THE GREAT WORKS OF EGYPT.
As Egypt is unquestionably one of the most ancient of kingdoms, so its early works are indisputably of the greatest magnitude. Those who see no beauty in the workmanship of these ancient monuments, are overpowered by their greatness. Towering columns, with carvings to their summits; huge monoliths of immense weight; stones piled upon stones to great heights, strike the spectator with amazement— amazement only to be increased as they ponder on the distance some of the stones had to be brought, and the height to which they were raised—amazement too that can find no answer as to how the work was really accomplished.
We will commence the subject of the great works of Egypt by giving a bird's-eye view of the principal monuments from the Mediterranean Sea to the Second Cataract, as seen in our illustration.
In coming from the sea on the west of the river, we first approach MEMPHIS. Here is the district of the pyramids of Gizeh, and the great Sphinx. The pyramids and tombs are scattered over a district of sixty miles.
Of the ancient Memphis, which was described as one of the grandest cities of Egypt, only scattered ruins remain. Abdallatif described it thus in the twelfth century: "Its ruins offer to the spectator a union of things which confound him, and which the most eloquent man in vain would attempt to describe. As to the figures of idols found among these ruins, whether we consider their number or their prodigious size, the thing is beyond all description." But so much has been carried away for building purposes that the only object of interest now remaining is represented as a beautiful colossal statue lying on its face in a hollow.
The next place southward is HERMOPOLIS MAGNA. This was a city described as ranking in opulence second only to Thebes. Oshoonayn is built on a portion of the ancient site. The tombs of the ancient city lie to the west. Ibis and ape mummies have been found here.
To the west is CROCODILOPOLIS. This is in the district of the Lake Mœris, and the Labyrinth, to be hereafter described. This city was of great extent, but huge mounds and fragments of columns, &c., are all that can be found of it. The sacred animal of the house was the crocodile: Strabo says one was kept alive here, and fed by the priests on bread, meat, and even wine brought by visitors. It was embalmed and buried here. But hatred to these animals by the inhabitants of the surrounding districts led to the destruction of their burying place.
Near the river we come to DENDERA. Here stands what is described as a magnificent temple; but it is not ancient. It was begun about the time of Ptolemy XI., and not finished till the time of Nero. We give a view of its portico elsewhere.
Following the course of the Nile southward, we come to the important district of THEBES on both sides of the river. Thebes was spoken of by Homer as the city of a hundred gates. It cannot now be ascertained that it bad any walls, but the expression may have been figurative of its grandeur. Scripture however speaks of its rampart and wall. (Nah. 3:88Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? (Nahum 3:8).) On the east are the great temple of Karnak, dating from Osirtasen I. of the twelfth dynasty: and the temple of Luxor, dating from Amunoph III and Rameses II. An avenue connected this temple with that of Karnak.
On the west is the MENEPHTEUM, a name given by Champollion to the ruins of what appears to have been a palace and a temple, because he found the name of Setei-Menephtah on its walls. It had an approach of one hundred and twenty-eight feet in length.
The REMESEUM, called also the Memnonium, is composed of the ruins of a stately temple. In the outer court lie the remains of an enormous statue of Rameses II., said to have been the largest in Egypt and calculated to weigh eight hundred and eighty-seven tons.
The MEMNON are two colossal figures, the most northern of which is the vocal Memnon, hereafter described. These are supposed to have stood in front of a temple now destroyed.
MEDEENET HABOO contains a small temple, dating from the time of the queen Amun-nou-het (eighteenth dynasty), added to and adorned by others.
On proceeding south we come on the east to OMBOS (or Kom Ombo). Here are some ruins of two temples; they are of the date of the Ptolemies, but as the names of Thothmes III. and Amun-nou-het have been found, a much more ancient temple must have stood there.
Then CONTRA-LATON, and EILEITHYIAS. The modern name of the latter is El Kab. In this neighborhood are ambient temples and tombs, dating from Amunoph II. and Rameses the Great.
On the west of the river is HERMONTHIS, now called Erment, with a few ruins of a building by Cleopatra.
To the south-west is APOLLINOPOLIS MAGNA, now called Edfoo. The temple here is described as magnificent, but it is not ancient; it was founded by Ptolemy Philopator, and finished by his successors.
Returning to the river we come to the Island of ELEPHANTINE. There were temples here by Amunoph III., but they were destroyed by the governor of Assooan for stone for his palace. A great part of a Nilometer which stood here has also been carried away.
On the west shore is SYENE, now called Assooan. The quarries here are the most interesting objects. To the right is the Island of PHILAE, a very attractive spot. The ruins, though comparatively modern (Nectanebo II. of the thirtieth dynasty, being the earliest name found), are considered very beautiful. A temple to Isis, commenced by Ptolemy Philadelphus, was the principal building. Mr. Fergusson says," It contains all the play of light and shade; all the variety of Gothic art, with the massiveness and grandeur of the Egyptian style; and as it is still tolerably entire, and retains much of its color, there is no building out of Thebes that gives so favorable an impression of Egyptian art as this.”
To the west is GERTASSE. Only a few columns remain of a temple which once stood here. Then TAFA or Tafah. The ruins are not ancient. Near the river is EL-KALABSHEH. Here are ruins of the largest temple in Nubia, but it is of the Roman period. The stones employed had belonged to an older building.
At BAYT-EL-WELEE are the ruins of a small but ancient temple of the time of the Pharaohs excavated in the rocks. Outside the temple are portrayed the victories of Rameses.
At KOORTEE there are a few ruins.
At DENDOOR the temple and its sculptures are of the age of Augustus.
At TUTZIS the temple is of the age of Rameses the Great, mostly excavated in the rock; but its sculptures are declared "not of a style worthy of that age.”
On the extreme west is DAKKEH. The temple here dates from the Ptolemies. It was built by the king Ergamenes who defied the priests of the Ethiopians.
Returning to the river we come to ESSEBONA, now called Wady Saboóah, or "The valley of Lions," so named perhaps because of the avenue of sphinxes that lead up to the temple, though the sphinxes have men's heads. There are two statues with their faces to the river: then the avenue of sixteen sphinxes, eight on each side, this leads to two pyramidal towers, with the remains of four large statues in front of them; next is an open court with pilasters on each side, and then the covered portico of the temple. The whole forms the most complete approach found in Nubia. The temple is probably more ancient than the approach, and dates from Rameses the Great.
Some of the tablets are in better preservation here on account of the early Christians having plastered them over; and in one place the Latin monks painted a St. Peter over a god, but did not stop to alter the rest of the tablet, so that Rameses II was left presenting his offering to the apostle Peter.
And then AMADA. Here is an elegant though small ancient temple. The names found are Osirtasen III., Thothmes III., Amunoph II., and Thothmes IV. Some of the sculptures and paintings are in fine preservation, probably owing to their being plastered over by the Christians to hide them from view.
Finally come the two temples of ABOO-SIMBEL, hewn out of the sandstone rock. These are of the times of Rameses the Great, and rank next to the temples at Thebes. The exterior of the great temple is faced by four gigantic sitting statues of Rameses, and the smaller one by six standing figures. The temples are full of highly finished sculptures in the best style of Egyptian art.
South of Aboo-Simbel are a few monuments worthy of note. At SEMNEH are the ruins of two temples, one on each side of the river. The one on the east side contains the names of Thothmes II., Amunoph II., and Osirtasen III.; the one on the west has Thothmes and Osirtasen III., the latter being represented as a god. A tablet at Semneh states that it was the frontier of Egypt in the time of Osirtasen III.
At NOURRI there are some pyramids, but they are comparatively small and badly built.
At DANKELAH, the site of the ancient Mora, there are numerous pyramids.
At GEBEL BARKEL, there are the ruins of two temples with an avenue of sphinxes, of the time of Tirhakah.
It was here that M. Mariette discovered some stelæ, bearing on the twenty-third to the twenty-fifth dynasties. There is also at Gebel Barkel a group of pyramids.
One hour's ride from this stands the modern town of MERGE, a small town of no importance.
We will now look at some of the more important works a little in detail.
