1847.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



3S3 



Vesta, or to the sibyl so well known in ancient Roman history. Soane 

 was the first architect who ever used this rich and beautiful variation of 

 the Coriothiaa order since the days of its original inventor. 



I am sorry that my proscribed limits have compelled me to treat the 

 works of many of our greatest architects, particularly Wren, Nash, and 

 Soane,' with such brevity; but as I, at present, propose to enlarge this 

 Memoir, and to illustrate it by engravings of the best works of every 

 period, I respectfully bid farewell to my friendly readers. 



James Elmcs. 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



No. V. 

 The Egyptian remains are particularly interesting, as they show the 

 state of manufacturing art in a country which was the great centre and 

 school of art for many ages. With Egypt the Phoenicians traded, ex- 

 changing the productions of that country for those of Greece, the Levant, 

 and the West Mediterranean. The Egyptians were not fond of the sea, 

 and the outward trade was always in the hands of strangers, first Phoeni- 

 cians, and then Greeks. This was a circumstance which favoured the 

 Phoenicians, for it prevented the rivalry of the most advanced country, at a 

 time when the nations iu the Mediterranean were all in a stale of barbarism. 

 It is to this trade of ihe Phoenicians that we, perhaps, owe the specimens 

 of Chinese workmanship which have been found in Egypt, and some of 

 which are now preserved in the British Museum. The trade to the Indies 

 long passed through Egypt, but i( is uncertain whether the tradic carried 

 on by the Phoenicians, and Solomon, king of the Jews, from Ezion Geber, 

 on the gulf of Akaba, in the Red Sea, was anterior to that of the Phoeni- 

 cians or not. From Egypt the useful arts were carried direct to Greece, 

 and in all probability to Etruria and Italy ; an enterprise not more difficult 

 than the intercourse between Tyre and Carthage. The traditions of Greece 

 afford many eiamples of the influence exercised by the polished natives of 

 Egypt ; and the latter country was long regarded with reverence as the 

 great seal of learning. The Jews seem to have acknowledged the same 

 superiority in the craftsmen of Egypt. 



Egypt had particular advantages iu those days as a manufacturing 

 country. Il had good supplies of flax, the material of the great woven 

 manufactures; aud it had a large working population, supported at a cheap 

 rale. It seems likewise to have been free from home war. Egypt was 

 defended by its deserts, its seas, its swollen river, and its many canals, 

 more than by the courage of its inhabitants, or by the possession of large 

 material resources. It is true, Egypt fell under the rule of the Persians 

 and the Greeks, but these cases of great invasions were ditl'erent in their 

 effects from that of frequent and harrassing wars, or the petty wars carried 

 on between ihe towns of Greece. The iiistory of Egypt in this respect is 

 like that of China, which, although it has succumbed to successive Tartar 

 invasions, has enjoyed a settled stats at home. The great cities of Mem- 

 phis aud Thebes had greater populations than the most flourishing and 

 powerful Greek states, and accumulated on small spots a large body of 

 artisans, who were favourably placed fur carrying out a subdivision of 

 employment. Many manufactures were thus carried to a great pitch, as 

 there is witness enough in the British Jluseum to prove to us. Indeed, 

 down to the latest period of what may be called " antiquity," Egypt was 

 a great seat of manufactures. 



The Egyptian collections have been much improved of late by the addi- 

 tion of proper labels, giving as good an interpretation as possible of the 

 names of the chief personages represented. These collections are the more 

 pleasing, as they contain sufficient to give a very good idea of the public 

 and private life of the Egyptians. The colossal heads of Ramcses are fair 

 spcciineua of their large works ; wliile the common tools, instruments of the 

 toilet, or articles of dress, illustrate their more trifling pursuits. Admirable 

 as is the Greek collection for its works of art, it is wanting in the smaller 

 specimens. The Roman collection is deficient in larger articles. The Etrus- 

 can gives us representations instead of the objects themselves. 



The Rosetla stone (No. 24) is what first deserves attention, as it may be 

 regarded as the key of the whole system. This monument seems to have 

 been placed in a temple at Rosetta, dedicated by Nechao to Alum. It is 

 of basalt, and contains tliree inscriptions on tlie same subject, one in Egyp- 

 tian hieroglyphics ; a second in Egyptian demotic or enchoreal character, 

 a more familiar character or mode of writing ; and a third in Greek. The 



inscriptions are mutilated, and record the services which Ptolemy the 

 Fifth had rendered to bis country. They were engraved by order of the 

 high priests, when assembled at Memphis for his installation. The name 

 of Cleopatra likewise occurs. The tablet has lately been put in a 

 frame. 



