(c^ 



•^v 



th 



i 





^^ai; 



v?^ Of 



'^^uded to,' 



■ur 



so 



^er heat 

 '^^H the 

 ^'^}^ of the 

 time, and 



rot^ 



away 

 -it it oTves 





rvsoil k 



"'■^ snrfkoe 



shrubs 



r taproots 

 "hole the 



0^vc 



.Ut 



SUDS 



screen 



of 



and de^<^ 

 ^t:aa of 

 the snr- 



-alias of 



oi 

 oco 





Ch. xliv.] blown sand, and volcanic ejections. 



507 



IMBEDDING OP HUMAN AND OTHER REMAINS, AND WORKS OF 



ART, IN BLOWN SAND. 



amon 



the 



remains 



emerp-ed 



Afi 



ts 



The sands of the African deserts have 



been driven by the west winds over part of the arable land 

 of Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile, in those places 

 where valleys open into the plain, or where there are gorges 

 through the Libyan mountains. By similar sand-drifts the 

 ruins of ancient cities have been buried between the temple 

 of Jupiter Amnion and Nubia. 



We have seen that Sir J. G. Wilkinson is of opinion that, 

 while the sand-drift is making aggi^essions at certain points 

 upon the fertile soil of Egypt, the alluvial deposit of the 

 Nile is advancing very generally upon the desert ; and that. 



on- 



lising mud.* 



No mode of interment can be conceived more favourable 

 to the conservation of monuments for indefinite periods than 

 that now so common in the region immediately westward of 

 the plain of the Nile. . The sand which surrounded and filled 

 the great temple of Ipsambul, first discovered by Burckhardt, 

 and afterwards partially uncovered by Belzoni and Beechey, 

 was so fine as to resemble a fluid when put in motion' 

 Neither the features of the colossal figures, nor the colour of 

 the stucco with which some were covered, nor the paintings 

 on the walls, had received any injury from being enveloped 

 for ages in this dry inpalpable dust.f 



At some future period, perhaps when the pyramids shall 

 have perished, the action of the sea, or an earthquake, may 

 lay open to the day some of these buried temples. Or we may 



remain 



surroundinof 

 direction of 



* See p. 433. 



and land to modify the climate and the 

 prevailing winds, so that these may then 



t Stratton, Ed. Phil. Journ., No. y. p. 62. 