We turn our attention at once to
The Pyramids.
These are the most ancient and the most massive, if not the most handsome of all the ancient monuments.
Questions crowd upon one, where are the pyramids? when were they built? by whom were they built? how were they built? for what purpose were they built?
The first question is soon answered. The pyramids are principally found in three places. 1, Memphis; 2, Gebel Barkel, below the second cataract; and 3, Meroe.
At Memphis are three of the largest. They stand in the same direction; their sides facing north, south, east and west. These are in the village now called El-Ghizeh. Farther south there are three more, at Abou-Seir, but these are much smaller. Then we meet with some larger ones; indeed there are in this district many pyramids, forming a sort of pyramid district, extending from 29° N. Lat. to 30° N. Lat., a length of about seventy miles. Here you may ride about and see pyramids, and pyramids, interspersed with other shaped tombs; but many of them are small and sink into insignificance when compared with the larger ones. These too are deceiving at a distance, and appear less than they really are; but when you are close, and walk round them, and look up, and see how little you are in comparison, you may perhaps begin to realize their magnitude, but many fail to do it then. A calculation has been made that the largest pyramid contains 90,000,000 cubic feet of masonry, weighing about 6,316,000 tons. Or it may be taken as one-third higher than St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and standing on a base somewhat larger than thirteen acres. Each side of its base was originally 756 feet, and its height 480 feet, 9 inches.
By whom and when they were built is not so easy to answer. We may well suppose that to build one was a man's life-work.
Herodotus tells us that the first pyramid was built by Cheops, and took twenty years to build. It was by forced labor that it was erected; a hundred thousand men were constantly employed, who were relieved every three months. He also tells us that an inscription upon it was interpreted to him, recording the quantities of radishes, onions, and garlic consumed by the workmen; and also the sum spent in its erection-namely, 1,600 talents of silver-about £400,000.
As we have seen, Colonel Vyse discovered in this pyramid, the name Shufu, or Khufu, scrawled, in large hieroglyphics, on some of the stones; and this is said to prove that Herodotus was right, and that the pyramid was built by Cheops.
Now perhaps my readers will have a difficulty in seeing how the proof is made out. Some would doubtless rather conclude that it proved the very reverse, because of the dissimilarity in the names. But we must remember that the Greeks had no letter corresponding to SH, and therefore they turned Shufu into Khufu, and also added an S at the end to soften it; P also had to do duty for F; and thus Shufu is represented in Greek by Cheops. In hieroglyphics Shufu was thus written.
The pyramids are thought to extend from the fourth dynasty to the twelfth. None are thought to be after that: from the thirteenth dynasty the kings were satisfied with smaller tombs, and of very different construction.
How were they built? This is now a mystery. Herodotus tells us that it took ten years to form a causeway, or pavement, along which to bring the massive stones. Part of a causeway has been discovered. The stones would be cut at the quarries, and then dragged to the place of building. One of the monuments exhibited a large stone on a sledge, drawn by six oxen. Another exhibits a statue, placed on a sledge. It was bound to the sledge by ropes, and these ropes were doubled and twisted, a staff being used to preserve the twist as is in use to this day. On the sides of the image where the ropes came there were layers of cloth, or some material, to prevent the rope injuring the carving.
The sledge is being dragged by four rows of men, forty-three in a row, making one hundred and seventy-two men in all.
On the sledge stands a man, who is pouring something from a vase on to the causeway—probably grease—to cause the sledge to move easily. Three men are carrying six similar vases, by a yoke over their shoulder, for use as they may be required. A man stands on the image, clapping his hands, perhaps keeping time for their step, or perhaps for their song. Apparently he has a drum slung on his back.
Thus, with numerous superintendents, and preceded by seven small detachments of soldiers, carrying a branch or flowers in one hand, and a sword in the other, the colossal image is being dragged to its destination.
In a similar way the stones may have been dragged from the quarries to the pyramids. The ancient Egyptians were familiar with the lever, but apparently not with the screw and the wheel, as mechanical powers.
The conveyance of the stone must have occupied many hundreds of hands. Herodotus says that some of the workmen were required "to drag blocks of stone down to the Nile from the quarries in the Arabian range of hills: others received the blocks after they had been conveyed in boats across the river, and drew them to the range of hills called the Libyan.”
But though the stones were brought, how could they have been raised? There appear but two ways possible: one by an inclined plane. As each layer of stones was added, more earth would be added, up which the stones could be dragged; but enormous embankments would have had to be made to reach 460 feet—higher than St. Peter's at Rome—and if a causeway on the level ground had to be made, in order to be able to move the masses of stone, how could they be dragged up a hill of made earth without a pavement? If this were the mode, of course this immense embankment had all to be cleared away when the pyramid was finished.
Or the stones may have been raised by means of poles, joined at the top, called Shears. As each layer of stones left only part of a stone exposed, on one of these an additional stone might have been placed, to form a platform, on which each stone as it was raised could be placed. The shears could then be moved to a higher tier, or other shears used, and thus the stones be raised to the top. We think this plan is more probable than the building up of an inclined plane.
But Herodotus tells us the stones were raised thus: "After laying the Stones for the base, they raised the remaining stones to their places by means of machines, formed of short wooden planks. The first machine raised them from the ground to the top of the first step. On this there was another machine, which received the stone upon its arrival, and conveyed it to the second step, whence a third machine advanced it still higher. Either they had as many machines as there were steps in the pyramid, or possibly they had but a single machine, which, being easily moved, was transferred from tier to tier as the stone rose. Both accounts are given, and therefore I mention both.”
Now we must remember that the word "machine" was formerly used for any sort of contrivance; so that all Herodotus tells us is, that by means of some contrivance, formed of short wooden planks, the stones were raised, but he leaves us quite in the dark as to how it was done; and we are equally at a loss to imagine how it could be done by means of short wooden planks.
We must remember that Herodotus lived some fifteen hundred years after the great pyramid was built, and he could, of course, only record what he was told; the monuments throw no light on the subject.
The great historian is not correct on all points, and may be wrong here. For instance, he says that the great pyramid was built so that the waters of the Nile could flow around it. But there is no trace of any such canal in the rock on which the pyramid stands, and indeed it is 100 feet above the level of the highest inundation.
Herodotus does not vouch for the truth of all he relates, but cautions the reader that he merely records what was told him; and on some occasions he knew what was told him was false. Thus, on looking at some statues, they were noticed to have no hands, and he was told that they represented the waiting-maids of the daughter of a certain king-Mycerinus. His wife had been incensed with them, and had had their hands cut off, and therefore they were thus represented in the statues. But Herodotus himself found some of the hands lying on the ground about the feet of the statues! They were merely without hands from injury and the lapse of time.
For what purpose were they built? The reply to this was at first that they were tombs for the kings. But this has been questioned by some. It was thought to be too great an undertaking to build such enormous edifices simply to answer the purpose of a tomb.
Now it is remarkable that the principal pyramids, though not all of them, stand so as to face exactly the four points of the compass, that is, one face looks to the north, one to the south, one to the east, and one to the west. And further, in the great pyramid are openings towards the sky to the north and to the south. This has led some persons to suppose the pyramids were built for astronomical purposes: as we might say to be Observatories, from which the motions of the heavenly bodies could be accurately observed.
Thus Mr. John Taylor writes, " On the night of March 21, 1817, Captains Irbey and Mangles saw through the long inclined passage of the great pyramid the polar star, at the, period of its culmination. M. Caviglia about the same time made a similar observation. From this fact, that the polar star had been seen from the bottom of the inclined passage, it was somewhat hastily inferred that the polar star occupied the same position in the heavens at the time the pyramid was built.
In 1839, Colonel Vyse asked Sir John Herschel if the same would have been the result when the pyramids were Sir John H. gave a decided No; but added this remarkable coincidence that the star a Draconis might have been taken as the polar star, in B.C. 2123, the supposed date, and this star could have been seen through the passage. Colonel Vyse concludes, "It would appear that the direction of the passage was determined by the star which was polar at the time when the pyramid was constructed, and that the exact aspect of the building was regulated by it.”
