APPENDIX. No. I.

No.1.A long stick of coral.2, 2.Small pieces of amber.3, 3, 3.Little silver bells.4, 4.Silver or brass wire.[Illustration]

[Illustration]

In addition to these ornaments, the Fezzan woman fastens to the top of her head silken cords, on which are strung a number of silver rings, and which hang on each side pendant to her shoulder. The ears of ladies of rank are bored in two places, and in each hole is fixed a thick silver ring. In ordinary dress they wear nine or ten rings of horn or glass on each arm, four or five of which are taken off on all great occasions, to make room for a silver armillary of four inches breadth. They wear at the same time strong rings of brass or silver just above the ankle bones. The necklace consists of a silk riband, to which are fixed ten or twelve pieces of agate, and in front a round silver plate. The meaner women wear merely a string of glass beads, and curl their hair above the forehead into large ringlets, into which severally is stuffed a paste made of lavender, carraway-seeds, cloves, pepper, mastick, and laurel leaves, mixed up with oil.

The women of Fezzan generally have a great fondness for dancing and every amusement, and the wanton manners and public freedoms which, although Mahometans, they are permitted, astonishes the Mahometan traveller. They dance publicly in the open places of the town, not only in the day-time, but even after sunset. Two or three men stand together with their tambourines; the women immediately form a circle round; the men beat a tune, and those in the circle accompany it with singing and clapping of hands; a girl then advances dancing towards the drummers; the men, as she approaches near, join in the dance and press towards her; on which she makes some steps backwards, and then falls on her back with her body and limbs stiff and perfectly straight, when the women behind catch her in the fall, a few spans from the ground, and toss her in the air, whence she descends on her feet. The men then resume their station in the centre, and a second female dancer repeats the sport, which is successively engaged in by each brisk damsel of the circle.

The men of Fezzan are much addicted to drunkenness. Their beverage is the fresh juice of the date tree, calledlugibi, or a drink calledbusa, which is prepared from the dates, and is very intoxicating. When friends assemble in the evening, the ordinary amusement is mere drinking; but sometimes a singing girl, orkadanka, is sent for:kadankais a Soudan word, and answers to the termalméused at Cairo.

The song of these Fezzan girls is Soudanic. Their musical instrument is calledrhababe: it is an excavated hemisphere, made from a shell of the gourd kind, and covered with leather; to this a long handle is fixed, on which is stretched a string of horse hairs longitudinally closed and compact as one cord, about the thicknessof a quill. This is played upon with a bow. I was once of a party withSidi Mintesser, the brother of the sultan, at a small house, some distance from the palace, when he ordered aKadankato be brought, and with whom he soon after withdrew. On her return to the company, she was asked with a significant smile where she had been. She immediately took up her instrument, played upon it, and sung, in the Arabian language, “Sweet is Sidi Mintesser, as the waters of the Nile, but yet sweeter is he in his embraces; how could I resist?” As a natural consequence of the great freedoms allowed to the sex in Mourzouk, there are more women of a certain description to be found in that capital, than in any other of the same extent and population; and the general character of improvidence, and consequent misery and distress, belong as fully to the frail sisterhood of this place, as of any other.

There are various sorts of venereal disorders prevalent in Fezzan; that imported from Soudan is the worst. The common lues venerea brought from Tripoly and Cairo, is calledfranzi, or thefrankevil. For the cure of either species they use salts, and the fruithandal, (colycinth), as powerful cathartics; and the sores, if any, are at the same time washed with natron water, or dissolved soda. These remedies seldom fail, unless the disease has taken a very deep root.

The other maladies prevalent here are hæmorrhoides, no doubt greatly increased by the immoderate use of red pepper; and a fever and ague, which is particularly dangerous to foreigners. In these disorders there is no remedy whatever known or used but amulets, consisting of certain sentences, transcribed from the Koran, on a slip of paper, which the patient wears about his neck, and in bad cases is made to swallow. Phlebotomy is unknown; but blood is occasionally drawn by means of cupping. As to surgery, I heardthere were people at Mourzouk who had sufficient ability to cure a simple fracture.

The houses of the Fezzans are miserably built; they are constructed with stones or bricks made of a calcareous earth mixed with clay, and dried in the sun. No other tools are used in the building but the hands of the labourer. When the walls are completely raised, the friends of the proprietor assemble, and assist him to incrust and cover them with a mortar made with a white calcareous earth. This work too is done only by the hand. The houses are all extremely low, and the light enters by the door only.

As to diet, I never knew a more abstemious people than those of Fezzan. Meat indeed is a food they can at no time abstain from when set before them; but meat is not an article of food with the people in general: to indicatea rich man, at Mourzouk, the usual expression is, “that he eats bread and meat every day.”

POSTSCRIPT.

Theparticulars above communicated may give some general idea of Mourzouk, and of the people and kingdom of Fezzan. Proposing shortly to return into that country, I may have an opportunity of gaining more satisfactory intelligence, and of enlarging on some points, and of rectifying any mistake in others; I will then draw up for the Society a more full and amended account, having in view the means of conveyance through one of my country-friends, who is going with the caravan to Mourzouk, and proposes returning to Tripoly in May or June 1800, when he will consign my papers to the care of the British Consul.

