EGYPT.—AN INTRODUCTION. 
sculptured reliefs, and filled with columns, and painted and decorated with hieroglyphics, 
that recorded the conquests of their Pharaohs, the ordinances of them priests, or the 
oracles of their gods; all these tended to excite and increase the impression of solemnity, 
to its termination in the sanctity of the adytum. 
The temples of the Greeks were, on the contrary, externally objects of striking 
beauty. Within, the statue of the god alone was seen; hut without, the elevated 
portico with its sculptured pediment, the columns surrounding the cella, the entablature 
enriched with reliefs which represented the history of the hero, or the worship of 
the god, were all before the eyes of the people: the beauty of such a temple was ever 
open to their gaze and contemplation, and tended to purify their taste, and excite 
their patriotism. 
In sculpture, the same regard was paid by the Egyptians to the solid and enduring 
which governed their style in architecture. Colossal in scale, hard and indestructible 
in material, and compact in design, nothing is presented that can he broken without 
great effort and violence. No limb is separated, and the action which would require 
this is never represented. The dignity of repose in the figure which is so impressive 
was not the object sought by the sculptor, but the condition attached to the style of 
art which he knew to he the most endurable. That the Egyptian sculptors were 
capable of higher execution is shown in numerous examples, but in none is it more 
striking than in the admired delineation of character in the head of the Memnon 
brought to England by Belzoni, and now in the British Museum. 
But we are even more indebted to their painting than their sculpture for the 
actual knowledge we possess of the manners and customs, the habits and pursuits, the 
civil and religious processions and ceremonies, the costumes, arms, arts, and occupations 
of the ancient Egyptians. 
On the walls and propylons of their temples, and especially in the tombs of their 
Pharaohs, and priests, what they did, what they taught, or what knowledge was familiar to 
them, has been represented. The nations they conquered and kept in slavery, the 
punishments inflicted, and the tasks imposed upon them, are vividly represented by 
an art, that has vindicated its power to preserve such records for three thousand 
years. Often the figures painted are slightly cut in the stone, or plaister, and the 
design, in incised relief, painted. This guarded, in exposed situations, the paintings 
from the injuries of time, but against violence there is no protection. These arts 
were known before the time of the erection of any existing temple, and we have 
remarkable evidence of their durability, in some fragments of such sculptured and 
painted stones, the relics of former structures, that were used as materials, which 
have been found built into the walls of the great temple of Karnak. 
That the decorative and constructive arts were carried to high perfection among 
the ancient Egyptians, is abundantly shown in the articles which have been found in 
their tombs, and, after so great a lapse of time, preserved to us in their furniture, 
utensils, instruments, and ornaments; in wood, and bronze, and gold; in glass and 
in gems. Of their working in tissues and fabrics, their painting, enamelling, and 
chasing, many examples in exquisite ornaments remain to us, and show how much 
