354 E G Y 
exigence; whilft the original Egyptian monuments re¬ 
main, devoted to pofterity, having refifled equally the 
ravages of man and of time. In the midfl of this field of 
ruins, a very ancient temple is (till left (landing, fur- 
rounded with a pilaftered gallery, and two columns in 
the portico. It is covered both within and without with 
hieroglyphics in relief, very neatly cut, and in good pre- 
fervation. This is fuppofed to be the temple of Cneph, 
the benevolent genius among the Egyptian gods, who 
approaches the neareft to our ideas of the Supreme Be¬ 
ing. There is alfo a temple of this deity about hun¬ 
dred paces more to the north, of the fame form and fize, 
though more in ruins, all the ornaments of which are 
accompanied by the ferpent, the emblem of vvifdom and 
eternity, peculiar to the god Cneph. 
In the middle of the illand there are two frames of a large 
outer door, made of blocks of granite, and ornamented with 
hieroglyphics. Thefe remains tertainly indicate monu¬ 
ments of great magnificence. At the ea(l is another frag¬ 
ment of a very highly-finifhed edifice; and the hierogly¬ 
phics that remain are perfectly well fculptured. This 
temple obvioully communicated with a narrow parage, 
which, to judge by the traces of a number of-fucceflive 
buildings, terminated on a gallery open to the Nile, and 
reding on a large embanked facing, which defended the 
eaflern part of the illand from being worn away by the 
current of the river. Three porticoes of this gallery 
Hill remain, and a flight of granite flairs, which dip into 
the river. “ May not this gallery, (afks Denon,) and 
this (lair-cafe, be theobfervatory and the nilometer which 
travellers have in vajn fought for at Syene?” Strabo, 
however, who had obferved Syene with care, and lias 
deferibed it minutely, fays, that this nilometer was a well 
which received the Nile waters, and that the marks by 
which the height of the inundation was eftimated, were 
engraved on the fides of this well. 
All thefe buildings are founded upon maffes of rock, 
covered with hieroglyphics, engraved with more or lei's 
care. Further on, turning towards the north, are two 
portions of parapet, which leave between them an open¬ 
ing,.through which one may defeend to the river: on 
the inner fide of the right parapet is a bas-relief in mar¬ 
ble, reprefenting the figure of the Nile four feet in height, 
in the fame attitude with a coloflal flattie of the fame 
fubjedl which is at Rome.- This copy of the fame idea 
proves both that the edifice is Roman, and that this peo¬ 
ple, in their eftablifliment at Syene, having had oppor¬ 
tunity of adding the ornaments of luxury and fuperfluity 
to works of the firft neceffity, had eftablifhed rather a 
powerful colony there than a mere military pod : the 
bath's ■ail'd valuable bronze utenfils, which are daily found 
there, fupport this opinion of the richnefs and perma¬ 
nency of this colony, which extended above the cataracts. 
The quarries of the cataradts above Syene conlifl of 
granite rocks, whence the blocks feem to have been taken 
which formed the material of the coiofflil (latues, that 
have been the object of admiration to fo many ages, and 
the ruins of which dill drike us with aftoni fitment. It 
feemed as if the .framers wifiied to preferve the memo¬ 
rial of the maffes that have produced thefe blotks, by 
leaving on the place liieroglyphical inferiptions, intended, 
perhaps, to record the event. The texture of this gra¬ 
nite is fo hard and compact, that the rocks which are 
met with in the current, in (lead of becoming worn and 
fluttered by decompodtion, have acquired a polifli by the 
dufhing of the waves. The fined and mod abundant of 
this kind of done, is the role-coloured granite ; the grey 
is often too micaceous ; between thefe blocks are found 
veins of very brilliant quartz, drat a of a red (tone, which 
partakes of the nature and the hardnefs of porphyry, and 
maffes of that black and hard done, which lias been fo 
long taken tor bafalt, and which the Egyptians have of¬ 
ten employed for flatties of moderate (ize. 