Observations on F. Horneman’s Description of the Country and Antiquities of Siwah, with Reference to ancient Accounts of theOasis,andTemple of Ammon.By Sir William Young, Bart. Secretary.

Thepapers alluded to in Mr. Horneman’s Postscript have never been received; and nearly two years having elapsed since the date from which our expectation was referred, the above more summary account of his Travels (as probably the only one extant) is offered for perusal. Opportunities of correspondence from the interior of Africa can rarely occur, but by the caravans passing at certain, but distant, periods of time; and even by such conveyance, any communication from an European and Christian traveller, must be conducted with so particular a caution in avoidance of offence to the bigotry and prejudices of the people, that Mr. Horneman’s intentions of again writing may not only have been delayed, but wholly precluded, by the circumstances of his situation. The necessity of sustaining the character of a Mussulman unconnected with those termed “the Infidels of Christendom,” is strongly impressed in his letters from Cairo, Aug. 31, 1798, wherein he earnestly deprecates even inquiry concerning him, as liable to awaken jealousies and suspicions in the natives who may be so questioned; and any farther communications at present, from himself, may be matter of similar apprehension.

Under these considerations, it is become a duty to his public-spirited employers, that such curious intelligence as their traveller has already given, should no longer be withheld, even in its present state, and for which they will make a just and candid allowance.

It is however presumed, that the Reader will not have found in perusal of this Journal, that there is much which may require his favour or excuse: yet some details appear to need explanation, and which (if a reference to the traveller himself were possible) might be given in a manner the most clear and satisfactory.

In default of such advantage, the Editor offers an annotation or comment on two subjects of peculiar interest, treated of in this Journal, and in a manner apparently incorrect, or contradictory to accounts given by other writers.

Page 15;the extent of the Oasis of Siwah, (as represented by Mr. Horneman) differs widely from that stated by every other writer ancient or modern.

Page 23;the admeasurements of the sacred Egyptian building appear to vary in every proportion from those given by a late traveller of allowed accuracy, Mr. Brown.

In the first instance, it is the purpose of the Annotator to ascertain the error, and to shew whence it has arisen.

In the second case, he will have to place the subject in a point of view, by which an apparent variation in the two accounts may not only be reconciled, but even matter of new and just inference, as to the ancient construction and purpose of the building in question, be shewn to arise, from the very elucidation which corrects and compares these differences.

Page 15;Mr. Horneman states “the principal and fertile territory of Siwah to be fifty miles in circuit:” in this he disagrees with everyaccount given by the writers cited by Mr. Rennell, and with that latterly given by Mr. Brown, who, in conformity with the descriptions by other authors, states the extent of the Oasis, or fertile spot, to be six miles in length, and four miles and a half in breadth; not exceeding eighteen miles in circumference at the utmost. It will further appear that, in this respect, Horneman is not only at variance with the writings of others, but with his own, and that his own journal furnishes the strongest internal evidence in refutation of the fact he asserts.

Horneman names all the towns within the territory of Siwah,—Scharkie,Msellem,Menschie,Sbocka, andBarischa, and he places all these villages, or towns, withinone or two milesof Siwah the capital, which proximity could not be the case, if the rich and fertile land extended each way sixteen miles in traverse, as a circle of fifty miles implies. On a small and most fertile tract of country, surrounded on all sides by barren and sandy deserts, the rich and productive soil infers a population commensurate with, and in proportion to, its extent. Diodorus Siculus tells us, that the ancient Ammonians dwelt κωμηδὸν,i. e.vicatìm. (Ed. Wesseling, Tom. II. p. 198.) And so too the people at present (on grounds probably of convenience and defence against the Arabs of the Desert) appear to live chiefly in towns; and hence those towns must have been more distant, as more widely diffused over so great a space of country from its very character and description, to be supposed in every part occupied and appropriate. Society must have gathered and increased till it fully covered a country of suchexclusivefertility and means of subsistence. Generally, increase of population is to be measured by the means of subsistence; and in converse of the proposition, whatever of country was productive and habitable situated as the Oasis of Siwah, must be considered as inhabited andturned to account: the general reasoning and estimate of increase of people is further strengthened by the special argument of probable resort, from the barren yet partially inhabited districts which encompassed it.

Horneman’s description of the territory of Siwah tallies with, and confirms, the speculation: he represents the country as consisting of so many gardens walled or fenced on every side, and cultivated with so nice attention and labour, and with such care in irrigation, that the water directed in various cuts and channels from each spring, was in no case suffered to flow beyond the territory; but was made to lose and expend itself in the cultivated grounds of the Siwahans: and he describes the people as a swarm, and their residence as a crowded hive.

Let us now advert to his more particular enumeration of these Siwahans, and to the practicability of such number (as under any computation can be supposed labourers in the field) being competent to work the ground of fifty miles in circuit, with the nice agriculture he describes.

