of 

 stone in the collection. The hair is curiously gathered behind, and, 

 from a number of radii collected in a convex form, is gathered into a 

 long tail ; it has a nether garment, of corduroy appearance, attacheil 

 to a belt round the waist, and overlaps in parts on the thighs, on which 

 are exteuiled the hands, which are b idly executed. At the back ot 

 the throne is a S(|uare colunm, and the cartouches there inscribed con- 

 tain, as we are told, the name of Amenothoph or Jlemnon, being the 

 s;ime as those on the Thebau colossus. 



A colossal head of Jupiter Amnion, of white stone, marked 30, is 

 finely executed ; it was in the collection of Mr. Salt, found by IJelzoni, 

 at Carnac. Fart of tlie face is destroyed, but as it remains, the difi'e- 

 rence of expression observed on viewing it is remarkable. In the iront 

 it possesses the general character of Egyptian composure ; on the 

 northern side it is grave and severe, and on the eastern it has the 

 same smile as is seen on the face of the lesser Memnon. 



Another head of ei[ual size, on the left of the room as you enter, is 

 the only Egyptian one in tlie Museum on which the beard is seen ; in 

 all the others it is placeil in a sort of case, but here it is sculptured on 

 the stone ; flat lappets descend on each side of the head, the breadth 

 of which are of the same size as the fringy beard. The stone of 

 which it is forineil is a brownish breschia, peculiarly diflicult to cut. 

 The great sarcojiliagus on the left, near the entrance, given by Colonel 

 Vyse in ls3'.1, is of red breschia, and is well deserving inspection. 

 The hieroglyphic-i are highly finished ; they are not so numerous as 

 those on the tomb of Alexander, or the one opposite called the Lovers' 

 Fountain, but of better execution. It has a lid of circular form, which 

 tits with a ledge; there is a band of hieroglyphtcs on each side : in 

 each band are 12 figures 4 inches in length, all different, and divided 

 from each otlier by a tablet of inscriptions; 11 of these figures are 

 faced by one at the end, a band of hieroglyphics reaches halfway 

 along the cover, another crosses this, and then there are G more, 3 of 

 which are but half the length, to give room for 3 figures of mummies, 

 of which there was probably 3 within the monument. Above this 

 there is a face deeplv cut, the features of which are completely of 

 the negro character.' It has the usual "oskh" or cunicular tippet 

 worn round the neck. The length is 9 feet, and the breadth 3 and a 

 half. The colour of the stone forming the top is much lighter than 

 the lower jiart of the sarcophagus. No. lU, which is supposed to 

 have been the tomb of Alexander, consists of a single block of stone 

 ten feet in lei gtii, four in height, and about five in breadth. It is ;i 

 particular kind of prismatic congloinerite, resembling that which is 

 uiRler the second porphyry formation, and is entirely covered with 

 hieroglyphics in lines. ' On his death, we are told by Curtius, his 

 body was enshrined in golden chasework, over which was put a purple 

 vestment, and then his armour: on his arrival at Alexandria it was 

 there deposited, but whether in this sarcopliagus or not has been mat- 

 ter of dispute. He was worshipped as the thirteenth god of the 

 Egyptians ; three centuries after his death his body was seen by 

 Augustus. Tacitus says the tomb was again opened by Caligula, and 

 the brea'st()late taken out and worn by him. When the body was re- 

 moved is unknown, but the Mahometans had always revered and con- 

 cealed this sarcoghagus from the Christians till seized on by the 

 Frencli. 



The engraved tablet of black basalt, called "the Rosetta-stone," 

 the " criLV antiquarionim," contains three inscriptions — one in hiero- 

 glyphics, one in the ancient spoken or enchorial language of Egypt, 



