351 
EGYPT. 
this road, it was probably only for the purpofe of ob¬ 
taining a longer fpace, in which to roll the lolemn tide 
of funereal pomp ; for the valley even from its com¬ 
mencement tending towards the fouth, the fpot where 
the tombs are, cannot be a great diftance from the Mem- 
nonium. Far advanced in this defert valley, and in the 
midft of the rocks, we firft obferve fome obfcure open¬ 
ings parallel to the ground: thefe openings diiplay no 
other architectural ornaments than a door in a firnple 
fquare frame, with a flattened oval in the center of the 
tipper part, on which are infcribed in hieroglyphics a 
beetle, the figure of a man with a hawk’s head, and be¬ 
yond the circle, two figures on their knees in the aft of 
adoration. As foon as the threfhold of the firft entrance 
is palled, ye difcover long galleries twelve feet wide and 
twenty in height, cafed with ftucco fculptured and paint¬ 
ed ; the arches of an elegant elliptical figure, long erro- 
neoufly attributed to a more modern date, are covered 
with innumerable hieroglyphics, difpofed with fo much 
talte, that notwithftanding the Angular grotefquenefs of 
the forms, and the total abfence of demi-tint, or aerial 
perfpedtive, the ceilings make an agreeable whole, and a 
rich and harmonious aflociation of colours. Palling from 
one tomb to another, at the end of the galleries are the 
farcophagi unconnected with each other, compofed of a 
Angle block of granite, twelve feet long by eight in 
breadth, ornamented with hieroglyphics both within and 
without ; at one end they are rounded, and at the other 
fquared, like that in the mofque of St. Athanalius at 
Alexandria : the tombs are covered by a lid of the fame 
material, and of an enormous mafs, (hutting with a 
groove ; but neither this precaution, nor thefe vail blocks 
of (lone, brought from an immenfe diftance, and at a vaft 
expente, have been able to preferve the relics of the fo- 
ven-igns from the attempts of avarice ; all the tombs are 
violated, plundered, and robbed: not a Angle mummy is 
to be found perfect ! On the lid of the firft farcopbagus 
that we meet with, the figure of a king, or of fome pro¬ 
tecting divinity, is fculptured ; but the figure itfelf is fo 
worn, that it is impoflible to diftinguifh by the drefs whe¬ 
ther it is a king, a prielt, or a divinity. In other tombs 
the fepulchral chamber is furrounded by a pilaftered por¬ 
tico, whofe galleries bordered with recedes fupported in 
the fame manner, and lateral chambers hollowed into the 
rock, are covered with a white and fine ftucco, on which 
are coloured hieroglyphics in a molt wonderful date of 
prefervation : the colours of the ceilings, exhibiting yel¬ 
low figures on a blue ground, are executed with a talte 
that might decorate our molt fplendid faloons. , 
On the walls of fome of the chambers are reprefented 
all kinds of arms, fuch as panoplies, coats of mail, ty- 
ger’s lkins, bows, "arrows, quivers, pikes, javelins, fa- 
bres, cafques, and whips : in others there appear innu¬ 
merable houfehold utenfils, fuch as calkets, chelfs of 
drawers, chairs, fofas, and beds, all of exquilite forms, 
and.fuch as might well grace the apartments of modern 
luxury : as thefe were probably accurate reprefentations 
of the objects themfelves, it is almolt a proof that the 
ancient Egyptians employed for their furniture Indian 
woods, carved and gilt, which they covered with embroi¬ 
dery. Belides thefe, there are reprefented various fmall/tr 
articles, as vafes, colfee-pots, ewers with their bafons, a 
tea-pot and bafket, &c. Other chambers are confecrated 
to agriculture, in which are reprefented all its various in- 
ftruments, a fledge fimilar to thole in ufe at prefent, a 
man flowing grain by the fide of a canal, from the borders 
of which the inundation is beginning to retire, a field of 
cormreaped with a fickle, fields of rice with men watch¬ 
ing them. In another chamber is a figure clothed in 
white, playing on a harp with eleven cords : the figure is 
reprefented with ornaments, and was made of the fame 
kind, of wood as modern ones. Many figures appear 
without heads, or as having the head cut off; thefe all 
reprefent black men ; but thofe who had cut the heads 
off, and were Hill holding the fwdrd, the inflrument of 
punifliment, are coloured red. Could thefe be human 
facrifices ? Was it the cuftom to immolate flaves on the 
tombs ; or Was it the reprefentation of an act of juftice, 
and the p'unifhment of the guilty ? Here are alio fome 
figures of divinities, cut in fycamore-wood with uncom¬ 
mon elegance, and a fmall foot of a mummy, which does 
no lefs honour to nature, than the other fragments do to 
art. It was, no doubt, the foot of a young princefs, the 
perfect form of which had never been cramped by the 
abfurdity of fafhion. Themyllery and magnificence ob- 
fervable within thefe excavations, in incalculable labour, 
and tIre number of doors by which they are protected, 
convince us that the religious worfhip which had fcooped 
out and decorated thefe fubterraneous royal fepulchres, 
was the fame as that which had railed the pyramids. 
