RUINS OF THE MEMNONIUM, THEBES. 
The palace and temple of Remeses II. is erroneously called the Meinnonium. There 
is, however, reason to believe that it was the Meinnonium of Strabo, and that the title 
of Miamum, or Mai-Amun, attached to the name of Remeses II., being corrupted 
by the Romans into Memnon, became the origin of the word Memnonium, or Memnonia, 
since we find it again applied to the buildings at Abydus, which were finished by 
the same monarch. A remarkable circumstance connected with the name is the belief 
that this and other monuments so called had been built or finished by the Ethiopians. 
For symmetry of architecture and elegance of sculpture there is no doubt that 
these ruins may vie with any other monument of Egyptian art. No traces are visible 
of the dromos that probably existed before the pyramidal towers, which form the 
facade to its first hypsethral area — a court whose breadth of one hundred and eighty 
feet exceeded its length by forty feet; but a double avenue of columns on either side 
extended from the towers to the second entrance, which was made by a flight of 
steps. On one side of these was the great Colossus of the Memnonium. 
The second area is about one hundred and forty feet by one hundred and seventy 
feet, having on the south and north sides a row of Osiride pillars, connected with each 
other by two lateral corridors of circular columns. Three flights of steps, one in 
the centre, the others lateral, lead to the end corridor of this court: the centre 
flight has on each side a black granite statue of Remeses II. seated, the bases of the 
thrones being cut to fit the talus of the ascent. Behind these columns, and on either 
side of the central door, is a limestone pedestal, which probably supported the figure 
of a lion or the statue of a king: thence three entrances open into the grand hall, 
each strengthened and beautified by a sculptured doorway of black granite; and between 
the two first columns of the central avenue, a pedestal supported on either side another 
statue of the king. Twelve massive columns form a double line along the centre 
of this hall, as at Karnak, and eighteen of smaller dimensions, to the right and left, 
complete the total of the forty-eight which supported its solid roof, studded with stars 
on an azure ground. To the hall, which measures one hundred feet by one hundred 
and thirty-three feet, succeeded three central and six lateral chambers, indicating by 
a small flight of steps the gradual ascent of the rock on which the edifice is constructed. 
Only two of the nine central apartments now remain, each is supported by four columns, 
and measures about thirty feet by fifty-five feet; but the vestiges of their walls and 
the appearance of the rock, which has been levelled to form an area round the exterior 
of the building, point out their original extent. The sculptures, much more interesting 
than the architectural details, have suffered still more from the hand of the destroyer; 
and of the many curious battle-scenes which adorned its walls four only now remain." 
These paintings are among the most interesting relics in Egypt, and they arc fully 