Horneman states 1500 warriors, ormen bearing arms, as thedatafor estimating the population of the country: he must mean to say,men capable of bearing arms, or there are nodata, and he means nothing. Calculate a population on the widest latitude from such data, and apply it to a well-cultivated district of 127,360 square acres, and there will not be more than one cultivator to at least 50 cultivated acres: for the women, our journalist has otherwise engaged. They (as he tells us,) are employed in manufacture, and chiefly in that of wicker-work and baskets, which they work with great neatness and ingenuity. These statements carry self-contradiction.These lands cannot be so extensive, or cannot be so cultivated.

Thus from Mr. Horneman’s own account, we may infer, that the rich spot of country termed the Oasis of Siwah, must be of much less extent indeed, than that which he directly states.

Observing particular expressions in the Journal relative to this subject, the cause of error may possibly appear. The traveller says, “the territory of Siwah is of considerable extent; its principal and most fertile district is a well watered valley of about fifty miles in circuit,hemmed in by steep and barren rocks.”

Now, referring to other descriptions of the fertile district or Oasis of Siwah, it is to be remarked, that such rich and productive spot of country is no where described, asimmediatelybounded and hemmed in by steep rocks and mountains. Diodorus, lib. xvii. speaking of the Oasis of Ammon, says, it was surrounded on all sides by barren and arid sands: so too, Mr. Brown mentions the fertile soil or Oasis, of from four miles and an half in breadth, to six in length, as bordered and encompassed by “desert land;” intimatingplain. In truth, it is such desert border of plain, which further on is bounded by rocky mountains. Mr. Horneman appears to have made no excursions from the town of Siwah, further thanof a mile and a halfto the ruins, andof one mileto the catacombs ofEl-Mota. From all these considerations, it may be surmised, that our traveller looking from Siwah, or its adjacencies, to the hills or rocks surrounding him at a distance, comprized in his estimate of rich country, the whole intermediate plain, not having directed due inquiry or consideration in the ascertaining of, to what extent within the area of that plain, the rich and cultivated soil might reach? Or,perhaps, hedidmake enquiries; but of some patriotic Siwahan, who thought proper to exaggerate the richness and extent of his petty commonwealth, and confirm his hyperbole, by pointing to the lofty boundary in view: or, perhaps, from not sufficiently understanding the dialect of Siwah, (as the traveller himself allows,) he may have confounded the ideas ofcountry occupied, and ofterritory claimed.

Be these surmises and explanations founded or not, our journalist’s representation of the extent of the Oasis of Siwah, is not only at variance with every other account, but with the internal evidence to be extracted from his own account, and must be rejected as erroneous.

Page 23, of the Journal, to which this note refers, a further subject of inquiry and explanation occurs, where Mr. Horneman, describing the ruins of an ancient edifice in the vicinity of Siwah, gives us dimensions and proportions, in every respect differing from those before stated by Mr. Brown, in description of the same building.

Mr. Horneman informs us, that he was successively interrupted on entrance into the area of these ruins, and was altogether prevented by the jealousy of the natives, from pursuing any plan of accurate examination or admeasurement. The dimensions which he gives us, are therefore to be taken as the result of computation on mere view; and from these and other circumstances, it is further to be presumed, that such computation by view, was madefrom without; whilst Mr. Brown expressly tells us, that he took his measurementsin the clear, orinsideof the building.

In this case, a deduction equal to the thickness of the walls, is to be made from the length and the breadth of the building, as described by Mr. Horneman.

The thickness of theendwalls may be supposed to be much less than that of thesidewalls, which being constructed to support the vast and ponderous blocks of stone which formed the roof, must have been built with a proportionate strength and solidity, not necessary, and probably therefore not used, at the entrance or end of the building. Mr. Horneman, indeed, when stating the thickness of the walls to besix feet, makes no such discrimination; but it may be fairly presumed, that adverting particularly (as he does,) to the massive roof, he meant to note exclusively, the strength of that part of the fabric by which it was supported.

Under such probable conjecture, the length and breadth of the building given by Mr. Brownfrom the inside, and by Mr. Hornemanfrom the outside, may so far agree, as fully to exculpate our Journalist from any charge of inattention in his survey, or inaccuracy in his representations; making those allowances which his situation and circumstances, and (above all,) his own declarations of want of precision, fully intitle him to.

The comparative height of the building is a part of the subject, which suggests matter of new and interesting investigation.

Page 23, Mr. Horneman informs us, “that the northern part of the building is erected on a native calcareous rock, rising about eight feet above the level of the area, within a circumvallation,” which he particularly and exclusively describes, and which will be a subject of further dissertation. He then mentions, “that two vast stones ofthe roof have fallen in from the southern part of the building, and lay with their bottom nearly on a level with the plain of the outward enclosure;” and he was thence led to conjecture, that the base or floor of the southern division, was originally lower than that of the northern end.

The difference in measurement or estimate of height stated by the two travellers, strongly corroborates the fact.

It may be premised, that when an object is of no great altitude, an estimate of height may be made on mere inspection or view, with much more accuracy than any other line of dimension. A comparison with known objects, the stature of any human figure near, nay, the very person of the observer himself, will furnish a sort of scale for reference, by which he may compute from four to five times his own height with considerable precision.