After pa fling the catarafls, the rocks grow loftier, and 
on their fummit rocks of granite arc heaped tip, appeur- 
P T. 
ing to clufler together, and to hang in equipoife, pur- 
pofely to produce the mod pidluretfque effefits. Through 
thefe rough and rugged forms the eye all at once dif- 
covers the -magnificent monuments of the ifland of Phi¬ 
loe, which form a brilliant contrail, and one of the mod 
Angular furprizes that the traveller can meet with. The 
Nile here makes a bend, as if purpofely to form this en¬ 
chanting ifland, where tiie monuments are only feparated" 
by tufts of palm-trees, or rocks that appear to be left 
merely to contrail the forms of nature with the magnifi¬ 
cence of art, and to collect, in one rich fpor, every thing 
that is mod beautiful and fublime. The enthufiafm 
which the traveller fo condantly experiences at the fight 
of the monuments of Upper Egypt, may appear to the 
reader a perpetual and monotonous exaggeration ; it is, 
however, only the Ample expreflicn of feeling which the 
fublimity of their character excites - r and which raifes in¬ 
voluntary exprellions of furprize and admiration, every 
time they imprefs the adonifhed beholder. The road 
leading towards Philoe acVofs the-defert, has one pecu¬ 
liarity, which is, that there are evident remains of its 
having been tracked out, and railed as a caufey, and 
that there was much traffic on it in foiner times. This 
is the only part of Egypt in which a high road is abfo- 
lutely neceflary ; for the Nile here ceafing to be naviga¬ 
ble on account of the cataracts, all the merchandize of 
the Ethiopian trade which is landed at Philoe, mud be 
conveyed by land to Syene, to be there re-embarked. 
All the large blocks of (lone on the road fide are covered 
with hieroglyphics, as if intended for the amufement-of 
the pafiengers. One of the mod .Angular, of them pre- 
fents the form of a feat cut out of the folid rock, with 
a flight cf deps to climb up to it; and the whole orna¬ 
mented with hieroglyphics executed with great care. 
Another lingular object, is the ruins of military lines 
made of bricks baked in- the fun, tire bafe of which is 
from fifteen to twenty feet in thicknefs. This entrench¬ 
ment extended along the valley by the road-lide, and ter¬ 
minated at rocks and forts near three leagues front Syene. 
Though the materials of which thefe walls were built 
were cheap, yet tire expence of putting them together 
ntud have been very great, and Ihews the importance at¬ 
tached to the defence of this point. Thefe are fuppofed 
to be the remains of the famous wall railed by a queen 
of Egypt, named Zuleikha, daughter of Ziba, one of the 
Pharaohs, which extended from the ancient Syene to the 
place where El-Arilh is now fituated, the fragments of 
which the Arabs call Haif-el-adjowz, or the old woman’s 
wall. 
It is imagined that it was to produce a flriking efleft 
upon flrangers entering their territory, that the Egyp¬ 
tians had raifed upon their frontier fuch afplendid group 
of monuments. Philoe was the entrepot of a commerce 
of barter between Ethiopia and Egypt; and wilhing to 
give the Ethiopians a high idea of their relources and 
their magnificence, the Egyptians erefted fo many fump- 
tuous edifices on the confines and natural frontier of 
their empire. The ruins in Philoe conlifl of a fanctu- 
ary, faced by a portico of four columns with very ele¬ 
gant capitals, to which had been added at a later period 
another portico, which doubtlefs was attached to the 
circuuwallation of tiie temple. The mod ancient part, 
which was alfo conftruCted with more care, was orna¬ 
mented in a higher degree than the red ; the- ufe fince 
made of it in the rites of the Chri.ftian religion has im¬ 
paired the original character, by adding fquare arched 
door-ways. In the fanCluary, clofe to the figures of Ifis 
and Ofiris, may dill be feen the miraculous imprefiion of 
the feet of St. Anthony, or St. Paul the hermit. Here 
are other convincing proofs that thefe buildings had 
been condrufted at different periods, by feveral nations, 
and had belonged to different forms of religious worfhip ; 
and the union of thefe various edifices, each of them in it- 
felf regular, and crouded together in a narrow I'pace, forms 
an irregular group of mod picturefque and magnificent ob- 
