436 
BAHBEIT. 
by employing the Arabs to clear away the rubbish ; but this can 
never be executed in safety while Egypt is under its present savage 
masters. Three different kinds of granite have been used in this 
beautiful temple : the first is a very fine grained red, mixed with 
black and a little white ; the second is black, and of an inferior qua- 
lity ; the third is the common Thebaic red, with much white and 
a little black. On each of these the subject is different, and the style 
of carving dissimilar. 
On the first are representations of the goddess Isis, seated, and a 
person offering gifts to her, with a border of written hieroglyphics 
about a foot broad, inclosing each pair of figures in a compartment. 
The head-dress of Isis is not exactly the same in any two places, 
nor are the offerings similar, nor made by the same persons. Below 
these, but separated from them by a line of five pointed stars 
touching each other, is a range of smaller figures, bearing tables with 
three legs, on which are placed three vases and other ornaments. I 
could find no remains of the door way, except the vast block which 
covered it, and which had on it the globe, with the two serpents 
and the wings, as usually found in the temples of Upper Egypt. 
Nothing could be more admirably executed than the basso relievo 
of this part of the temple, which probably formed the front, or the 
wings ; the polish remained perfect on the faces : the designs were 
good, but the figures were invariably ill drawn. 
On the second, or black granite, which I conjecture to have 
covered the outer walls, are a number of figures, some seated, but 
the greater part standing, with their hands extended, among which 
we found one with the hawk's head, having in his hand the cross, 
with a circular handle, which has given rise among the learned to 