A difference so great as that of from eighteen to twenty-seven feet in estimating the altitude of the building at Siwah, could not occur between two the most hasty and inaccurate observers, in noting the height of the same object. The object itself, therefore, must be considered as different; and in the one case, to be that of thewall within, and in the other case, that ofthe temple from without.

Mr. Brown taking his measurements in the clear, would ascertain the perpendicular of the wall from a part of the pediment or floor, the most clear and perfect; and this was, at the northern end. The dilapidations in the southern part of the building, do not appear to have attracted his notice in any other consideration, than as mere ruins: and merely as such, the unequal and broken surface wouldnot be preferred for placing a rod in measurement to the summit, or from whence to look up and make a calculation of height. Mr. Brown accordingly measured the height from a proper base at the northern end, and found it to be eighteen feet. It has been already cited from the journal of Mr. Horneman, that the northern end was built on an isolated rock, rising eight feet above the plain of the general enclosure. The top of the wall from north to south, must have run on a level, and in a direct line: and the actual building of the southern part must have been eight feet higher than that of the northern end; and the entire buildingfrom withoutmust have appeared, and in truth, have been, twenty-six feet high, even to conform with Mr. Brown’s description from within.

The two travellers in other points agree, as to the architecture of the building, and sculpture on the walls, concurring in proof, that it was of the highest antiquity, and of Egyptian origin.

The division of the edifice exclusively noticed by Mr. Horneman, may give some further indication of its use and purpose, and perhaps may be found to strengthen the conjecture, “that these are the very ruins of the once famous oracular temple consecrated by theEgyptianDanaus, to the divinity of Ammon.”

The writer of this note will on no account, and in no degree, discuss the position of country, within which the renowned temple of Ammon was erected. He considers that question as concluded, and for ever set at rest, in the acute and learned comment on the Geography of Herodotus, by Mr. Rennell. The facts, the arguments, and the inferences stated in that admirable work, indisputably shew the Oasis of Siwah, to have been the Oasis of Ammon. The precincts are thus narrowed, within which our researches are to bedirected, for ascertaining the locality, and even the very remains of the temple itself: and this concurrent circumstance will be held in mind, whilst certain details in the description given us of the ruins discovered at Siwah, are examined and brought to the test, by reference to such few particulars as are recorded by ancient writers concerning the temple of Ammon.

The general description of the materials, of the architecture, and of the sculptures, may render it unnecessary to prolong this essay, by discussing the question ofwhen, andby whomwas the building erected? Those who may yet entertain a doubt, that it was a most ancient Egyptian edifice, are referred to the writings of Norden, of Pocock, of Lucas, and above all, to the treatise of Major Rennell above cited. The annotator ventures to assume the fact; and merely add, τὸ μὲν τέμενος φασὶν ἰδρύσασθαι Δαναὸν τον Αιγύπτιον. Diod. Sic. Tom. II. Ed. Wesseling. page 198.

So much as to the building and its antiquity being taken for granted; the following comment will advert to circumstances exclusively noticed by Mr. Horneman, and which may lead to further inferences, as to its original purpose and designation.

First, In ascertaining the supposed remains of an oracular temple, vestiges of theadytum, would be an object of particular research: and perhaps such may be discovered in that part of Mr. Horneman’s description, where he mentionsthe different levels of the basement or floor of the ancient edifice at Siwah.

Hen. Steph. in Thesaur. art. “Adytum,” ἄδυτον, locus secretior templi, ad quem non nisi sacerdotibus dabatur accessus, nam ex eo oracula reddebantur.

Theadytum, was not only a recess, rendered secret by the reverential awe which forbad approach of the vulgar; but was actually a kind ofcrypt, or place of concealment: among the prodigies forerunning the victories of Cæsar in Asia, “Pergami inoccultisac remotis templi, quæ Græci ἄδυτα appellant, tympana sonuêre. Bell. Civil. lib. iii. cap. 105.

In the itinerary of Pausanias, the ἄδυτα of the oracular temples appear to have been sunk beneath, and under the basement or floor of the building. This was so generally the case, that inBœoticis, the wordadytumis used as synonymous for thecaveof Trophonius.In Corinthracis, cap.i. the entrance and passage to the adytum of Palæmon at Chronium, is represented as subterraneous; ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο ἄδυτον καλούμενον, κάθοδος δὲ ἐς ἀυτὸ ὑπὸ γεως. edit. Kuhn. p. 113, and in theAchaicis, the entrance of the adytum of the temple of Minerva, at Pellené, is from under the base of the statue of the goddess, and the recess is hyperbolically represented, as penetrating to the very centre of the earth.

The purposes of these crypts, or concealed recesses in the oracular temples, may readily be surmised: and to conduct their oracle with proper mystery and imposition of respect, was a necessary policy in the priesthood, to prevent any visit or examination of these hallowed places: the hand of the deity was denounced as punishing the trespasser with instant death. Of the many examples that offer, we will take one fromEgypt: Pausanias inPhocicis, mentions, “That a Roman Prefect having from impious curiosity, sent a person to inspect theadytumof Isis at Coptos, the unhallowed intruder was struck dead on the spot.

