EGYPT. 
below the level of the outline. By the fide of the figures 
which compofe thefe tabular pieces of fculpture, there 
are frnall hieroglyphics, which appear to be only the ex¬ 
planation of the fubjeCts at large, and in which the forms 
are much Amplified, fo as to give a more rapid mode of 
infcription, or a kind of Jkort-hand., if we may apply the 
term to fculpture. A fourth kind of hieroglyphics, de¬ 
voted fimply to ornament, is termed the arabtfqus. It 
was adopted by the Greeks, and in the age of Auguftus 
was introduced among the Romans; and in the fifteenth 
century, during the reftoration of the arts, it was tranf- 
mitted by them to us as a fantaftic decoration, the pecu¬ 
liar tafte of which formed all its merit. Among the 
Egyptians, who employed thefe ornaments with equal 
tafte, every objeCt had a meaning or a moral, and at the 
fame time formed the decoration of the friezes, the cor¬ 
nices, and the fur-bafements, of their architecture. In 
Ihort, the Egyptian artifts perfectly underftuod that ma¬ 
gic of art which works on the foul through the medium 
of the fenfes, that gradual difplay of magnificence, that 
increafe of intereft arifing from the myfterious impretlion 
produced by faint and broken light, that kind of drama¬ 
tic progrefiion which occafions the keened fenfations, and 
promoted the myfterious empire of religion in their tem¬ 
ples, the empire which, with them, was omnipotent. 
And can we Hill prefume to call this the infancy of art, 
when nothing greater has been produced in its maturity? 
In reflecting on the objeCt of the conftruCtion of their 
pyramids, fo ftupendous, fo coloftal, in comparifon of 
all other works of architecture, the gigantic pride which 
gave them birth appears more enormous even than their 
actual dimenfions; and one hardly knows which is the 
moft aftonithing, the madnefs of tyrannical oppreflion 
which could direCt the undertaking, or the fervility of 
obedience in the people who fubmitted to the labour; 
and in which, perhaps, we might perceive a glimpfe of 
that kind of oppreflion which the Ifraelites fuffered in 
Egypt. lit fliort, the moft favourable view, for the ho¬ 
nour of human nature, in w hich thefe monuments can be 
conlidered is, that man was thereby ambitious of rival¬ 
ling nature in immenfity and in eternity, and not without 
fuccefs, fince the mountains contiguous to thefe edifices 
are lels high, and ftill lefs exempted from the ravages of 
time, than this work of human hands. In proof of the 
indeftrnCtibility of their fabric, we need only contem¬ 
plate the following anecdote, related in Dr. White’s tran- 
flation of Abdollatiph : “ When Al-Malec Al-Aziz Oth- 
nian Ben Jofeph fucceeded his father in the government 
of Egypt, his fooliftt favourites perfuaded him to pull 
down thefe pyramids, beginning with the third, which 
is built with red granite. Having therefore collected 
great numbers of engineers, mafons, and labourers, and 
having convoked the grandees of the empire, he ilfued 
his orders to them to demolifti that pyramid, and com- 
miftioned them to fuperintend the performance. They 
immediately pitched their tents on the fpot, collected ar¬ 
tificers and workmen from all parts, and maintained them 
at an enormous expence. Here they continued for eight 
months, with horfe and foot; pulling dowm, in the fpace 
of a whole day, after the moft painful efforts and the ut- 
moll difficulty, one (tone only, or two at the fartheft. 
The labourers from above forced downward every (tone 
with wedges, levers, and iron-crows; while thofe below 
pulled it with cables and ropes : when it fell, fo violent 
was its fall, that the noife was heard at a furprifing dif- 
tance, the mountains trembled, and the earth (hook; 
and the ftone was buried in the fand, whence they at 
length extracted it with additional labour and fatigue. 
They then applied their wedges to it in crevices made 
for that ptirpofe, broke it in pieces, and conveyed thefe 
pieces on carriages to the farther end of the mountain, 
which was at no great diftance. Having thus fpent much 
time to little purpofe, their rcf'ources failed them, their 
difficulties increafed, and they were finally obliged to de- 
fiif, filled with dejeftion, confufion, and delpair. They 
Voi. VI. No. 357. 
o/7 
were unable to obtain their wiftie.s and the end propofed ; 
and all that they accomplifhed was to deface the pyra¬ 
mid, and betray tire weaknefs and impotence of their 
efforts. This event happened in the year of Chrift, 593. 
