FRONT ELEVATION OF THE GREAT TEMPLE OF 
ABOO-SIMBEL. 
FRONTISPIECE TO VOL. V. 
This additional view of the facade of the Great Temple of Aboo-Simbel has been 
chosen by Mr. Roberts in further illustration of the subject. 
Descriptions, as far as the limit of our text allows, have been given of the various 
parts and aspects of this stupendous excavation and sculpture from the living rock; 
as well as of the original discovery of its existence by Burckhardt, the first access 
to its interior by Belzoni, and the further exposure of a part of its facade to its 
base by Mr. Hay. The effect of this wonderful Temple upon travellers who have 
been fortunate enough to visit it has been, without exception, of the same impressive 
character. Warburton, in “The Crescent and the Cross,” says:—“Here, at the 
Temple of Osiris, a space of about one hundred feet in height is hewn from the 
mountain, smooth, except for the reliefs. Along the summit runs a frieze of monkeys, 
in long array; then succeed a line of hieroglyphics and some faintly-carved figures, 
also in relief; and then four colossal giants, that seem to guard the portal. They 
are seated on thrones, which form, with themselves, part of the living rock, and 
are about sixty feet high. One is quite perfect, admirably cut, and the proportions 
accurately preserved; the second is defaced as far as the knee; the third is buried 
in sand to the waist; and the fourth has only the face and neck visible above the 
Desert’s sandy avalanche. The doorway stands between the two central statues.” 
On entering, the traveller finds himself in a Temple which a few days’ work 
might restore to the state in which it was left three thousand years ago. The dry 
climate and its extreme solitude have preserved the most delicate details from injury; 
besides which it was hermetically sealed by the Desert for thousands of years, until 
Burckhardt discovered it, Belzoni penetrated it, and Mr. Hay cleared away the pro¬ 
tecting sands. 
A vast and gloomy hall, such as Eblis might have given Vathek audience in, 
receives you, in passing from the flaming sunshine into that shadowy portal. It is 
some time before the eye can ascertain its dimensions, through the imposing gloom; 
but gradually there reveals itself, around and above you, a vast aisle with pillars 
formed of eight colossal giants, upon whom the light of heaven has never shone. 
These images of Osiris are backed by enormous pillars, behind which run two great 
galleries, and in these torchlight alone enabled us to peruse a series of sculptures 
in relief, representing the triumphs of Remeses II. or Sesostris. The painting which 