It would have been strange indeed, if the pyramid had been intended for an observatory, that the observation had to be made through the entrance passage as above, and not through the smaller openings that had been made towards the Besides, by the whole being carefully closed up it was evidently not intended for any such purpose.
It has been contended by another careful observer that the great pyramid was erected to preserve intact a standard of measures, both of length and capacity, and from which also weights were determined.
In the inner chamber was found a stone coffer, which he found was of a particular size that gave all that was needed to settle the weights and measures of not only Egypt, but of the Jews, of Greece, Rome, and even England and the whole world.
The reader will be curious to know how this was made out. Now there had been found at Karnak a rule or measure, apparently left by one of the workmen inadvertently, and, being enclosed, had remained untouched. This is now in the British Museum. This measure had also to be considered in the scheme. It is supposed to be of the eighteenth dynasty. It is called in the table the cubit of Karnak, and is twice the length of a royal cubit. The table was made out thus: English Inches.
864 = 1 digit
3.456 = 4 = 1 palm
10.368 = 12 = 3 = 1 royal span, or foot of Pliny.
20'736 = 24 = 6 = 2 = 1 royal cubit.
41.172 = 48 = 12 = 4 = 2 = 1 cubit of Karnak.
The coffer has been carefully measured, and the result, for the inside, was:
By Greaves. Vyse and Perring. Smyth.
Length, 77.856 inches 78.0 77.93
Width, 26.616 „ 26.5 26.73
Depth, 34.320 „ 34.5 43.31
Neither of these exactly agrees with the table, but they are supposed to be,
Length, 90 digits = 77.16 inches.
Width 30 = 25.92 “
Depth 40 = 34.56 “
It will be seen that the width differs more than half an inch; the others are nearly alike. We think, without going farther, the scheme may be said to fail; but as we give dimensions of other parts of the building, our readers can try them, if so disposed, by the above scale, and they will find, that while some nearly agree, others will not. But this would naturally be the result, no matter what measure had been adopted, for dimensions of yards and feet, when the unit of measure is less than an English inch.
It will be seen that the scheme does not agree with English measures; so I suppose the English would be said to be wrong. But we must show how the measures of capacity are made out.
The cubit of Karnak is taken, and the cube of that is 71,328.8 cubic English inches. Now if we calculate the contents of the coffer by the above digits, we find it to be 69,657 cubic inches, the difference being not less than 1,671 cubic inches; yet in that scheme they are supposed to be the same. But we must let that pass, and glance at what is drawn from the above.
An Egyptian cube was 71,328.8 cubic inches.
4 Chomers or 120 seahs of the Jewish measures 71,328.8 “
128 Greek Hecters 71,214.4 “
1 English Chaldron 71,214.4 “
which are supposed to be near enough to show that they all originated in the Egyptian measure.
From the measures the weights were obtained thus: a gallon (277.274 cubic inches) was equal to 101bs. Troy of wheat; or 101bs. wine; or 8lbs. wheat, Avoirdupois.
But we think our readers will have had enough of weights and measures. The same writer believes that the size of the Laver and Molten Sea of scripture were regulated by the Egyptian coffer; and then asserts his belief that the great pyramid is referred to in the books of Job, the Psalms, Zechariah, and even in the New Testament, but we should be ashamed even to quote the passages in such a connection. As we have seen, it would be strange indeed if the pyramid had been constructed for this or any other useful purpose, that it should have been so closely sealed up as in no way to be available for the very purpose for which it was intended. Besides, why should this pyramid be for purposes entirely different from all the others?
We may here add the weights and measures of Egypt as given by Sir G. Wilkinson and others.
According to The Nilometer Of Memphis
Sir H. James Meter of according to
Elephantine. Jomard.
1 digit or dactylus = English inches 0.713 0.7366 0.73115
4 “ 1 palm = 2.961 2.9464 2.92470
28 “ 7 “ 1 royal cubit 2.0728 20.6250 20.47291
Sir 11. James also gives a common digit = 0.760 inches
(4 digits) “ palm = 3.040 “
(3 palms) small span = 9.120 “
(6 palms) common cubit = 18.240 “
1 Ten, pound 10 kats = 1.400 grains Troy
1 Kat, drachm or ounce 140 “ “
Tna, a basket Hetp, bushel Khersh, truss,
Equivalents not known.
Another sanguine writer insists that the great pyramid gives the dates for the 365 days of the year, with a fraction over for the added day every fourth year! It also furnishes the length of the earth's axis, and the true distance of the earth from the sun: this latter is stated as 91,840,000 miles, and it must be correct, for it is the vertical height of the pyramid, multiplied by the ninth power of ten!
It is true the pyramid is said to have been built on a plan scientifically perfect: "the sum of the measured four sides of base bears, within the nearest possible practical approach, the same relation to the measure of its vertical height that the circumference of a circle bears to its radius," the peculiar ratio of π x 2. As to the Sarcophagus it is found "that the mass of its sides and bottom is cubically identical with its internal space capacity, namely, 71,250 cubic inches; also, that the length of two of its adjacent sides is to its height as the circumference of a circle to its diameter; again, that the exterior volume is double the interior capacity, and that the sides and ends are twice that of the bottom; moreover, that when taken wholly, it stands in relation to the lower course of the king's chamber as the one fiftieth part in capacity.”
But the great pyramid is said to be full of types. Thus the descending passage is the descent of man after the flood into idolatry, leading to the underground chamber, the bottomless pit. The narrow upward passage is when Moses raised man; and the larger upward passage is when Christ did the work much more fully. But this is not all, for the measurement of these passages is said to give the exact length of these various periods by reckoning a digit for a year. Thus the descent to the upward passage (86 feet, Vyse and Perring), gives 985 years; the first upward passage (124 feet), 1,542 years; and the enlarged passage (156 feet), 1,882 years, a period still running its course. The death and resurrection of Christ are pointed out by other measurements. Of course the architect who could erect a building typical of all this was "an inspired agent;" and Melchisedek has been declared to be this architect! The figures even will not bear testing.
Other strange theories have been started as to the objects the builders had in view. But the question is now considered settled both by the numbers of the pyramids and by the coffers, or sarcophagi found in them, as well as a part of a mummy case, in the third pyramid, bearing the name of king Menkara, now in the British Museum. Herodotus and Diodorus ascribe the building of this pyramid to Mykerinus, whom Manetho calls Mencheres. The traveler had great difficulty to make his way in; because the custom was, after the body had been placed in its coffin, to seal up the entrances to prevent the remains being disturbed. The traveler found his way stopped up so effectually that he could only proceed by cutting a passage round the stone that stopped up the aperture.
After all this trouble he expected to find the interior just as it had been left thousands of years before. But he was disappointed; for though he found, as we have said, the coffin, the body was gone; but he found instead an Arabic writing saying that the pyramid had been opened by one of the Mahomedan caliphs, who had effectually closed up the entrance again.
There can be no doubt therefore that they were simply grand monumental tombs. If intended for any other purpose, they would not have been so carefully sealed up. The size depended upon the length of the life of the king. It is believed that they were begun small. In the solid rock a place was made level a little below the surface, and in the center of this cleared spot was a still deeper cutting to form the chamber, and then a small pyramid erected, leaving the chamber in the center, and a passage into it. But if the life of the king was prolonged he would add to his tomb by another stone added to each layer, carrying them up to the top. Thus suppose a pyramid was begun with four stones at the bottom, thus—
This layer would contain sixteen stones. On this would be placed a layer of three stones each way, placed in the center of the first plane. Then a layer of two stones, and then a single stone would crown the whole.
To enlarge this the bottom layer would be increased to five, the second to four, and so on until one again crowned the top.
The chamber was left below the bottom layer, with a passage first straight and then pointing upwards. But it will be seen that if many additions were made, the entrance to this passage might be carried higher and higher until it would be too high to be reached by ordinary means. And yet by this the embalmed body would have to be carried in. So where the size of the pyramid was much increased, in some cases they had to abandon the first chamber and make another, which would have its entrance nearer the ground, or cut another passage into the original passage.
