270 



NATURE 



[August 24, 191 1 



sanctuary 279 there was found against the main wall of 

 the hall a stone dais approached by several steps and 

 carvd in a single pi'ir. Il is < I • . .orat'-d .1 1 1 1 1. ■ out- 

 side with a design of bound prisoners, while upon the 

 steps themselves are similar representations of humble 

 captives upon which anyone mounting the dais must place 

 his feet. 



1 he general plan of the temple of the sun, as previously 

 published, was confirmed. A number of subsidiary 

 chambers were found, however, against the southern wall, 

 and these are represented in the new plan. On this side 

 from the west there may be seen also an ascending ramp, 

 leading up, doubtless, to a door in the southern wall of 

 the building. On the same side to the east there came to 

 light a small chamber enclosed between the main wall and 

 the colonnade. In the floor of this were numerous vases 

 of earthenware filled with incinerated bones and charcoal, 

 a proportion of the bones being apparently human. Just 

 above, upon the outer face of the main wall, there are 

 scenes representing the slaughter of young men and boys, 

 while among the sculptures which decorate the walls (some 

 of them now falling away from their original places) there 

 may be recognised scenes of torture. Of special interest 

 is a group of decorative carvings upon the west wall of 

 the main building, supplemented by fragments, which give 



ed with a board of gold. 



a contemporary picture of the whole temple as it originally 

 stood. The wall of the inmost sanctuary may be seen 

 rising above the colonnade which represents the cloister 

 upon the main platform ; both the inner and outer pylon 

 are also quite distinct. Another part of the scene repre- 

 sents a four-columned building, apparently that of which 

 the ruins are traceable just to the east of the enclosure 

 wall of this temple. The sloping way leads up to this 

 building, and a number of figures included in the decorative 

 scheme are arranged in two groups similar to one another 

 in which a bound captive may be seen dragged up the 

 slope by a cord attached to his leg, while a soldier from 

 behind encourages him to mount with the point of his 

 spear. The representations of the king seated upon his 

 throne and of warriors mounted on galloping horses com- 

 plete these interesting scenes. 



Several other smaller buildings have been included in 

 the season's explorations — temples, houses, baths, chambers 

 for workers in metal, the furnaces for pottery and bricks, 

 and all the evidences "I the activi life of a great city of 

 the East. But of even greater immediate interest was the 

 discovery and excavation of the royal city and its palai 1 - 

 Following under the surface the greal wall, bounding the 

 Amon temple on the west, which all the time was the 

 centre of these investigations, it was found that it con- 

 NO. 2 1 82, VOL. 87 I 



tinued with the same width of five or six yards for a 

 length of more than 300 yards. At last, instead ol turn- 

 ing towards the east, and thus including the temple of 

 Amon, it turned at each corner to the west and enclosed a 

 space of 150 yards wid . On the west sid'-, without doubt, 

 it touched the river in ancient limes — a fact which corre- 

 sponds with tradition — and here there were noticeable 

 specially built terraces to resist the action of the water, as 

 well as a place of disembarkation and a quay communi- 

 cating with the interior. 



Inside there were two prominent mounds. That to the 

 north covered a great columned hall, with frescoes of the 

 king and queen in scenes of ceremonial and triumph 

 painted on its walls. In the middle there had been con- 

 structed, at a second period, a massive pedestal, as if for 

 an equestrian statue or group, with its foundations half as 

 high as the original columns. In front of the enti 

 interred in a pocket of clean sand, there was found, on 

 the third day of the excavations, the massive bronze head 

 represented in the illustration. It is a wonderful specimen 

 of Roman art, in perfect condition, and clearly work of 

 the age of Augustus, about the time cf the birth of Christ. 

 The eyes are of alabaster, with the iris inlaid, and pupil 

 of dark glass, while the eyelashes are in bronze. It is 

 twice life-size. To judge from the profile, it is just possible 

 that this head represents Germanicus 

 (B.C. 15-A.D. 19), who during his military 

 ■ career was stationed at one period in 

 Syria, and is known from the Annals of 

 Tacitus to have made a voyage by the 

 Nile to Aswan ; but the resemblance to 

 J \ the Prima Porta head of Augustus makes 



J it more probable that it represents the 



first emperor. 



Lastly, towards the end of the season, 

 work was concentrated upon the palaces 

 covered by the southern mounds. In a 

 rubbish well were found pieces of glaze- 

 work, sistrums, ankh-signs, and vases 

 on which were the names of several 

 royal personages of Ethiopia, of date 

 probably towards the sixth or seventh 

 century B.C. Among them may be noted 

 Ispelut, whose other name was Mer-Ka- 

 Ra : .also Uaz-Ka-Ra (Hor-ma-ti-leq) and 

 Mal-nefer-neq. In another place a piece 

 of a big scarab gave the name of the 

 Queen Tiyi and Amenhetep III., names 

 familiar in the eighteenth dynasty of 

 Egypt, in the fifteenth century B.C. 

 Finally, towards the end of the work 

 there were found two jars of pottery full 

 of gold-dust and nuggets, of 22A carats, 

 and sterling value about 17001. One 

 jar contained also some royal jewels] 

 inscribed with the two royal names 

 well as money, rings, scarabs, crude 

 amethyst, and beads of coloured glass. This, without 

 doubt, formed part of the traditional treasure of the 

 Ethiopians ; the vases must have been stolen in ancient 

 timi From the treasury, which was found destroyed to the 

 very last stone, and the thieves had hidden them in the 

 place where the excavators' spades have now disclosed 

 them. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



It is announced in Science that Mr. John G. Archbold 

 has made a further gift of Sooo/. to Syracuse University, 

 and that Governor Dix has approved two Bills passed by 

 the recent New York Legislature, one granting 28,000/. for 

 the Oswego Normal School, and one granting 10,000/. for 

 11 Agricultural College, Cobleskill. 



Dr. A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S., fellow of Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, has been appointed to succeed Mr. E. Cunning- 

 ham, as lecturer in the department of applied mathematics 

 and mechanics in University College, London; and Dr. J. 

 Sherwood New to succeed Dr. F. N. Kay Menzies as 



last noted, 