However, if any one fliould behold the (tones that have 
been taken down, lie would think that the pyramid 
muft have been entirely deftroyed ; but let him take a 
view of the pyramid itfelf, ancl he will fcarcely believe 
that it has been at all injured : for a final] part only of 
one of its fides is demolilhed. Perceiving the prodigious 
toil which they underwent in pulling down every (ingle 
'ftone, I afked the fuperintendant of the -mafons, whether, 
if offered a thoufand pieces of gold, on condition that 
they fliould replace any one ftone in its proper and origi¬ 
nal pofition, they would be able to effeCf' it; he an- 
fwered me, fwearing by the living God, that, though 
they were offered double that fum, the thing would be 
impoffible.” 
Obelifksand fphinxes, as well as pyramids, were among 
their coloftal works, and which alike demand our admi¬ 
ration and aftoniftiment at the prefent day. It is alfo re¬ 
markable that thefe gigantic embellifhments in architec¬ 
ture have been ereCted in no other part of the world be- 
fides Egypt, except thofe which have been copied from, 
or brought out of, that country. The fphinx, which 
ftands near the pyramids of Gizeh, is undoubtedly a very 
great architectural curiofitv, and upon the whole is very 
graceful; the expreftion of the head is mild and tranquil; 
the character is African ; but the mouth, the lips of 
which are thick, has a correClnefs of execution truly 
admirable; it feems real life. Art muft have been at a 
high pitcli when this monument was executed ; for, if 
the head wants what is called file, that is to fay, ,the 
ftraight and bold lines which give expreftion to the fi¬ 
gures under which the Greeks have defignated their dei¬ 
ties, yet fufficient juftice has been rendered to the fine 
fimplicity and character of nature which is difplayed in 
this figure. Among the Egyptians the fphinx was the 
fymbol of religion, by reafon of the obfeurity of its myf- 
teries ; and on the fame account the Romans afterwards 
placed a fphinx in the pronaos or porch of their tem¬ 
ples. Sphinxes were ufed by the Egyptians, as a fym¬ 
bol of the water’s riling in the Nile: with this view, as 
it had the head of a woman and body of a lion, it figni- 
fied that the Nile began to fwell in the months of July 
and Attguft, when the fun pafles through the lignsof Leo 
and Virgo. The coloftal fphinx, near the pyramids, ac¬ 
cording to Thevenot, is twenty-fix feet high, and fifteen 
feet from the ear to the chin : but Pliny allures us that 
the head was no lefs than 102 feet in circumference, and 
(ixty-tvvo feet high from the belly, and that the body was 
143 feet long, and was thought to be the fepulchre of 
king Amafis. The French, however, defirous of afeer- 
taining whether this ftatement of Pliny’s were true, and 
very induftrioufly clearing away the rubbiftt all around it, 
could find nothing but folid un(hapen rock ; from which 
they concluded that it never had a body. The learned 
Dr. Bryant obferves, “ that this fphinx feems to have 
been originally a valt rock of different ftrata; which, 
from a (hapelefs mafs, the Egyptians fafliioned into an ob¬ 
ject of beauty and veneration. The Egyptians ufed this 
figure in their buildings ; from them the Greeks derived 
it, and afterwards improved it into an ornament ufed in 
modern architecture.” 
In the annexed Engraving is given a fide view of the 
fphinx, which exhibits a faithful reprefentation of the 
decay that it has fuffered, and the character of this figure 
in the parts that are (till preferved. The living perfons 
who are about it will ferve as a fcale of comparifon. 
He that is fitting down on the top of the head, whom the 
other is juft helping up with his hand, is climbing out of 
a narrow excavation full of rubbifh at the bottom, which 
is now only nine feet deep. There are notches cut down 
the fides of this aperture at different diftances, which 
ferve as flairs to defeend by, but the ufe of this hole is 
5 D beyond 