This is seen to have occurred in the third pyramid. As the building increased in size, the first passage was abandoned and another made more to the right. It will be seen that whenever the king died his pyramid would represent a number of stairs on each side, thus now in the British Museum. They are of this shape, [illustration] which, fitted in their 'place, would make a smooth surface on each side. Herodotus says that the pyramids were built from top to bottom. He doubtless meant they were finished thus; for the placing of these casing stones would naturally be from top to bottom.
In some cases the entrance to the chamber fell outside the base altogether, some feet from the pyramid, and then anyone of course might search diligently all over the sides of the pyramid and never find the opening. This was done either the more effectually to prevent the entrance being found, or, supposing the builder lived long enough, and kept adding to his tomb, the distant entrance would by these additions have been reached.
In the great Pyramid the entrance is at the side, some distance above the foundation if the rubbish was cleared away. This passage descends in a straight line to a chamber in the solid rock below. But it will be seen that on his death these angles were filled up, how was not known till comparatively lately, when some of the stones of the casing to the great pyramid were found, and are there is a passage upward not far from the entrance, and then a horizontal passage leading to a chamber at the end. At the commencement of the level passage there is an irregular cutting or well leading downwards to the lower passage. This is supposed to have been left, that the workmen after having effectually closed up the passage might make their escape. From the same point proceeds a lofty passage made in this shape the stones overlapping each other. This led to the upper chamber. Over this is a series of vacant places. Near the upper chamber are two small openings that proceed to the open air.
It will thus be seen that there are three chambers in the great pyramid. The upper one is called the king's chamber and the middle one the queen's chamber, though it is not known that the queen's body was ever laid there, or that it was even intended for her.
The king's chamber measures thirty-four feet three inches by seventeen feet one inch, and nineteen feet one inch high. The queen's chamber is eighteen feet nine inches, by seventeen feet, and twenty feet three inches high. In the king's chamber stands the empty coffer in red granite, but of so fine a substance that when struck it rings like a bell. Its size on the outside is seven feet six and a half inches long, three feet three inches wide, and three feet five inches high, as given by Messrs. Vyse and Perring.
Whether a body was ever laid there is not known; there are now no signs of any; and how the coffin' could have been brought there is a mystery, unless it was placed there when the pyramid was built; for the first passage is only three feet five and a half inches broad, by three feet eleven inches high, unless it has been contracted since. There are no coffers' in either of the other chambers, so that some suppose the pyramid was intended for one person only, and that the other chambers had been abandoned as the work proceeded.
The two narrow openings (about 9 inches square) that proceed from the king's chamber to the open air upward are now supposed to be intended for ventilation. It is also said that two similar openings have been discovered in the queen's chamber, but with their mouths covered up by portions of the stone being left. They do not proceed into the open air, but into the above-named small openings out of the king's chamber.
The pyramid is beautifully finished in the interior, the joints being well made, and the surfaces in the chambers well polished.
The use for which the pyramids were built is further set at rest by the many that have been found, even so far as Meroe. They are of all sizes, and stand in all aspects as regards the compass. Some have porticoes on one side to form the entrance. They were built unquestionably as tombs for kings and the great men of Egypt.
There had of old been traditions that the pyramids contained immense wealth; but no one for a long time was able to discover the entrances. However in A.D. 820 Caliph Al Mamoon, son of Haroon al Rasheed determined to make an attempt. He pitched upon the center of the base as the best place to commence operations, but the builder more effectually to prevent the entrance from being found, had placed it 23 feet from the center.
The workmen are said to have set to work with iron, fire, and vinegar to force an entrance through the solid masonry; and by slow and fatiguing labor succeeded in penetrating to the depth of 100 feet. "After that, however," says Professor Smyth, " they were beginning to despair of the hard and hitherto fruitless labor, and to remember tales of an old king who had found on a calculation that all the wealth of Egypt in his time would not enable him to destroy one of the pyramids.
They were almost becoming rebellious, when one day in the midst of their murmurings they heard a great stone fall in a hollow passage within, no more than a few feet of them. Energetically they pushed on after that; hammers, and fire, and vinegar being employed again, until they reached the hollow way, exceeding dark, dreadful to look at, and difficult to pass,' they said at first, where, the sound had occurred. A large angular-fitting stone that had made for ages a smooth and polished portion of the ceiling of the lonely and narrow passage, indistinguishable from any other parts of its course, had now dropped on the floor before their eyes, and revealed that there was at that point a passage beyond and above, ascending out of this descending one. But that ascending passage was closed by a granite portcullis, not built in or built up, as if never intended to be entered, but merely left portcullis down; a portcullis of finished workmanship, and intended to be raised in its regular grooves when the proper time and right men should have arrived. Meanwhile it was of most portentous weight, and the crew who had gathered about it were decidedly not the right men. Accordingly, unable to lift the true gate, they broke in sidewise and round about through the smaller masonry, and so up again into the ascending passage, at a point past the observation.
“On they rushed, that lawless crowd, thirsting for the promised wealth. Up no less than 100 feet, of the steep incline, crouched hands and knees and chin together, through a passage of royally-polished marble, but only 14 inches in height or breadth, they had painfully to crawl, with their torches burning too. Then suddenly they emerge into a tall gallery in front of them. On the level another low passage, leading to an inconsiderable room; on the right, a black, ominous-looking well's mouth; and onwards and above them a continuation of the glorious gallery or hall leading on to all the treasures of the earth! Narrow certainly was the way, only six feet broad anywhere, and contracted to three feet at the floor, but rising to a height of twenty-eight feet almost above the power of their smoky lights to illuminate, and of polished glistering marble-like Cyclopean stone throughout. That must surely be the high road to fortune and wealth. Up and up its receding floor-line, ascending at an angle of 26° they had to push their toilsome way for 150 feet more; then an obstructing ledge to climb over; then a low doorway in solid granite to bow below; then a hanging portcullis to pass under; then another doorway; and after that they leapt, without further let or hindrance at once into the grand chamber, which was the conclusion of everything; the chamber to which, and for which and towards which, according to every subsequent writer, in whatever other theoretical point they may differ, the whole of the Great Pyramid was built.”
But their hopes were ruthlessly dashed to pieces: they found indeed a goodly chamber, beautifully made; but containing only an empty coffer without a lid! The pyramid had evidently been entered previously, and rifled of all that was valuable. "The caliph was about to abandon his vain search, when the people began to evince their discontent, and to censure his ill-placed avidity. To check their murmurs, he had recourse to artifice. He secretly ordered a large sum of money to be conveyed to, and buried in the innermost part of the excavated passage; and the subsequent discovery of the supposed treasury, which was found to be about equal to what had been expected, satisfied the people, and the caliph gratified his own curiosity at the expense of their labor, and their unsuspecting credulity.”
We suppose everyone who visits the Nile goes to see the pyramids; and naturally the largest is the most attractive, simply because it is the Great Pyramid. As we have said, the outer casing that once made the steps into a slope, is gone, so that now it is simply going up a flight of stairs, uncomfortably high steps and many broken, it is true, but that is all.
But the Arabs who accompany you are well up to their work. One on each side of you almost lift you up every step. A good spring is all you need give, and you are up the first step, four feet and a half high. Then another, and then another, and thus in quicker time than most people like, you are sprung up the huge stairs. Fortunately the steps decrease in height as you ascend, and you find yourself at the top, as you count two hundred and three quite out of breath.
The top is a platform of about 30 feet at each side; and there you can rest, and the view repays you. You can see pyramids and pyramids; some large and some small, interspersed with tombs, and ill-shaped hillocks. On one side Cairo and several villages, and 'the mighty Nile as it winds its way amid the verdure caused by its waters.
