DERE— KOEOSKO — IBSAMBUL. 



305 



monly known by the erroneous name of Abu-Simbel. They are both hewn out of 

 the red ferruginous sandstone composing the mountains which rise on the left 

 bank of the river. Between the two rocks gushes forth a cataract of yellow sand, 

 borne thither by the wind from the Libyan desert, and forming an ever-increasino- 

 mound before each temple, which, on various occasions, it has been found necessary 

 to clear away from the entrances and statues. 



The southern or great temple, built in honour of Ammon-Ra, the sun-god, is 

 entirely hewn out of the living rock. Before the gate sit four colossi, over 60 



Fig. 94. — The Temple of Abu-Simbel, in Nubia. 



feet in height, of noble and placid countenance, supposed to represent Ramses II. ; 

 but of one of these gigantic statues, decapitated by an English traveller, the lower 

 part is all that remains. 



All the colossi are covered with inscriptions, Greek and Phœnician being 

 even found in the midst of the hieroglyphics. In the interior of the rock follow 

 in succession three large halls and twelve of a smaller size, whose walls are embel- 

 lished with hieroglyphic paintings and sculptures, whose colours are still brilliant. 

 One of these compositions, which comprises no less than eleven hundred figures, 

 represents the battle of Kadesh, the principal event of the Egyptian Iliad. Nearly 



20— AF. 