The oracle was givenex adyto.

· · · ·isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat.Virg. Æn. l. ii. v. 115.

· · · ·isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat.Virg. Æn. l. ii. v. 115.

· · · ·isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat.Virg. Æn. l. ii. v. 115.

· · · ·isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat.

Virg. Æn. l. ii. v. 115.

It was given tooimo adyto, or as others express it, from thedepthof the adytum.

Nec dum etiam responsa Deûm monitusque vetustiExciderant, voxque ex adytis acceptaprofundisPrima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.

Nec dum etiam responsa Deûm monitusque vetustiExciderant, voxque ex adytis acceptaprofundisPrima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.

Nec dum etiam responsa Deûm monitusque vetustiExciderant, voxque ex adytis acceptaprofundisPrima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.

Nec dum etiam responsa Deûm monitusque vetusti

Exciderant, voxque ex adytis acceptaprofundis

Prima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”

Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.

Diod. Sic. lib. xvii. says, that when Alexander required an oracle from Ammon, the chief priest retired back to the sanctuary or holy place, and gave the answer,ex adyto; so the Latin version of Wesselingius expresses it: in truth, there is no Greek word in the original, immediately corresponding withex adyto; yet the priest retiring εις σήκον,i. e.to the fane or secret recess of the temple; his giving the oracle from such secret recess may be implied.

Applying the accounts of theadytumto the building under consideration, it may be observed, that to form such recess, the rock rising in the centre of the enclosure described at Siwah, offered a peculiar accommodation to the architect. The soil around is represented as wet and marshy, and not therefore suited to excavation. The erecting the Προνὰος, or forepart of the temple, on the elevation of the rock, admitted of the interior end orpenetralebeing built over a crypt, or artificial cave of eight feet deep, suitable to the purpose and mysteries of an oracular temple.

The entrance to the ancient edifice described by Mr. Horneman was to the north; and from the northern end or division of the building there was a descent of eight feet, in coming to the southern or interior extremity.

Whether anciently the pavement was level and continued, “coveringthe adytumas a cave;” or whether it was an open vault or recess, from which the priest (as mentioned by Diodorus) might utter the predictions of the oracle unseen by the vulgar; in either case the construction may agree with the ideas to be derived from ancient authority, of the oracular Fane of Ammon; and more strongly warrant a conjecture, that the ruins described by Horneman, may be those of that renowned temple.

Secondly, Mr. Horneman, observing on the rude and stupendous architecture of the building at Siwah, says, “that he could in no part discover any mark or trace on the walls, of their having been incrusted or lined with marbles, or of any ornament having been once affixed.” Indeed the building appears not to have been large, and could little admit of such.

Niches, or pedestals were not required; the most ancient Egyptian temples had no statues: Lucian says,—τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν καὶ παρὰ Αἰγυπτίοισι αξόανοι νηοὶ ἔσαν· edit. Bourdelot. p. 1057. The sole interior decoration of the ancient Egyptian temple at Heliopolis, described by Strabo, was a rude sculpture on the walls in theold Tuscantaste, apparently similar to that observed by Mr. Horneman on the walls at Siwah. Strabo’s words are,—ἀναγλυφὰς δ᾿ ἔχουσιν οἱ τοῖχοι οὗτοι μεγάλων ειδώλων ομοίων τοῖς Τυῤῥενικοῖς, καὶ τοῖς αρχαίοις σφόδρα των παρὰ τοῖς Ελλησὶ δημιουργημάτων· edit. Casaub. p. 806. This, and the indications of rude simplicity observable in the remains of the ancient building at Siwah, may thus strengthen the conjecture that it was the one sacred to Ammon. Diodorus, Arrian, and Curtius, all indeed talk of gold and ornaments, and even of a statue in procession, displayed on the visit of Alexander: but Strabo directly taxes Callisthenes (and therewith those writers who followed him) withexaggerations and additions, introduced to do honour to their hero. Edit. Casaub. p. 813.

The poet Lucan, in his description of the Temple (and its being afictionwill be takenin aid of the argument), states the people of Lybia to be “beati,” i. e.rich; and he had all the gold of Africa before him, if the general account and actual knowledge of this temple at the time he wrote, could have bore him out in a luxuriant description of its splendour and magnificence. From this he appears to have abstained, in deference to fact and to what was generally known, of therudeness and simplicityof this holy place. His being a poet thus strengthens his authority, whilst heforegoes the splendour of description specially suited to his genius; and gives up matter too of fine poetical contrast, with the simple and pure morals and religion of his Cato. He had no other inducement but truth when he says,

“Non illic Libycæ posuerunt ditia gentesTempla, nec Eöis splendent donaria gemmisQuamvis Æthiopum populis ArabumqueBeatisGentibus, atque Indis, unus sit Jupiter Ammon:Pauper adhuc deus est; nullis violata per ævumDivitiis delubra tenens, morumque priorumNumen Romano templum defendit ab auro.”Lucan, lib. ix.