The burial-places of the commonalty, above-men¬ 
tioned, are alio conltructed with order and magnificence, 
confining of a regular double gallery fupported by pil¬ 
lars, behind which is a row of chambers, often double, 
and highly ornamented. Were it not for the tombs, and 
fome remains of mummies, we might be tempted to be¬ 
lieve that thefe were the dwellings of the primitive in¬ 
habitants of Egypt ; or rather that, after having fit'll 
ferved for this purpofe, thefe fubterranean caves, had be¬ 
come the abode of the dead, and had, at laft, been re., 
ftored by the prelent ferocious occupiers td their original 
deftipation. In proportion as the height of thefe grottos 
increafes, they become more richly decorated ; and, by 
the magnificence both of the paintings and fculptures, 
and of the i'ubjedfs which they reprefent, they are many 
of them obvioully. the tombs of great men or heroes. 
Thofe which are believed to belong to the ancient kings 
in the vale of rocks above defcribed, are only diftinguifhed 
from thefe by the magnificence of the farcophagi, and 
the myfterious folitude of their lltuation. The fculp- 
ture in all is incomparably more laboured and higher fi- 
niflied than any we find in the temples ; it is tlie work of 
the chifel itfelf; and we might (land in aflonifhment at 
the high perfection of the art, and of its Angular deftiny, 
to be fixed in places devoted to eternal filence and dark- 
nefs, and obfcurity. In the working of the galleries, 
beds of a very fine-grained calcareous clay have occafion- 
aliy been crolfed; and here the lines of the hieroglyphics 
have been cut with a firmnefs of touch, and a precifion, 
of which marble offers but few examples; the figures 
have an elegance and correbtnefs of contour, which mo¬ 
dern improvement can fcarcely excel. 
Denon continually ranfacked thefe tombs, in the hope 
of finding an unrifled mummy, as well as to difcover the 
manner in which they were laid within the .fepulchres ; 
'and which the inhabitants.had always obftinately con¬ 
cealed, as the fituation of their village had given them 
almoft an exclufive trade in this lingular article of com¬ 
merce. After many painful and fruitlefs refearches, he 
at laft arrived at a hole, before which were fcattered nu¬ 
merous fragments of mummies : the opening was narrow, 
and there was rifk in going down. Determined to perfie- 
vere, he ft fuck a light, and entered the narrow palfage, 
groping on his hands and knees. Having crawled along 
nearly a hundred paces over a heap of dead and half de¬ 
cayed bodies, the vault became loftier, more fpacious, 
and decorated with, a conlidevable degree cif care. He 
now found that this tomb had already been fearched ; 
that thofe who had 'firft entered i-, not having torches, 
had ufed brufhes to give them light, and that thefe had 
let fire firft to the linen and afterwards to the gum or refin 
of the mummies, which had caufed fuch a combuftion 
as to fplit fome of the (tones, melt the gums and relins, 
and blacken all the (ides of the cave. lie could obferve, 
however, that this vault had been intended for the burial 
place of two confiderable perlons, whofe figures were 
fculptured in emboflment, feven feet in height, holdino- 
each other by the hand. Above their heads was a bast 
relief, reprefenting two dogs in a leafh lying on an altar; 
and kneeling, two figures had the appearance of worfliip- 
P in g> 
