THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



174 



difference between the tension of tlie flange at that point and its tension at 



^uTlThave just shown that the tension of the flange at a distance x 

 from the abutment 



[Junk, 



a 



-i'")- 



Putting in this equation x = J, we have for the tension of the flange at 

 the centre 



^(r-lJ»)ori(»". 



Hence finally we get the tension of the horizontal rod. at a distance ^ 

 fro" the end by subtracting the first expression from the second. This 

 gives 



We will apply this very simple formula hereafter to show '^e necessa^ 

 thickness of ihe vertical and horizontal bars, suppos.ng the "PP- -J^° ^ 

 flanges to be connected by a lattice work. For the present t suffic en 

 to point out that the same mode of investigation ''PP'^ " "^^ ^e 'a, 

 ribs are not lattice work, but continuous plates. For though we have 



ppo^^l the points of application of the forces which the ^^^^^^^^ 

 .be nbs to be separated by determinate intervals, ^\^\f^jj2TeZl 

 going reasoning that the result is the same whe her those ■"'"^^'^JJ =7\' 

 'r small. So that if the intervals be indefinitely d;«'--t>;d 'h^ ^ '^ "^ 

 rib and flange be joined at every point throughout the.r ^'^,f^'l^''^ll'f 

 s!on for the strain which the one exerts on the other wdl be t^e s.me m 

 both cases. 



REVIEWS. 



The Place of Egypt in the History of the World. By Chevalier de 

 BtJNSEN (^.ypteos^Stelle m der Welt-Geshichte.) Hamburgh, 1S45. 

 3 vols. 8vo. Plates. , 



The object of Dr. Bunsen is to prolong the incipient portion of man s 

 history fo about 2000 years, and to show, that where b.therto oolj an 

 unconnected \i.i of obscure names and dates was to be met. real history 

 and ch onologv may be elucidated by our increased knowledge of anc.ent 

 reco d , and he monnmea.s of the land of the Nile. If the work be ore 

 U3 were one relating to a country un-monununtal, it hardly would fall withm 

 the scope of our Journal; but being one of Egyptian ax>t.qu>ty, we may 

 2ive a brief account of its contents. 



^Looking over the numerous dates and names, and Usts and tables of the 

 th.^e volumes before us, one hardly can .magine that one man sabour 

 w u d s ffice to construct such an array of chronological forn.ula,, as .t were 

 7rom out ot the/.» given data of such remote antiqu.ty. But cons.denng 

 haTwe are now in .846, and that Dr. Bunsen says that h>s research on 

 I-gypt began in 1812, ,he thing becomes plausible Besides, there .s no 

 e| p ian scholarof the age wUh whom the author had not been ,n.,mately 

 connected ; and his work is a resunU of all what the grea Irench expe- 

 dition 1 ad begun, and such men as BeUoni, Salt, Champoll.on, Rosselm, 

 tminson. Col. Vyse, Perring, and last but not least, Leps.us, had brought 

 tn a orettv satisfactory close. 



"To restore," says Dr. Bunsen, "the chronology of the oldest monn- 

 uiental nation of the world, from Menes to Alexander the Great for an 



Extent of at 1-^' ^""O >-^^' ^™"'^ ''""' '^''" ""''""'" "I, T M 'T 

 facte ucidation of those monuments and partly documents, whuh Mane.ho 



and Eratosthenes had before them. As geolog.sts have endeavoured to 

 find a plrm in the forn.ation of the strata of the globe, an,l .herefrom 

 deduce the epochs o. our earth, we may accompHsh a similar ta.k, . , as 

 ?, tl^ case tlfe monuments of high antiquity of one of the most nuportant 

 ^oHds'.nat ons be not wanting. To sift the chronology of these anc.ent t.mes 

 ^il b m St feasible by the aid of ,nonu,nents. Those n.onu.nents do not 

 :„ datTfrom much earl.er times than the publ.c in gene.-al (w.th exception 

 liieEgyptiologisis) are accustomed to expect ; but they are of far great r 

 iport tha.' eve,: these have h.therto thought, because the chie monuments 

 "'h old reigns are the kings' sepulchres, and these sepulchres are he 

 pyramids ; and amongst them the world-famed three are cer aiuly, not the 

 oldesT It is very remarkable, that we find on the field ot the Pyramid 

 (Piram;.ionA(.;e)almostallkingsoftheMemphisdynasty,.>utnonames..h,eld 



iNumeuschild) which can appertain to the thinHe kings Those, ho»e, , 

 »ay yet be discovered .n the ruins of Abydos-thal pr.m;.val tnetropol.s 



of ancient Egypt which, notwithstanding the report of Strabo and the 

 great import of the kings' table [Konigstafel) has been entirely neglected 

 bv travellers. It is also remarkable that the building of Thebes is neither 

 ascribed to the second thimte dynasty, nor to the first memphitic, which, 

 as we said before, lays (according to all reports, traditions, and even his- 

 torical traces) beyond the times historical. A builder of Men>ph,slo„. 

 ever, is mentioned by Diodorus, according to a fragment of a P^P" " 'f^" 

 dition. According to this author, the eighth successor of Bus.r.s II. built 

 Memphis-then proceeds tradition: his daughter Memphis had conceived, 

 from father Nile, a son Egyptos, a mild and just king, his successor. 

