BELZONi* 
209 
bust, erroneously named " the younger Mem- 
" non," but which is generally allowed to be the 
finest specimen of Egyptian sculpture yet known. 
It is formed of a single block of granite, about 
ten tons in weight. The French engineers were 
unable to move it, though, to facilitate the ope- 
ration, they had attempted to blow off the hair 
with gunpowder ; an operation which seems little 
consonant with their boasted reverence for Egyp- 
tian antiquity. M. Belzoni uncovered the front 
of the great sphynx, and discovered objects as 
unexpected as extraordinary, which had not for 
ages been exposed to human eyes. There ap- 
peared a monolithic temple of very considerable 
dimensions between the legs, and another in one 
of the paws. The ground in front was covered 
with the remains of buildings, probably temples, 
and several inscriptions by Koman emperors, 
recording their visits to the sphynx. While en- 
gaged among the ruins of Thebes, he discovered 
a clue to the Egyptian catacombs, and accord- 
ingly succeeded in opening his way into six im- 
mense tombs, situated in a spot which w^ould 
never have excited the attention of an ordinary 
observer. These appear to give a higher idea, 
than any thing yet discovered, of the posthumous 
splendour of the Egyptians. The most mag- 
nificent is one which, from containing the em- 
balmed carcase of a bull, is supposed to be the 
VOL. II. o 