The heat however is sometimes frightful, relieved somewhat if there happens to be a gentle breeze, but still much too hot to be pleasant; too much wind is fatal to all enjoyment, because of the sand it brings. But you stand on the burial place of one of the Pharaohs, and know that it stood there in the days of Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses; and remember that for ages it has been counted one of the seven wonders of the world; and it is the greatest achievement of a people whose king asked, "Who is Jehovah that I should obey him?" but who had to learn that He was one who would be obeyed, and who could protect a body of simple shepherds, their wives and their children, against all the resources and power of Egypt. Such thoughts may run through the mind, and many kindred ones; when you are reminded that it is time to descend. The same strong arms of the Arabs jump you down in a way more uncomfortable to some persons than going up. But down, down you come, as if you were obliged to do it in so many minutes-or rather so few. Again you are at the bottom, out of breath.
A lady who once made the ascent, did it in twenty-two minutes, though she rested a few seconds two or three times. Three Arabs were told off to assist her, one on each side, and one behind, in case he was needed. She was provided in England with a camp stool to break the higher steps, but found it best to resign herself into the hands of the Arabs. She was about to fasten up her dress, when one of them acted as lady's maid, and fastened it up with a tight knot that saved all further trouble. She thinks the Arabs do well in having you up in quick time. You are apt to get giddy if you stop and look down.
But all the pyramids are not to be jumped-up in this fashion. The one called the second pyramid has some of its casing still standing, which makes its ascent much more exciting, not to say dangerous. Mr. Wilde, who made the ascent, gives the following account: “I engaged two Arabs to conduct me to the summit of the pyramid, one an old man, the other about forty, both of a mould which for combination of strength and agility I never saw surpassed. We soon turned to the north, and finally reached the outer casing on the west side. All this was very laborious, to be sure, though not very dangerous; but here was an obstacle that I knew not how themselves could surmount, much less how I could possibly master; for above our heads jutted out like an eave or coping, the lower stones of the coating, which still remain and retain a smooth polished surface. As considerable precaution was necessary, the men made me take off my hat, coat, and shoes at this place: the younger then placed his raised and extended hands against the projecting edge of the lower stone, which reached to above his chin; and the elder, taking me up in his arms, as I would a child, placed my feet on the other's shoulders, and my body fiat on the smooth surface of the stone. In this position we formed an angle with each other, and here I remained for upwards of two minutes, till the older man went round, and by some other means contrived to get over the projection, when, creeping along the line of junction of the casing, he took my hands, drew me up to where he was above me, and then, letting down his girdle, assisted to mount up the younger, but less active and less daring climber of the two. We then proceeded much as follows: One of them got on the shoulders of the other, and so gained the joining of the stone above, which was often 5 feet asunder; the upper man then helped me in a similar action, while the lower pushed me up by the feet. Having gained this row, we had often to creep for some way along the joining to where another opportunity for ascending was afforded. In this way we proceeded to the summit, and some idea may be formed of my feelings when it is recollected that all these stones of such a space are highly polished, are set at an angle less [more?] than 450, and that the places we had to grip with our hands and feet were often not two inches wide, and their height above the ground upwards of 400 feet. A single slip of the foot, and we must all three have been dashed to atoms long before we reached the ground. On gaining the top my guides gave vent to sundry demonstrations of satisfaction, clapping me on the back, patting my head, and kissing my hands. From all this I began to suspect that something wonderful had been achieved; and some idea of my perilous situation broke upon me when I saw some of my friends beneath, waving their hats, and looking up with astonishment as we sat perched upon the top, which is not more than six feet square. The apex stone is off, and it now consists of four outer slabs and one in the center, which is raised up on its end, and leans to the eastward. I do not think that human hands could have raised it thus from its bed, on account of its size and the confined space they would have to work in. I am inclined to think the top was struck with lightning, and the position thus altered by it. The three of us had just room to sit upon the place. The heat was most intense, and the stones so hot that it was unpleasant to sit on them very long, and it would be rather too dangerous an experiment to attempt standing. The descent was, as might be expected, much more dangerous, though not so difficult. The guides tied a long sash under my arms, and so let me slide down from course to course of these covering stones, which are of a yellowish limestone, somewhat different from the material of which the steps are composed, and totally distinct from the rock of the base, or the coating of the passages.”
Abdallatif relates the following effort to pull down a pyramid: “The Sultan Melic-Alaziz Othman, wishing to destroy the red pyramid (the third) sent a number of sappers, miners, and quarrymen, with orders to pull it down. They pitched the camp near the pyramid, got together a great number of workmen, and during eight whole months labored hard at the job. Every day, after great exertion, they succeeded in removing one or two stones. Some at the top pushed the stones with levers and wedges, while others from below pulled with ropes. At last the stone would fall with a prodigious noise, and bury itself in the sand. Then was a fresh labor to get it out of the sand, to make holes in it for wedges and to split it into smaller pieces. Finally each piece was put on a car, and dragged to the foot of the neighboring mountain, where they threw it down. At last, being quite wearied out, they gave up the undertaking, having only done enough to spoil the pyramid, and show their own impotence. This took place in the year 593.”
Tombs.
If the pyramids were built for tombs, they were not the only ones, for there were many tombs of a variety of shapes, some connected with the temples, and some not.
They were not placed near cultivated spots, but in the deserts, often hewn out of the solid rock. Some descended far below the surface, and had many passages. The most curious thing connected with the tombs is that the walls were fully ornamented with scenes of daily life: representations of out-door occupation, feeding cattle, marking some with a hot iron, and attending to the sick; tilling the ground—plowing, sowing, reaping, and storing the grain. In-door occupations of every description; and scenes of social gatherings, with music and dancing. All sorts of amusements too are portrayed on the walls of the tombs, which entirely negative the idea that the Egyptians were a gloomy people.
There were also sepulchral tablets, dedicated to the gods, and scenes which represented homage “or ancestral worship, made by the children or other relatives of the dead to himself and his wife, the tables before them being loaded with offerings." Some of the texts speak of the deceased being" justified." “His merits are often told in a verbose style, to which are sometimes added the public works in which he was engaged." Other scenes portray the deceased attended by his relatives, in the attitude of adoration to one of their gods.
INTERIOR OF TOMB.
The kings and great people had tombs for themselves; others a chamber for themselves, duly sealed up with a wall, to exclude intruders. The sacred animals too had their tombs, after being embalmed.
The ancient kings of Thebes had a sort of sacred valley where their tombs were placed. An Italian traveler says, “The tombs are all cut out of the solid rock, which is of hard calcareous stone, as white as it is possible to be. The tombs in general consist of a long square passage which leads to a staircase, sometimes with a gallery on each side of it, and other chambers. Advancing further, we come to wider apartments, and other passages and stairs, and at last into a large hall where the great sarcophagus lay, which contained the remains of the kings.”
Belzoni describes another as having been carefully closed up; but at the end of a passage he came to a beautiful chamber, twenty-seven feet six inches by twenty-five feet ten inches, in which were four pillars, each three feet square. This room he considered the entrance hall.
It was decorated with paintings. There were several other rooms connected with staircases and corridors. In the last great chamber he found the carcass of an embalmed bull.
Each tomb contained (1) an entrance hall, in which the relatives might gather at any time, indeed open to all. (2) A passage or well that descended to (3) a chamber in which the mummy reposed. The two latter were carefully closed up.
For the poor, rooms or pits were excavated, and apparently when one was filled, a passage was made, often descending lower, and another room was dug out, and then another. Into these pits the mummies were closely packed.
Belzoni gives a vivid description of a huge tomb or mummy-pit filled with mummies. “The entry or passage where the bodies are is roughly cut in the rocks, and the falling of the sand from the upper part or ceiling of the passage, causes it to be nearly filled up. In some places there is not more than one vacancy of a foot left, which you must contrive to pass through in a creeping posture, like a snail, on pointed and keen stones that cut like glass. After getting through these passages, some of them two or three hundred yards long, you generally find a more commodious place, perhaps high enough to sit. But what a place to rest, surrounded by bodies, by heaps of mummies in all directions, which, previous to my being accustomed to the sight, impressed me with horror. The blackness of the wall, the faint light given by the candles or torches for want of air, the different objects that surround me seeming to converse with each other, and the Arabs, with the candles or torches in their hands, naked and covered with dust, themselves resembling living mummies, absolutely formed a scene that cannot be described. In such a situation I found myself several times, and often returned exhausted and fainting, till at last I became inured to it, and indifferent to what I suffered, except from the dust which never failed to choke my throat and nose; and though, fortunately, I am destitute of the sense of smelling, I could taste that the mummies were rather unpleasant to swallow.
