E G Y P T. 
$53 
covered within and without, are executed with great 
care ; they contain, among other lubjedts, a zodiac, and 
large figures of men with crocodiles’ heads : the capitals, 
though all different, have a very fine effect; and, as a 
proof that the Egyptians borrowed nothing from other 
people, we may remark that they have taken all the or¬ 
naments, of which thefc capitals are contpofed, from the 
productions of their own country. It is lingular, how¬ 
ever, that in this ruin we find no reprefentation of tire 
filh latus, from which the town was named Latopolis. 
On the oppofite fide of the Nile is the precinCt of Con- 
tra-Latopolis; where we find a temple in a very ruinous 
ftate, but very pidlurefque and lingular in its plan, as well 
as in feveral of its parts. It con fills of a portico with 
four columns in front, two pilafters, and two columns in 
tire depth, with a fanCluary in the middle, and two late¬ 
ral apartments, one of which, on the right hand, is fcarcely 
to be traced. Within the portico is a door cut out of the 
lateral wall to the right, which mult have been the en¬ 
trance of a fmall fancluary in which the offerings were 
made. Another Angularity in the elevation of this edifice 
is, that the capitals of the two columns in the middle ot 
the portico are in relief at their fummit, while thofe ot 
tIre columns at each extremity are guttered. This build¬ 
ing is in a more ruinous Hate than almoft: any other in 
Egypt; and the decay lias undoubtedly arifen from the 
nature of the free-ftone with which it was built. The cir- 
cumvallation of the temple, within which were contained 
the lodgings of the prieits, may be pretty diftinftly made 
out; and the whole cf this enclolure is fomevvhat ele¬ 
vated above the fmall city of Contra-Latopolis, which 
was built round the compafs of this monument. It would 
appear to have been the practice that all the great cities 
on the bank of the Nile Ihould have a fmall city or port 
on the oppofite bank, which was probably placed there 
for the convenience of commerce. 
In the road from lienee to Etfu, we pafs Asfun, about 
two leagues and a half from Efneh. This village is 
built over vaft heaps of rubbilh, among which it appears 
more natural to look for the ruins of Aphroditopolis, 
ATphinis, or Afphunis, than among tliofe of the temple 
above deferibed. What Strabo fays of this town agrees 
better with its diftance from Latopolis; and the refem.. 
blance of the name Asfun to Afphunis, of which there 
are many fimilarexamples in Egypt, firengthens this opi¬ 
nion. Sofinis, indeed, half a league further on, has 
alfo eminences of decayed ruins, though lefs confiderable ; 
but as neither village is poffeffed of any monuments above 
the grafs, we mu ft wait for fome excavations to be made, 
before it can be decided to which belongs.the honour of 
having been the city of Venus. 
Etfu is the ancient city of Apollo ; and here are the 
ruins of the once celebrated I-Iieraconpolis, which confift: 
of the remains of a gate belonging to an edifice of very 
confiderable magnitude; as appears alfo from the fize of 
the Hones, the extent of ground occupied by the frag¬ 
ments, and the diameter of the defaced capitals, which 
lie fcattered on every fide. The (lone of which this tem¬ 
ple is built, is of fo friable a quality, that the form of 
the edifice is entirely loft, and none of the plan can be 
made out. Some yards further, the ruins of another im- 
menfe building is with difficulty diftinguiftied, owing to 
the great decay ; the other remains of the town are only 
a few heaps of highly-burnt bricks and fome blocks of 
granite. 
Apollinopolis Magna, once fo celebrious, ftill enjoys 
its unique fituation, commanding in its feite the river, 
and the whole vale of Egypt; where its magnificent tem¬ 
ple towered over the reft like a large citadel, which keeps 
the adjacent country in awe. This companion is, indeed, 
fo naturally fuggefted by the fituation of this immenl'e 
fabric, that it is only now known to the natives by the 
name of the fortrefs. This edifice, in extent, majefty, magni¬ 
ficence, and high prefervation, furpaffes almoft every thing 
elfe in Egypt, or elfewhere. The building comprifes a 
Vol. VI. No. 355. 