“Non illic Libycæ posuerunt ditia gentesTempla, nec Eöis splendent donaria gemmisQuamvis Æthiopum populis ArabumqueBeatisGentibus, atque Indis, unus sit Jupiter Ammon:Pauper adhuc deus est; nullis violata per ævumDivitiis delubra tenens, morumque priorumNumen Romano templum defendit ab auro.”Lucan, lib. ix.

“Non illic Libycæ posuerunt ditia gentesTempla, nec Eöis splendent donaria gemmisQuamvis Æthiopum populis ArabumqueBeatisGentibus, atque Indis, unus sit Jupiter Ammon:Pauper adhuc deus est; nullis violata per ævumDivitiis delubra tenens, morumque priorumNumen Romano templum defendit ab auro.”Lucan, lib. ix.

“Non illic Libycæ posuerunt ditia gentes

Templa, nec Eöis splendent donaria gemmis

Quamvis Æthiopum populis ArabumqueBeatis

Gentibus, atque Indis, unus sit Jupiter Ammon:

Pauper adhuc deus est; nullis violata per ævum

Divitiis delubra tenens, morumque priorum

Numen Romano templum defendit ab auro.”

Lucan, lib. ix.

The Temple of Ammon further may be presumed, to have been of small dimension. When Alexander alone enters the building, it is mentioned by his historians, that such exclusive permission was a mark of high respect; but Strabo further informs us, that all who attended on Alexander, “heardthe Oraclefrom without:” ἔξωθὲν τε τῆς θεμεστείας ΑΚΡΟΑΣΑΣΘΑΙ πάντας πλὴν Αλεξάνδρου, Τουτον δ᾿ ἔνδοθὲν εἶναι. edit. Casaub. p. 814. The Oracle given from the extreme recess of the interior, (to which the priest retired for the purpose,as before cited from Diodorus), could be heard and distinguished from without, only under supposition, that the entrance was at no great distance from the adytum, and the temple, of course, not large.

Thirdly, It is exclusively stated by Mr. Horneman, thatthe building at Siwah is situated in the centre of an inclosure, surrounded at some distance by ancient foundations of a strong and massive wall. Not to lengthen this note by unnecessary citations, it may be sufficient to refer generally to the Itinerary of Pausanias, wherein scarcely a temple is mentioned throughout Greece, without noticing, at the same time its inclosure and circumvallation: and even the sacred grove, distinctively from the temple, was often surrounded by a wall, as was that of Venusin Eliacis, cap. xxv.

These walls may be considered, in one respect, as marking the boundary of the holy ground; but further, they were built with a view to protecting not only the sanctity, but the wealth too of the temple.

The statues were often of gold and ivory; and the offerings of golden shields and goblets, and other votive presents, given by those who consulted the oracles, formed a treasure considerable in proportion to the character and renown of the sacred place. Cicero, in his accusation of Verres, notices that the treasures of a state were often deposited too in sanctuaries, not only as protected by the abhorrence of sacrilege, but by the strength of the place: thus the general subsidies collected by the Athenians, at the close of the Persian wars, were kept in the Parthenon; and the wealth pillaged from the temple at Phocis, by Philomelus, and which occasioned the holy war, was immense. On these accounts the greater templeswere often placed in actual fortresses. The Temple of Minerva at Syracuse, was in the Ortygia; the Parthenon of Athens, in the Acropolis; the Roman Temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol; and the Editor, when in Sicily, remarked the circumvallations inclosing the temples at Selinunté, and the almost impregnable situations of those at Agrigentum and Segesté.

The foundations of ancient circumvallation at Siwah may thus be considered, in some degree, as indications of the origin and purpose of the building within the inclosure.

The Ammonian temple was certainly surrounded by a strong wall; “triplici muro circumdatum,” as Diodorus, lib. xvii. and Q. Curtius, lib. iv. cap. 7, both inform us. Curtius uses the wordmunitio, and the Ἀκρόπολις,or arxof Diodorus, answers in description to the mount of Siwah itself; and the temple of Ammon being represented as being erected within the third or more distant inclosure of wall, its distance from the citadel may well correspondwith thatof the ruins in question, from the town of Siwah.

Horneman further informs us, that the ancient building which he describes, stood in thecentreof the area, and partly on a rock; and at the same time observes, that the ground generally throughout the area was broken and dug up in search of treasure; from which may be inferred that formerly there wereother buildingswithin the inclosure. On this head it is almost unnecessary to cite ancient authorities; it will appear from a view of the well known ruins in Greece, Sicily, and the Magna Græcia, &c. that the ancients often availed themselves of one and the same circumvallation, and erected different temples within the general inclosure; so, in the Achaicis of Pausanias, cap. cxx. the temples of Minerva and of Diana Laphiaare within the same boundary of wall, without enumerating the many other instances in that curious journal; or to the three temples actually remaining at Pæstum, &c. within the inclosure of one and the same wall. In reference to the subject more immediately under consideration, theAmmonian temples of Juno and Mercurywere in high repute with the Greeks, as mentioned in the Eliacis, p. 416, edit. Kuhn: and these temples were probably within the same inclosure as that of Ammon. The temple of Ammon being the principal, might be supposed to be erected in thecentreandon the rock, which strong foundation may have in part yet preserved it, whilst the foundations of the others more easily dug and broken up, have brought those edifices low to the ground; and hence the very materials (as we are told) have been carried away, and no vestiges remain but of the area of the earth having been disturbed and heaped, as the work of search, dilapidation, and pillage was carried on.

