178 
DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
lumns are exquisitely finished. The capitals are oi 
four kinds, representing the calyx of the lotus, the 
flower of the lotus, the head of the palm tree, and 
the branches of the fan palm tree united with the 
bark of the lotus. One of the colossal sculptures 
represents a giant, who seizes in his left hand thirty 
men by the hair, while in his right he brandishes 
a battle-axe over his devoted victims. From 
the figure of the hawk sculptured on the walls, 
the great temple appears to have been consecrat- 
ed to Osiris, whose sepulchre was in this island. 
By Osiris in Philce, was the most solemn oath of 
the ancient Egyptians. * As many of the monu- 
ments in this island are constructed of masses of 
stone, sculptured with hieroglyphics, the French 
philosophers, by whom they were examined, con- 
jecture that they indicate a class of monuments an- 
terior to those of the Thebaid or of any other dis- 
trict of Egypt, t Norden supposes Phila? to be 
excavated into subterraneous recesses and passages, 
a conjecture by no means improbable, as it was the 
exclusive habitation of the priests, every other E- 
gyptian being prohibited from entering it under 
the penalty of death. From this circumstance, it 
seems to have received from Seneca the epithet of 
* Tzetzes in Lyeophron, Alex. 212. 
f Ripaud's Report on the Antiquities of Upper Egypt. 
p. 20. y 
