nificent treasures of gold, silver, and ivory; with innumerable eolossuses, and obelisques of one entire stone. There were four temples edmir- 

 ^l^^gSU the most aLentof which was in circuit thirteen stadia, and five-and-forty cub.ts .n height, with a wall of 



four-and- twenty feet broad." . 



What history records of the buildings of the Egyptians would surpass credibility, were it not attested by their monument., wk»* 

 remain to this day. Egypt is a scene of antiquities; walking among ruins, the traveller forgets the present to contemplate the past and, 

 "he tral ol; degenerate race, marks the'remains of a mighty nation. Their bui.dings are still sub.ime. ^T^^UZ 

 always ranked among the wonders of the wor.d. Three of them still remain, at the distance of ™ e »^»« trom . ^^l !^g 

 S3." formerly stood. The largest of the three, called the Great Pyramid, forms a square, each side of whose base is 060 fee . The 

 cTrcZfere™2 y 640 feet. The basis covers eleven acres of ground. The perpendicular height is about 450 feet ;,f measured obliquely 700. 

 ?heT U mmit which v^wed from below appears a point, is 1 platform, each side of which is ,8 feet long The stones with which th.s 

 The summit, wtach v.e*e ™ A hundred thousand workmen were constantly employed in carry.ng on th.s amaz.ng 



JtTuZe ^^ir^ttiSjii. immense fabric. The sum emended for food to the workmen amounted to tooo talents 

 whTch, comparing the value of' money in those days with what it is at present, amounts to more than two hundred thousand pounds 



StCrl The original destination of these most ancient monuments of human ingenuity, and which are likely to last coeval with the works of 

 Na Je a3ng % he testimony of a.l antiquity, was to contain the embalmed bodies of the first monarchs of Egypt ™<° b *™*Zm a 

 sST that owLs the middle of the height of one of the sides, by raising a stone, an oblique passage is opened, wh.ch leads to the coffin 

 ofT Wn L thTce.l e of the pyramid, forms a striking proof of the ancient belief on this subject, and .s confirmed by every observat.on 

 which has been mal on these stupendous structures. The Egyptians not only believed in the immortal.ty of the sou,, but also m the re- 

 lation of The hot, after a long period of years : hence their extraordinary attention to embalm and preserve the uncorrupted bod.es of 



thdr T r n^ ~^::t^om an unknown antiquity. Herodotus, who wrote 2 ooo years ago, speaks with as much uncer- 



tions no tracefof that Egyptian mode of writing appears on the pyramids, because they were erected before h.eroglyphical wr.t.ng was col- 

 lated i st onlr poofo'f their age still remafns.^The general idea of Egyptian architecture was entirdy taken from the pyram.ds; wh.ch 

 noThnt btt theif high veneration for them, increased by their remote antiquity, could possibly have occas.oned; s.nce the figure of these 

 rbrts^oweUadaped to triumph over time, is inconvenient for habitable structures, whether public or private Yet we find, from the 

 atiS ruinTlf Sgher Egypt, that a.l the bui.dings, without exception, were raised on the model of the pyram.ds. We are surpnsed to 

 a a nt ™lv their oorts their doors, but even the walls of their towns, inclining to this form. 



TliaCZtFT^TlossM. more astonishing than the pyramids. The same circuit of wa.ls inclosed 3000 apartments, tweh-e of 



The Labyr ,nth _v>aj ^ and * b Th c L munica ted with each other by so many turns and windmgs, that without a guide the 



wh,ch were of ^T^lfZ c ^ « was under ground: the labyrinth terminated in a pyramid forty fathoms high. 



traveller was lost. One half ot the c ° amDer ^ a " & composition. The first models were erected by Sesostris, as monuments 



The Obelisks are in the same grand £^ »** • fw re Z f t h^gh. The Romans, in the era of their grandeur, transported 



t^o^^o^Z7^X:^:^^ Jain, and, for *%** - ^deur, rank among the greatest curiosities 



described and accu ^ ate ^ ~ e centre fece rf wWch alone measured in fength five feet ; that of the same face the nose measured one 



grand bust in the Elephanta .cavern toe ^ ^ ^ .^^ ^ ^ ^ stupendous bread th 



ttSSflZZ S^55SS -s near twenty fee, Vide Maurice's tntian Annies, with a Plate of this Bust and 



description, in Vol. I1L &J20. _ midd]e rf jy ^ ; ^ head ^ six feet broad , from the top of the 



« This large colos al sfctue ^^^ and so it does from the bottom of the neck to the navel. It is twenty-one feet broad 



head » + *^*^£^2Z72t four inches broad, and the foot is four feet eight inches broad." In another court of 

 at the shoulders, the ear is three teet long ^.^ a ^ ^ measured> from the 



this ruined temple he saw the £^J£^£»££ fee , Thc statue , on the east, is three feet five inches long in the foot : 

 hands only to the elbow, five feet , and thence to t one ^ ^ „ Jf admiratl0n 



lying at a distance from .t was the heM ^^^2 ' S^.^^? J^aimen-— rf these statues, to what an exalted point will his 

 should be excited in the mind of the reader, on perusing tne a deS criDtive of the celebrated statue of Memnon, standing upon a 



astonishment be elevated, when he casts his eye upor .the SU ^ ^ that this is the 



pedestal, which is alone above thirty feet in height, andin w dth "^ " e fir st appulse of the beam of the orient sun, to have emitted a dis- 

 Lous statue erected in the temple rf 8«».., ^****£* * J ^ rto porous dark granite, such as he never saw before, 

 tinctly audible sound. It is g^^J^^KZTKfC— ZL£ Ui <* '"" ° f wh ' ch <~ ^ ** 

 ffi!E£S£3 6 -r Mel m^^ormeVfrom the magnitude of the leg and foot, still remaining entire. Of these an engrav- 