Fourthly, Mr. Horneman was shewn, at the distance of half a mile from the ruins, “a spring of fresh water, which takes its rise in a grove of date trees, and in a most romantic and beautiful situation.”

This description precisely answers to that of theFountain of the Sun, mentioned by ancient writers: and the distance from the chief temple too, seems to agree. “Haud procul arceextrinsecùsalterum Hammonis fanum jacet, quod multæ arbores proceræ inumbrant, etfons proximus est, ὀνομαζομένη Ἠλίου κρήνη·” Diod. Sic. Tom. II. p. 199. So too Curtius, “Est etiam aliud Hammonis nemus; in medio habet fontem;Aquam Solis vocant.” Lib. iv. cap. 7.

Thus far the merely descriptive accounts agree. If a further point can be ascertained, it will be conclusive, and the beautiful spot visited by our traveller, be identified as that of the Fountain of the Sun,situatedextrinsecùs, or without the inclosure, in which stood the principal temple of Ammon.

The water of the Fountain of the Sun was, at different periods of each twenty-four hours, successivelyhotandcold: “Aquam enim habet, cum horis diei miris subinde vicibus re variantem. Nam sub lucis ortum tepidam emittit. Die hinc progrediente pro horarum succedentium ratione, frigescit. Sub æstum vero meridianum frigedo ejus summa est. Quæ rursùs parili modo remittit usque ad vesperam. Tunc appetente nocte rursùs incalescit, ad mediam usque noctem, ubi exæstuat. Exinde calor sensìm deficit: donec unà cum exortâ luce pristinam teporis vicem recuperârit.” Diod. Sic. Tom. II. edit. Wesseling, p. 199.

Mr. Horneman appears to have made no inquiries on this curious subject; but tells us, that having asked, “if there was any spring of fresh water near?” he was shewn to the one he describes, undoubtedly thenearest, and probably the same as seen by Mr. Brown, who says, (p. 24 of his Volume of Travels), “that one of the springs which rise near the ruins described, is observed by the natives, to besometimes cold and sometimes warm.” Mr. Brown does not appear to have considered the Oasis of Siwah as that of Ammon. He had no favourite discovery to set forth and confirm by particular remarks and circumstances: he had not an interest in his account of the changeable temperature of this spring, but that of truth. The periodical variation from hot to cold, and from cold to heat, may rather, therefore on his relation, be assumed as fact; and be taken as a matter of proof concurrent with the grove, the spring itself, the distance from the ruins, and the beauty of the situation,allanswering to the descriptions of theFountain of the Sun, given by ancient writers, and, in reference to the ruins, renderingthe conjecture more probable, that they are those of the Temple of Ammon.

Fifthly, Mr. Horneman says, “that the material of which the building is constructed, is a limestone, containingpetrifactions of shells and small marine animals; and that such stone isto be found and dug up in the neighbourhood:” so too Strabo tells us, p. 49, that sea fossils and shells were spread on the Oasis of Ammon; κατὰτὴν μεσόγαιαν ὁρᾷται πολλαχου κόχλων καὶ ὀστρέων καὶ χηραμίδων πληθος, καὶ λιμνοθάλαττοι καθάπερ φησὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερον τοῦ Ἄμμωνος. Strabo, p. 50, further noticing the marine substances scattered on the Oasis of Ammon, cites Eratosthenes, supposing that the sea once reached to that interior spot of Africa, and supporting his conjecture by observing, that the oracle could not anciently, and in the first instance, have been so renowned and visited, if difficult of access, by being farinland. Casaubon’s version expresses it, “fortassis etiam Ammonis templum, aliquando in mari jacuisse, quod nunc maris effluxu sit in mediâ terrâ; ac conjicere se, oraculum illud optimâ ratione tam illustre ac celebre factum, esse quòd in mari esset situm, neque ejus gloriam probabile esse tantam potuisse existere, quanta nunc est, si tam longè fuisset a mari dissitum.” P. 50. The poet follows the geographer’s idea, and derives a fine sentiment for the mouth of Cato.

Numen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·· · · · · · · · · ·steriles nec legit arenas,Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum.Pharsal. lib. ix. v. 576.

Numen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·· · · · · · · · · ·steriles nec legit arenas,Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum.Pharsal. lib. ix. v. 576.

Numen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·· · · · · · · · · ·steriles nec legit arenas,Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum.Pharsal. lib. ix. v. 576.

Numen· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

· · · · · · · · · ·steriles nec legit arenas,

Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum.

Pharsal. lib. ix. v. 576.