long fuite of-pyramidal gates, of courts decorated with 
galleries, of porticoes, and'of covered naves, cbnftrudled, 
not with common Hones, but entire rocks. '1 lie excel¬ 
lent prefervation of this ancient edifice forms a wonder¬ 
ful contrail with the grey ruins of modern habitation's 
built within its vaft inclofure ; a part of the population 
of the village is contained in huts built in the courts, and 
around the fragments of the temple ; which, like fwallows 
nells under the eaves of our botifes, defile them without 
concealing or injuring their general appearance. This 
fublime temple of Apollinopolis Magna, was built at a 
period when the arts and fciences had acquired all their 
fplendour in Egypt; the workman (hip of every part is 
equally beautiful, the hieroglyphics are admirably exe- 
cufed, the figures more varied, and the architedlure of a 
higher order, than in the edifices at Thebes; the build¬ 
ing of which mull be referred to an earlier age. A correct 
view of this fiiperb ruin is given in the annexed engravings 
Still afeending the left bank of the Mile, on which 
Efneh and Etfu are fituated, Denon, with eager fteps, at 
length readied Syene, and the iftand of Elephantina,, 
Alftian, or Syene, is fituated at the extremity of Upper 
Egypt, on the confines of Ethiopia. Here the convent 
of St. Lawrence, once fo celebrious, is now a ruin. 
Above it is a watch-tower, from the lofty fummit of 
which a moll lingular view prefc-nts itfelf of the beauti¬ 
ful iftand of Elephantina, and the chaotic rocks, over 
which the Nile Hows in all its rnajeftic grandeur, to pofi¬ 
fe Is the rich and fertile vale of Egypt, from the cataradls 
to the Delta. The lull effects of its bounties are feen 
around the granite rocks, in the hollows of which tiie 
fund and dime brought down by the waters are depofit- 
ed, forming a bafts for vegetation, which continues to in- 
creafe, and to embrace a larger and wider field. At Ele- 
phantina, the cultivation, the trees, and the habitations, 
exhibit Inch a picture of perfection in the gifts of na¬ 
ture, that it has received the Arabian name of Kezirct-eL 
Sag, or the Flowery Illand, in the midft of the Nile. 
The entrance of this prolific river into Egypt, after 
flowing through the granite blocks which defend the 
illand of Elephantina, feems to triumph over ruins of tiie 
higheft antiquity. Syene muff: have been once a very 
confiderable city, if the edifices on the right and left of 
the Nile, and thofe of Elephantina in the middle, formed 
but one town ; which may be prefumed, lince they are 
only feparated by a channel that in this place is deep but 
not broad; the Arabic ruins are grouped on a rock to 
the ea ft ward ; below are Roman remains, which are alfo 
found in feveral of the monuments at Elephantina. On 
the Syene fide of the river there are no other remains of 
the original Egyptian towns, than the ruins of a fqiiare 
temple furrounded with a gallery, but fo (battered and 
fhapelefs, that nothing can be feen but the embrafure 
between two pillars, with the capitals and a fmall part 
of the entablature; this fragment is what Savary, who 
confeffes that he never was at Syene, relates on hear-fay 
to be probably the remains of the ancient obfervatory, 
in which, according to him, the nilometer, or gauge of 
the annual increafe or inundation of the Nile, fiiould be 
fought for. But it is here proper to deftroy the error; 
of which, however, this elegant writer is not tire author; 
for he has only copied, and thus related every thing, 
pointed out every thing, and painted in a furprifing' 
manner, what hi had nevtrfeen. 
It was at tire fouthern extremity of the iftand of Ele¬ 
phantina, that the Egyptian town and the Roman habi¬ 
tations were fituated, and the Arabian buildings which 
fucceeded them. The part occupied by the Romans can 
only now be made out by the bricks, the teffellated pave¬ 
ments, and the fmall images of porcelain and bronze, 
which are ftill found; the Arab quarter is only diftin- 
guifired by the dunghills, with which they have covered 
the foil, a common feature to all the ruins of the fu’perb 
edifices of this country! Every tiling pofterjor has dijf-r 
appeared, fo as to leave fcarcely the lead trace of its 
4 X exiftence; 