“After the exertion of entering into such a place through a passage of.... perhaps six hundred yards, nearly overcome, I sought a resting-place, found one, and contrived to sit; but when my weight bore on the body of an Egyptian, it crushed it like a band-box. I naturally had recourse to my hands to sustain my weight, but they found no better support; so that I sank altogether among the broken mummies, with a crash of bones, rags, and wooden cases, which raised such a dust as kept me motionless for a quarter of an hour, waiting till it subsided again. I could not remove from the place however without increasing it, and every step I took I crushed a mummy in some part or other.
“Once I was conducted from such a place to another resembling it, through a passage of about twenty feet in length, and no wider than that a body could be forced through. It was choked with mummies, and I could not pass without putting my face in contact with that of some decayed Egyptian; but as the passage declined downwards, my own weight helped me on; however, I could not avoid being covered with bones, legs, arms, and heads, rolling from above. The purpose of my researches was to rob the Egyptians of their papyri, of which I found a few hidden in their breasts, under their arms, in the space above the knees, or on the legs, and covered by the numerous folds of cloth that envelop the mummy.”
Thus nearly all the tombs have been ransacked, and if a visitor, in breaking his way through a wall, is under the impression that he is the first to enter it since its being sealed, he is nearly sure to find that someone has been there before him.
M. Marlette was on one occasion more fortunate. He says, “A chamber of the tomb of Apis, walled up in the thirteenth year of Rameses II., had escaped the spoilers, and I had the happiness of finding it intact.
Three thousand seven hundred years had not changed its original aspect. The fingers of the Egyptian who filled in the last stone of the wall built across the entrance were still marked upon the cement. Naked feet had left their imprint upon the bed of sand deposited in a corner of the mortuary chamber. Nothing was wanting in this last sanctuary of death, where has rested for nearly forty centuries an embalmed bull!”
The Temples.
The temples of the Egyptians were the works upon which they spent much of their skill and labor. When those buildings stood intact, they must have been most imposing; even now travelers are overpowered with the effect of the gigantic ruins.
. They were not used, as in other lands, as places in which the faithful could congregate and worship. No one was allowed in them but the priests. They were built by the kings as acts of piety, and in order to merit the favor of the gods.
Each temple was dedicated to three gods—a principal male god; a goddess; and an offspring, forming a sort of trinity. At times they were blended into one.
The temples had elaborate approaches. At a distance from the temple proper stood a huge portico, called a "propylæum," with a gate in the center. The sides were covered with figures, or hieroglyphics. There were also obelisks, and sometimes colossal figures of kings. From these distant porticoes avenues were often formed between two rows of sphinxes. The details were varied, and additions were often made by subsequent monarchs. In our illustrations on "pages 276-7 the approaches to several of the temples can be traced.
We give an illustration of the approach to the temple of Amunoph III at Luxor. Rameses II added a new courtyard and the obelisks. Behind the obelisks are two colossal statues, nearly of equal size. They are now buried up to the chest in sand, but the part still visible measures between twenty-one and twenty-two feet to the top of their crowns. Behind these figures is the portico, or propylæum, with a gate or door in the center.
The temples themselves had massive porches, with gigantic figures carved on them, and the walls were elaborately decorated with sculptures, paintings, and hieroglyphics. In some were sphinxes, in others columns, and in others were huge statues. The pictures were everywhere similar. The king presents an offering—a table laden with gifts of food, flowers, &c.—and solicits favors from the god. The god, in return, grants to the king his requests.
In some places plans of temples can be traced, to which no additions have been made, from which we ascertain the original designs. In the following plan an avenue is formed of two rows of sphinxes in both the first and second courts. Then there is a portico of ten columns. Behind this are smaller courts, with more columns, having chambers on each side for the use of the priests, as is supposed. The god was placed in the innermost chamber.
But the plans of different temples varied very much, and some became irregular by the various additions made after the temple was built.
The remains at Karnak are perhaps the most wonderful. An irregular avenue of sphinxes, more than a mile in length, connected the northern entrance of a temple at Luxor with it; but this was only one of several approaches.
The building itself is irregular, and has evidently been added to by various kings. Some of the chambers RUINS AT KARNAK.
are very lofty, and one of the halls, called the Hall of Columns, had a flat roof of stones, which rested upon 144 huge pillars, some 26 feet, and others as much as 34 feet, in circumference. A view of the illustration in our frontispiece will convey a better idea than mere words. The diminutive size of the people throws into contrast the height of the pillars. Belzoni was so struck with the appearance of some of the buildings that he said, "It appeared to me like entering a city of giants, who, after a long conflict, were all destroyed, leaving the ruins of their various temples as the only proof of their former existence.”
It was not simply the height of the buildings that called forth the wonder of visitors, but also the extent of some of the halls. For instance, the hall at Karnak would hold four of the largest churches in London, and have room to spare. And this hall is not more than one-seventh of the whole; so that the temple would hold thirty large churches I Along with the foregoing we give an illustration of some massive columns at Tentyra or Dendera, that they may be compared with those at Karnak. It will be seen that the style is different. They date from the reign of the eleventh Ptolemy (B.C. 80-51), but the temple was completed by Tiberius, and some of the decorations are as late as Nero.
Rameses III., who erected a temple at Medeenet Haboo, says to one of his gods (in the great Harris Papyrus), "I built for thee thy divine abode in the midst of its area, fabricating and making the construction of square stone; its doors and its lintels were of gold, nailed together with brass. I inlaid it with precious stones, like the bolts of heaven.”
The temples hewn out of the rock—as at Aboo-Simbel—had not the same approaches. By again looking at the illustration on page 277, it will be seen that in the lower temple four lofty sitting figures form the porch. It is the temple of Osiris. The four figures represent Rameses II. They are of enormous size. From the shoulder to the elbow measures fifteen feet six inches; the face is seven feet; the ears, three feet six inches; the beard, five feet six inches; their height, about sixty-four feet.
The visitors who have climbed up to their knees look mere pigmies. The features are declared to be exquisitely molded.
Passing through the doorway, which is twenty feet high, you enter the reception chamber, fifty-seven feet by fifty-two, and about thirty feet high. On each side are lofty statues of the same Rameses, holding in his arms the crosier and the whip. Behind these figures are huge pillars, and then a gallery on either side, the walls of which are elaborately decorated with paintings and hieroglyphics, setting forth the victories of this king. From this chamber you enter a smaller one, with four enormous pillars; and from this a still smaller one. In this latter chamber a simple altar is placed before the four gods of Ra, Khem, Kneph, and Osiris. On the sides of these smaller chambers there are six others, apparently for the use of the priests. All are highly ornamented, except those where the work was left unfinished. When we remember that all these chambers and standing and sitting figures are cut out of the solid rock, we can but be struck with the value the Egyptians set upon their gods and their worship, not forgetting, however, that the monarchs who executed such immense works did not fail to find a means of combining their own glory with that of their gods! It is only the religion of Jesus Christ that can make people content to give, or at least to aim at giving, all the glory to their God.
The Sphinxes.
These, as we have said, were extensively employed in lining the avenues that led up to the temples. They were of various shapes and sizes. The common sphinx had a lion's body, with a man's head; sometimes it had, as was supposed, a woman's head, but this is now denied. In other cases it was a complete lion, head and all. Some had a ram's head, and others the head of a hawk, and a few with a human head and human arms, instead of the fore-legs.
It is not known what idea was connected with the sphinx, whether it was a god, or what? It seems evident that it was in some way connected with their deities, because all the various heads named above were those of some of their gods or goddesses.
