THE ARABIAN RACE. 



249 



At Thebes, once the mistress of the world, the remains are nearly 

 all Pharaonic, and in a corrupted style of art; yet they present a 

 greater variety of subjects of interest than the antiquities of Lower 

 Egypt; or those of any other country. 



In the Tombs of the Pharaohs, such is the freshness of the un- 

 finished paintings, that one can hardly avoid expecting the return of 

 the artist to his task. The excavations are in a material which resem- 

 bles lithographic stone ; and which is admirably adapted for painting, 

 in a climate devoid of the elements of destruction. But it must not 

 be supposed, that Egypt is mainly indebted to this circumstance, for 

 the abundance of antiquities ; since the climate of various other coun- 

 tries, is equally favourable for the preservation of the works of human 

 hands. 



Although I may appear singular, I confess being interested in the 

 Egyptian colossi. These are by no means simple enlarged figures 

 of men, a kind of work that does not require genius ; but they have 

 lines not strictly anatomical, which yet appeared peculiarly expres- 

 sive of physical strength. Among the numerous colossi at Thebes, 

 the largest excites astonishment, not merely from the size and the 

 freshness of polish, but from having been subjected to a mechanical 

 force capable of rending it. 



The mode of warfare described by Homer, is abundantly illustrated 

 on the walls of the Theban temples. Here are portraits of indivi- 

 duals, costumes of foreign nations, military campaigns in distant 

 lands, and other evidence of great international events, most of 

 them anterior to written history. In fearful pre-eminence among 

 the records of carnage, the most recent of the larger temples bears 

 the battles of Sethosis. This Pharaoh preceded Alexander by about 

 a thousand years; and a narration of his career, is given by Ma- 

 netho, with much simplicity and dignity in the following words : 

 " Sethosis, then made an expedition against Cyprus and Phoenicia, 

 and besides against the Assyrians and the Medes : and he subdued 

 them all, some by his arms, some without fighting, and some by the 

 terror of his great army. And being elated with his success, he 

 went onward the more confidently, and overthrew the cities and the 

 kingdoms of the East." 



While ascending the Nile, I remarked among much individual 

 variation, that the complexion sensibly increases in depth; until in 

 the Thebaid, the Malay-brown hue is not uncommon. This gradual 



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