30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



express his ideas of the greatness of his gods 1 or ancestors by the 

 mammoth size of his idols. 



We detect very clearly in the colossus the influences of geographical 

 environment. They can be traced to a sedentary life, for a wandering 

 people is not one that produces great sculptures. The dependence of 

 the sculptor on available rock formation has long been recognized, 

 for the production of a colossus of great size is impossible unless a 

 certain kind of rock is available for that purpose. Colossi were made 

 in the most advanced stage of the megalithic epoch and are abundant 

 in both the old and new worlds." 



With exception of the sculptured menhirs, " steinfiguren," and 

 babas, European colossi are small and inconspicuous. Monolithic 

 colossal statues are not characteristic of ancient Greek, Etruscan, or 

 Roman art in Europe, but occur in Asia, 3 northern Africa, Central 

 America, and Polynesia. 



We find some of the largest known colossi in Egypt where the 

 megalithic age reached its highest development. The great sphynx 

 at Ghizeh, the statue of Rameses II 4 and the enormous seated figures 

 of the vocal Memnon, at Thebes, one of which is still a monolith, attest 

 the barbaric power of the ancient Egyptians in this line of expression. 



1 The area immediately surrounding the colossus is generally without roof, 

 open to the sky — a characteristic feature of various forms of monoliths. The 

 development of the enclosure where the idol stands into a temple led to a 

 diminution in size of the colossus and a predominance of accessories. The idol 

 being a symbol, the shrine or temple is symbolically the habitation of the god, 

 but the main structures of the more complicated temples are elaborations of 

 entrances and porticoes. Very diverse structures are called temples ; the 

 Yucatec sacrificial pyramid has little in common with the palace temples of 

 Egypt and Assyria. Some of the Abyssinian obelisks have the house, as well 

 as the disk, of the sun (Baal) upon it. 



2 In modern times we find allegorical figures, as the statute of Liberty at the 

 entrance to New York harbor, that of Walhalla at Ratisbon, Bavaria, or the 

 statue of Ariovistus, Germany, taking a colossal form. While the religious 

 feeling is absent the commemorative element still survives, and is expressed 

 in these and many other sporadic instances that might be mentioned. 



3 The terrace on which the temple (of Baalbec) stands is formed of stones 

 of enormous magnitude; at the northwest angle are three stones, two of 

 which are 6o feet, and the third 62 feet 9 inches in length. Hodder M. West 

 ropp, Handbook of Archaeology, 1867. 



1 This stupendous statue now in fragments measured 22 feet 4 inche 

 across the shoulders. Sir G. Wilkinson estimated that the whole mass entire 

 weighed 887 tons. 