The limbs of the lion would naturally suggest strength, and the human head, intelligence. The ram's head was that of their god KNEPH, and the hawk's head, that of the god HORUS. By being placed, as they were, before their temples, the thought may have been that they protected the temples, or were emblematical of some unseen power that did so. Clemens and Plutarch say they were placed before the temples as "types of the mysterious nature of the deity.”
The Great Sphinx.
In some cases the sphinx has a small figure before the front feet, and in the large sphinx at Memphis sculptures were discovered in the breast between the front paws, representing two sphinxes on pedestals, with priests making offerings, with a long inscription, and other portions of stone, as if a small temple had once been placed there.
The head of this sphinx was for centuries the only part that was visible, and, from its battered condition, had a weird appearance that was rather feared by the Arabs. It was considered the head of a female, but as to how it came there, or to what the head was attached, was not known.
However, Captain Caviglia determined to do his best to discover, and, after tremendous difficulty, he was enabled to clear away the sand before the front part of the figure, and it was found to be a sphinx with a man's head, and the before-named shrine between its paws. Part of its beard has been found, and is now in the British Museum. The difficulty was to remove the sand far enough away; for they often found that during the night as much sand had blown back into the hole as had been cleared out the previous day.
One naturally inquires why such an enormous figure was placed where it could be engulfed in sand, but one can hardly come to any other conclusion than that, either in the days when the sphinx was placed there, or rather cut there—for it is cut out of the solid rock, except the paws—the sand was farther away; or-and this is generally believed—the sphinx was protected from the sand by walls that have long since been thrown down.
This sphinx is supposed to have relation to one or more of the large pyramids, especially as there are between the sphinx and the second pyramid the ruins of a temple. Though now so defaced through age, the sphinx is declared to show signs of a placid countenance.
The circuit of the head is 102 feet, the whole length of the figure 143 feet, and the height, from the legs to the top of the head, 62 feet.
Who made the great sphinx is not known. There is a stone in one of the museums that speaks of Cheops giving orders to repair a certain sphinx, which has been supposed to refer to this, and if so, it would show its early existence.
The Obelisks.
There is nothing very remarkable about these, except that each is formed out of a single piece of stone, and so is called a monolith, with hieroglyphics more or less covering the four surfaces, and is valuable on this account. The largest are all made of the red granite of Syene, and were, as we have stated, placed in pairs before the entrances of the temples. Sometimes small ones were put inside the temples. They are found from the Mediterranean to Philæ.
What the obelisks are intended to represent is not Known. Pliny says that they were dedicated to the sun, and he adds that their form, resembling a ray of the sun, proves it; and also that the obelisk has a name in the Egyptian language which indicates this. But they seem rather to be raised in honor of the kings.
The subject of the hieroglyphics on the obelisks is very similar on all, except, of course, the names of the kings, whose fame they are raised to celebrate. But the language at times sounds profane, as it makes the king to be an offspring of the gods. Thus, on an obelisk at Rome is recorded, "The Horns, the powerful, the beloved of the sun; the Ra, the offspring of the gods, the subjugator of the world; the king, the Pharaoh, guardian of justice, approved of the sun, son of the sun; Ammon-mai-Rameses, who gives joy to the region of Heliopolis, when it beholds the radiance of the solar mountain. He who does this is the lord of the world; the Pharaoh, guardian of justice, approved of the sun, Ammon-mai-Rameses, giving life like the sun.”
It has been an interesting question as to how a piece of stone 80 feet long could be cut out of the quarries without a fracture. How the Egyptian obelisks were actually detached is not known, but it is known how similar pieces have been detached in modern times. Thus, " in the granite quarries near Seringapatam the most enormous blocks are separated from the solid rock by the following neat and simple process:—The workmen, having found a portion of the rock sufficiently extensive, and situated near the edge of the part already quarried, lays bare the upper surface, and marks on it a line in the direction of the intended separation, along which a groove is cut with a chisel about a couple of inches in depth. Above this groove a narrow line of fire is then kindled, and maintained till the rock below is thoroughly heated, immediately on which a line of men and women, each provided with a pot-full of cold water, suddenly sweep of the ashes, and pour the water into the heated groove, when the rock splits with a clear fracture. Square blocks of 6 feet in the side, and upwards of 80 feet in length, are sometimes detached by this method."
Colonel Wilks describes another way in which a long piece of granite was detached, and a way which he says produces a cleaner cut than the method above described. When the portion of stone to be cut off is marked out, a groove, about 2 inches deep, is cut along the whole line; or, if the stratum be but thin, holes of the same dimensions, at a foot and a half, or two feet distance, are cut along the line. "In each case, all being now ready, a workman, with a small chisel, is placed at each hole or interval, and with small iron mallets the line of men keep beating on the chisels, but not with violence, from left to right, or from right to left. This operation, as they say, is sometimes continued for two or three days before the separation is effected. Those who have observed the mode of cutting (as it is called) plate-glass will not be surprised at their beating from one end, and the fissure also taking place from one end to the other. This is the mode by which the stone in question was separated.”
Then, in Egypt, the obelisks had to be taken to the river, and on rafts, or boats of some sort, conveyed to their destination. In the sixth dynasty an official, named Una, says, “His majesty sent me to Hanub, to bring a great slab of alabaster of Hanub. I also extracted that slab in seventeen days I made for it a boat of burden in a little dock, 60 cubits long, and 30 in its breadth, put together in seventeen days in the month of Epiphi."
Then came the difficult task of raising them on to their pedestals, which were always separate stones. How they were raised is not known; the one at Seringapatam was a work of great difficulty, because of the brittle nature of the stone. It was raised on to a bank of earth, and as one end was raised, the bank of earth was raised to support it, until it was nearly erect, then high scaffolds were raised, and by means of ropes the obelisk was safely placed on its pedestal.
The simple tools used by the Egyptians and other nations in the East have always been a matter of surprise, when the quality of the work is considered. In the above case, Colonel Wilks produced a spirit level, to ascertain if the pedestal was perfectly horizontal. The engineer admired the contrivance, but preferred his own plan, which was to drop some water on the stone, and see if it would run in any way. If it did, the surface was again operated upon, until water would stand on any spot without moving.
The subject of obelisks has become a matter of additional interest in England by the arrival from Alexandria of the one commonly called Cleopatra's Needle, and now placed on the Thames Embankment. This obelisk and its companion were removed from Heliopolis to Alexandria, as others were moved to Rome, Florence, France, and Constantinople.
In removing Cleopatra's Needle a metal clamp was discovered, with an inscription in Greek and Latin, showing that it was erected at Alexandria in the eighth year of the reign of Augustus (B.C. 22), when P. Rufrius Barbarus was prefect of Egypt.
A novel ship was built for its conveyance to England; but, though safely embarked, it had to be abandoned at sea through rough weather. It was, however, captured with difficulty, and taken into a foreign port, a large sum being claimed for its salvage. An English court awarded £2,000 to those who had saved it.
Cleopatra's Needle is nearly seventy feet in length; its breadth at the widest part seven feet five inches on two sides, and seven feet ten inches and a half on the other sides; so that it is not a square. It contracts to four or five feet, and then has a cap of seven feet six inches in height. Its weight is estimated at about 186 tons.
This obelisk was erected by Thothmes III., who wrote the center inscription. Rameses II added the two outer columns. It bears the throne names and family names of both kings. We have already given the name of Rameses in hieroglyphics we add the names of the earlier king.
O THOTHMES. RA-MEN-KHEPER.
We give Mr. Birch's translation of the inscriptions. Beyond their antiquity they are not of intrinsic value.
On the apex “the god Tum is represented seated on a throne, holding an emblem of life in his right hand, and a scepter was in his left hand, receiving the offerings of water of Thothmes III., represented as a sphinx ... He faces Turn, and holds in each hand a globe or jar of water. There are seven vertical lines of hieroglyphics here, and the three referring to Turn call him Turn, lord of An,' or Heliopolis, ' above all gods, the great god, lord of the great house,' either the palace, or rather the temple, of Heliopolis. The four lines about Thothmes say, 'The gift of fresh water by the good god lord of the two countries, Ra men χepr,' or Men χeper-ra, giver of eternal life.'”