It will be remembered that from this tablet Dr. Young derived his theory 

 of hieroglyphic interpretation, which he tested by its means. As the aante 

 of Ptolemy occurs so frequently in the Greek, Dr. Young thought that the 

 corresponding group in the hieroglyphics would be found nearly as often. 

 This proved to be the case, but afforded only one result — the discovery of 

 the name of Ptolemy. The name of Cleopatra likewise was found, and 

 Dr. Young thought it worth while to examine whether the hieroglyphics 

 forming the name corresponded to the letters or syllables of the Greek. 

 If so, the groups answering to Ptolemy and Cleopatra would to some ex- 

 tent correspond, as each contains the P, T, and L. Dr. Young found this 

 to be the case, and thus obtained the elements of an alphabet, which has 

 been extended and applied to such extent, that the dictionary of hiero- 

 glyphics now includes many thousand words. 



The results of this discovery were not confined to their operation on 

 Egyptian hieroglyphics, but have had an influence on another recondite 

 department of learning — the interpretation of the arrow-headed characters, 

 which, like that of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, so long balHed inquiry. 

 The possession in museums of a few bilingual inscriptions in Arrow-headed 

 aud Hieroglyphics was of no avail, so long as both remained uudeciphered ; 

 but with the unlocking of the secret of hieroglyphics, these inscriptions 

 have acquired great importance. The names of Xerxes, Artaxcrxes, and 

 other Persian kings, have been recognised on these monuments, the Egyp- 

 tian cartouches having been interpreted, and thus give materials for an 

 alphabet of the arrow-headed character, which now engages the attention 

 of many able and persevering students. 



The tablet of Abydos (No. 117) is another valuable monument. Il was 

 found by Mr. Bauks, iu a chamber of the temple of Abydos, in 1818, and 

 it was published by M. Cailliaud in 1823, and by Mr. Consul Salt in 1825. 

 It was conveyed to France in 1837, and at the sale of M. Miniaut's col- 

 lection, it was bought for the British Museum. It represents an offering 

 made by Rameses 2nd or 3rd, of the IStb or 19th dynasty, to his prede- 

 cessors in the kingdom of Egypt ; but it is not yet ascertained whether the 

 list of kings be chronological or genealogical. Originally, it held the names 

 of fifty-two kings, arranged in the two upper lines, or twenty-six in each 

 line. The first twelve names of the first line and the first eight names of 

 the second line, have been destroyed. It still has the names of many kings ; 

 and it is probable that the discovery of other monuments will give ample 

 materials for a sound system of Egyptian chronology, a matter of some 

 artistic importance, as it will give us exact ideas of the relative ages of the 

 works which we possess, and will throw very great light on the history of 

 ancient civilization. 



We may observe, by the by, that in the prosecution of hieroglyphic re- 

 searches, it is very likely that in late raouuments aud inscriptions, Greek 

 and Latin terras and words will be found inscribed in hieroglyphic charac- 

 ters, for such in other cases is what may be termed a not unusual philo- 

 logical phenomenon. 



Two not the least interesting illustrations of Egyptian art are undoubl- 

 edly the two colossal heads in the Grand Central Saloon, and in the vesti- 

 bule of the Egyptian Room. The former is a plaster cast of the face of 

 the norihern Colossus at the rock temple of Ipsambul, and represents the 

 king Rameses 2od. The other is likewise a plaster cast of the same 

 monarch, but the countenance does not seem to be the same. These heads, 

 of colossal proportions, raised so high, aud seated as it were on terminals, 

 giving some idea of the trunk, are no less remarkable for their vast size 

 than for the harmony of their expression. To give a full idea of their ori- 

 ginal grandeur, they should be placed still higher ; but as it is, their effect 

 is most imposing, aud fully justifles the artistic conceptions of the Egyp- 

 tians in their colossal works. To the uninstructed multitude, the contem- 

 plation of these figures, godlike in form, must have been impressive of awe. 

 They walked, as it were, among the gods upon earth, who were present in 

 all the sublimity of heavenly form, clothed with all the terrors of su|)ersti- 

 tion, and armed with all the weapons of imposture ; statues of a hundred 

 feet in height, whicli iiiight be well supposed to hear their votaries, when, 

 as in the case of the vocal Memnon, they were known to have the power of 

 public speech. Indeed , we can scarcely contemplate unmoved the mighty 

 relics now before us. 



The artist will admire that in works eo great, breadth and smoothness 

 should be so well preserved, and he will not fail to recognise the hands of 



