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ANCIENT EGYPT. 



i,2oo tons, but I fancy that this must be an exaggeration. 

 The northern statue is called the vocal Memnon, because, 

 after having been damaged by the earthquake of B.C. 27, it 

 emitted a curious musical sound, something like the human 

 voice, when struck by the first rays of the sun at daybreak. 

 Strabo records having heard it when in Egypt with ^lius 

 Gallus. The reason for this sound lay probably in some 

 form of expansion, but the vibration ceased after the statue 

 had been restored by Septimus Severus. Leaning against the 

 throne are two female figures representing the mother and 

 wife of Pharaoh. Miss Martineau says of them; — "There 

 they sat, together yet apart, in the midst of the plain — serene 

 and vigilant, still keeping their untired watch over the lapse 

 of ages and the eclipse of Egypt. I can never believe that 

 anything so majestic as this pair has ever been conceived by 

 the imagination of art. Nothing, even in nature, affected me 

 so inexpressibly. The expression of subhme tranquility which . 

 they convey from distant points is confirmed on a nearer 

 approach," 



A gigantic statue of Rameses II., seated on his throne, 

 stood before the pylon of the Rameseum or Memnonium, a 

 temple built by Rameses II., that remarkable ruler of men; 

 but it now lies in mutilated fragments on the ground. It was 

 over 57 feet in height, and is estimated to weigh something 

 like a thousand tons ; the length of the index finger is nearly 

 three feet and a half. I believe that the largest of the 

 monoliths at Stonhenge is estimated to weigh about eighteen 

 tons, and a comparison with that will give some of you an 

 idea of the stupendous size this statue was before its demolition. 

 The material is the rose granite of Syene. A bit of an ear 

 lay on the ground when I was there which I am sure would 

 take three men to lift. This colossus is significant of the 

 wonderful mechanical resources of the ancient Egyptians. 

 How could such a mass of granite be cut, brought down the 

 Nile some 150 miles, chiselled and placed high up at the head 

 of the temple steps ? It seems to one that such a feat would 

 not be easy of accomplishment to-day with all our appliances, 