 Busiris II forms the concluding link of the anle-historical Thebaic tradi- 

 tions-he is the builder of Thebes. After him succeeded another dynast,, 

 and the last king was the eighth of the successors of Busiris II , conclud- 

 ing therefore a dynasty of nine kings. His name was HUmphU; he 

 founded Memphis, and built a royal palace, not surpassed in after tunes- 

 still, not approaching the older royal palace of Thebes. ' (p. 105, vol. 2.) 

 It was on this very ,;,o(-".liat originated with Herodotus that part of 

 his wonderful description of Egypt which treats of the Pyramid^epoch. 

 Before him, the older Hecat.rus had been in Egypt. \V hat had become 

 nearly clear by the discoveries of Belzoni, is now completely ascertained 

 bv the labours of Vyse and Perring, viz., that the regular entrances to tb. 

 Pyramids were (at the close of the original construction and the interment 

 of the builder), shut from inwards by granite trap-doors, and slabs of 

 rock • that from that time, to tlieir forcible opening, none had ever viewed 

 their 'interior A tablet sunk in the granite blocks of the dressing seem, 

 to have contained the hieroglyphic inscription, wuh the name of the buried 

 and other particulars. The assertion of Niebuhr and W ilkinson, that the 

 dre.sin- was simply formed by the exterior slabs being subsequently (be- 

 einnin- from above) cut ofi-at the angle of the slope, seems to be confirmed 

 bv Pe^rin- and he adds that the surface was moreover carefully polished. 

 The history' of the destruction of these wonders of art shows, that curiosity 

 and thirst after concealed treasures enticed the ancient caliphs, most pro- 

 bably fir=t the son of Harun al Rashid, Mammun, to track an entrance ; 

 subsequently, especially under Salad.n, the Pyramids, especially the.r 

 dressing, were regularly used as quarries; in hue, the recklessness aiid 

 destructiveness of the Mamelukes completed the sacrilege. (p. 149, 



""Thelistorical details of the building of the thirty Pyramids of Egypt, 

 put forth by M. Bunsen, are numberless, but cannot be brought within the 

 compass of this Journal. The biographical notice of the builders of the 

 two largest pyramids will, however, interest our readers. " M ith the ex- 

 tinction of the two Menes lines, the southern and northern, after the death 

 of Amchura-Bicheris the ninth king of the first Memphis dynasty ,-another 

 familv probably a memphitic one, related to the former, ascended the throne 

 of E"vpt The fir=,t two rulers were the brother-kings Chufu. The elder 

 builtTbe second greatest Pyramid, and made a commencement of the stu- 

 pendous stone wall; the largest also was probably begun during his reign. 

 The younger brother, erected (according to Manellio) the largest, as a 

 seoulchre for himself, wishing to surpass his brother by its size, as well 

 as bv Uie splendour and solidity of construction. He, however, disdained 

 the dressing of the lower part with the reddish granite of Syene, which 

 distinguishes the second largest Pyramid." ■,. i- . 



A Treat part of the second volume of our author is taken up with a bislo- 

 ricil disquisition ou the Moeris Lake-the most stupendous, hydraulic work 

 which has been constructed in auy age. Situated at the confines of the 

 Lvbian Desert it escaped Uie notice of travellers, until M. Linanl, chief 

 engineer of roads and bridges to the Pacha of Egypt, made a considerable 

 steli towards exploring it.* " Egyptian irrigation," says Dr. Bunsen, •• re- 

 quires two ihings-canals and dykes. The system ol the former, in the 

 district alluded to, may be traced out so far, that the mam canal had to 

 serve the purpose of retaining the water on the upper slope of the land 

 and then to distribute it to the right and left, as well as westward to the 

 second slope. The canal leading on the right side to the lake, caused an 

 iiuiuediate connection of the Bahr Jusef with the Lake, and would at least 

 serve for the irrigation of those lands it passed through, if the waters were 

 dammed up in it. The second s>slem is that of dykes, for the purpose of 

 retaining the flood-water at the height to which it had been previously 

 r!ise<l until the Nile sl.me has been deposited and fertilized the land. 

 The ir'ri-ation of the lower pans is effected by the piercing of the dyke.; 

 and a similar system (instead of artificial sluices) we may imagine to have 

 bLn r::orted to during the period of Egyptian antiquity But there were 

 also artificial dyke gates for the same purpose^ (p. 217, vol. J.) 



^;^^::^i^:^:^^^^ 