On the shaft are three lines of inscription, running from top to bottom, but it is only the center one that was engraved by king Thothmes, leaving a good margin on either side. The center line reads—
“The Horus, lord of the Upper and Lower country. The powerful bull crowned in Uas has made his monument to his father, Haremakhu: he has set up to him two great obelisks, capped with gold at the first time, of the festivals of thirty years. According to his wish he did it, the son of the sun, THOTHMES, beloved of Haremakhu ever living.
He reigned fifty-four years: it was probably erected when thirty years had elapsed.
“Haremakhu is the Harmachis of the Greek writers, the sun in the horizon, and he represented one of the phases of the great luminary." Uas represents Western Thebes.
On the second side the apex is the same as on the first, except that the sphinx offers to the god wine instead of water. The center line reads—
“The Horus, the mighty bull crowned by Truth, the king of the south and north country, RA MEN-χEPER, lord of the gods, has multiplied to him festivals on the great persea tree in the midst of the phoenix, he is recognized as his son, he is the divine person, his limbs emanate everywhere as he wishes, the son of the sun, THOTHMES, ruler of An, beloved of Harmachis.”
On the third side the apex has, instead of Turn, the hawk-headed type of RA, or the sun, and the gift is of frankincense. The central line reads—“The Horus, the powerful bull, beloved of the sun, the king of the south and north, RA MEN KHEPER (or Men-kheper-ra); his father, Tum, has set his name up to him in the precinct in the palace attached to An, giving him the seal of Seb, the dignity of Khepera, the son of the sun, THOTHMES, true ruler, beloved of the Bennu of An ever living.”
“Seb is the name of the Egyptian Cronos, or Saturn; and Khepra, or the scarabeus god, is a form of Ra, or Osiris, this insect being sacred to both gods.”
The inscription on the apex of the fourth side, and on the shaft, is nearly all obliterated. Rameses II added a line on each side of the original center one, some two hundred years later. We give the two lines on the first side. On the right, “The Horus, the powerful bull, beloved of the sun, lord of festivals, like his father, Ptah-Tanen, son of the sun, RAMESES, beloved of Amen, a strong bull, like the son of Nu, whom none can withstand, the lord of the two countries, Ra-user ma Satep en Ra, son of the sun, Rameses, beloved of Amen [giver of life like the sun]." On the left, “The Horus, the powerful bull, son of Tum, king of the south and north, guardian of Kami [or Egypt], chastiser of foreign lands, son of the sun, RAMESES, beloved of Amen, dragging the south to the great sea, the north to the poles of heaven, lord of the two countries, Ra user ma [or User ma ra], Satep en Ra, son of the sun, Rameses, giver of life like the sun.”
Mr. Birch explains the latter to point out the extent of Egypt: "the north bounded by the great sea, the south by the four poles, or cardinal points of the heavens.”
The other lines of Rameses II are similar. In one he says, "making his frontiers at the place he wishes, who is at peace through his power." In another, "the eyes of created beings see what he has done." "The guide of the two countries has given birth to him." In one is the expression, "he has not looked in the house of his father," which may refer to his not violating the sanctity of the temple of the god Turn.
POMPEY'S PILLAR is supposed to have been erected to record the capture of Alexandria by Diocletian, in A.D. 296, and is comparatively a modern production.
The Labyrinth and Lake Mœris.
These were situated in the vicinity of Crocodilopolis. The Labyrinth is thus described by Herodotus: "I visited the place, and found it to surpass description; for if all the walls and other great works of the Greeks were put together in one, they would not equal, either for labor or expense, this Labyrinth." He declared that it exceeded the Pyramids. Its ruins have been discovered, but they do not bear out the historian's descriptions. It appears to have consisted of a large number of small chambers, and it has been conjectured that they may have been used as the rooms of a council-house, where the officers of the various nomes met to transact business. Herodotus says there were fifteen hundred chambers above ground, and fifteen hundred below, and that the lower ones were used as tombs for the kings who built the Labyrinth, and also for the sacred crocodiles.
The upper chambers Herodotus saw and passed through. He says, "I found them to excel all other human productions; for the passages through the houses, and the varied windings of the paths across the courts, excited in me infinite admiration, as I passed from the courts into chambers, and from the chambers into colonnades, and from the colonnades into fresh houses, and again from these into courts unseen before. The roof was throughout of stone like the walls, and the walls were carved all over with figures; every court was surrounded with a colonnade, which was built of white stones, exquisitely fitted together.”
The LAKE MŒRIS was close to the Labyrinth. Highly as Herodotus speaks of the Labyrinth, he says the Lake was even more astonishing. He describes it as an artificial excavation of immense size, and in the center of the lake stood two, what he calls, pyramids, on the summit of which were two colossal figures, sitting on thrones.
The lake is believed now to have been natural, and not artificial, though there were extensive works in connection with it, to regulate the overflow of the Nile. It is now dry.
Colossal Statues.
Statues of men are found in Egypt much beyond the natural size. These are supposed to be statues of the kings; they were placed before temples or tombs, as at Aboo-Simbel.
The two most remarkable are those in a part called the Memnonium. They stand midway between Medeenet Haboo and the tomb of Osymandyas. They are two enormous figures, seated, with their hands on their knees. They are forty-seven feet high without their pedestals, and fifty-three feet in all. Other smaller figures stand by their knees. One of them is called the Vocal Memnon, because, as was said, it uttered a certain sound on the rising of the sun, a sound like the twang of a harp-string.
As to who Memnon was, was not known, as his name does not appear among the Egyptian kings; but the question has been set at rest by finding that Memnon is the Greek name for Phamenoph, or Phamenoth. This name is said to mean "devoted to Amon," or "belonging to Amon." On the back of the statue has been found the name of Amenothph, which, though it appears so different, is declared to be the same name; the PH (the article the) being simply placed at the end of the name in one case, and at the commencement in the other. His throne name has also been discovered, and is interpreted to be "The Sun, Lord of Truth." It is the third Amenothph.
In the British Museum there is a smaller Memnon (but more than nine feet high), which was discovered buried at the back of the great statue. It is in fine preservation, and bears the same names as given above.
One of the large figures (in situ) has been broken, and repaired with several layers of sandstone: the other appears to be formed of a single block of stone.
The back of the Vocal Memnon bears the names of several persons, who vouch for having heard the sound; and various conjectures have been made as to whether it could have arisen from natural causes.
It is said that the upper part of the figure was destroyed by an earthquake in B.C. 27; and from thence arose its vocal powers and its popularity. "Doubtless this sound," says one, "was merely the result of the cracking of the stone, wet with the morning dew, under the influence of the rays of the sun." Septimus Severna (A.D. 202), as is supposed, restored the image, and it was no longer vocal.
Sir G. Wilkinson found in the lap of the figure a stone, which, on being struck with a hammer, gave a metallic sound, so that the peasants, who had been placed to listen below, said, "You are striking brass;" a fact the more to be remarked, because Strabo, who had heard the sound, said it was like the effect of a slight blow. Whether the sound was the result of some trick of the priests-as has often been the case in more modern times-now remains a mystery. The image is not hollow, so that if anyone was there to strike it, he must have been on the outside—there being, however, ample room in the lap for a person to be concealed. What, therefore, made the image of Memnon a speaking, or Vocal, Memnon is to this day a mystery.
There were other colossal images besides the above-named two. There is a large head, with cap and crown, in the British Museum, measuring ten feet from the neck to the top of the crown. The detached arm of this image is also in the Museum, marked No. 8 in the Egyptian room; it measures ten feet. There is also a huge fist, and a large foot, in the Museum.
Here we must leave the gigantic works of Egypt. As scripture says, men thought to leave mementoes of their greatness that would last forever. That they have lasted so many thousand years is indeed wonderful, but their glory and beauty have departed, while many of them have been broken into fragments, and scattered to the four winds. Over one of their temples the Fellahs of the country have erected their huts, and made the chambers of the temple a receptacle for all kinds of refuse and dirt! Thus is all the glory of man brought to nought; but that which the Lord builds shall endure forever.