Now, taking the simple fact, the stones with which the Temple of Ammon was built, might be supposed to containfragments of marine animals and shells, such as those mentioned by Horneman. For the rest, Strabo’s (or rather Eratosthene’s) conjecture is scarcely admissible.

The Libyan Ammon had long been venerated in Greece, and throughout the then civilized world. A subordinate temple was consecrated to Ammon in Laconia, and the god was yet more anciently worshipped by the Aphytæi. Paus. Kuhn, p. 293. Another temple was raised to Ammon in Bœotia, and in which Pindar dedicated a statue of the god; and the same great poet wrote a hymn to the Lybian deity, and sent the copy to its priesthood in Africa. Bœotica, p. 741. So anciently and so highly as the oracle of Ammon was revered, and so much as it was resorted to by the most enlightened nations of Greece, Asia, and Egypt, the circumstance of its once having been situated on the coasts of the sea, could not have escaped tradition or direct historical account, if such had ever been the fact.

The above remarks are with deference submitted to the reader, as adding probability to the conjecture, that the ruins seen by Mr. Horneman, in the vicinity of Siwah, may be the actual remains of theancient oracular temple of Ammon.

Having in the above comment cited a passage from thePharsalia, not as authority, but for purpose of inference; and having further adverted to a sentiment attributed to the philosophic hero of the poem, in reference to the inland and sequestered situation of the temple of Ammon; the annotator is induced to close this essay with a version of the admirable speech of Cato at length, as deriving a peculiar interest from connection with the subject under discussion, appearing to terminate, (and leave as it were, in ruins,) the superstitions of the oracle, with the fabric of its temple.

Lucan tells us, that Cato approaching the Fane of Jupiter Ammon in Lybia, was requested by Labienus to demand of theoracle,—“What was to be the fate of Cæsar?—whether Rome was to be enslaved or free?—and in what consisted virtue, &c. &c.”

Cato, (his spirit flaming high, as e’erFrom Ammon’s fane burst forth in prophecy)—Spoke from his heart,—the sacred shrine of truth!—“What wouldst thou, Labienus?—should I ask,If being free, that freedom I’d resign?If I would die,—before I’d be a slave?If life is nought,—when measur’d but by years?If evil can affect the good;—or whetherThe threat of Fortune’s lost upon the brave?If to deserve well is enough?—or if,Desert is yet dependant on success?All this I know:—Ammon can’t tellmemore!We all depend on God:—(his priest and oracleSilent) His will is known, nor does he needA voice, but that within the breast of man:Our duties are implanted on our births!The God of Nature ne’er confin’d his lessonsHere, to the few;—or buried his great truthsIn Afric’s sands.—Is nothis holy place,—At once all earth, sea, air, and heav’n, and virtue?—God is, whate’er we see,—where’er we move!Let those who doubt, go ask at yonder faneTheir lot?—not knowing how they’d act, or feel.No oracle confirms, or moves,mythoughts;—Makes nought more sure:—I know I am to die,And this doth make me sure,—of how to live!The coward and the brave, the bad and goodAlike must die!—and God declaring this,Made known to man, all man requires to know!”Thus Cato spoke,—turn’d from the hallow’d faneIn faith and virtue satisfied; and leftAmmon, to Ammon’s votaries,—the people.W. Y.

Cato, (his spirit flaming high, as e’erFrom Ammon’s fane burst forth in prophecy)—Spoke from his heart,—the sacred shrine of truth!—“What wouldst thou, Labienus?—should I ask,If being free, that freedom I’d resign?If I would die,—before I’d be a slave?If life is nought,—when measur’d but by years?If evil can affect the good;—or whetherThe threat of Fortune’s lost upon the brave?If to deserve well is enough?—or if,Desert is yet dependant on success?All this I know:—Ammon can’t tellmemore!We all depend on God:—(his priest and oracleSilent) His will is known, nor does he needA voice, but that within the breast of man:Our duties are implanted on our births!The God of Nature ne’er confin’d his lessonsHere, to the few;—or buried his great truthsIn Afric’s sands.—Is nothis holy place,—At once all earth, sea, air, and heav’n, and virtue?—God is, whate’er we see,—where’er we move!Let those who doubt, go ask at yonder faneTheir lot?—not knowing how they’d act, or feel.No oracle confirms, or moves,mythoughts;—Makes nought more sure:—I know I am to die,And this doth make me sure,—of how to live!The coward and the brave, the bad and goodAlike must die!—and God declaring this,Made known to man, all man requires to know!”Thus Cato spoke,—turn’d from the hallow’d faneIn faith and virtue satisfied; and leftAmmon, to Ammon’s votaries,—the people.W. Y.

Cato, (his spirit flaming high, as e’erFrom Ammon’s fane burst forth in prophecy)—Spoke from his heart,—the sacred shrine of truth!—“What wouldst thou, Labienus?—should I ask,If being free, that freedom I’d resign?If I would die,—before I’d be a slave?If life is nought,—when measur’d but by years?If evil can affect the good;—or whetherThe threat of Fortune’s lost upon the brave?If to deserve well is enough?—or if,Desert is yet dependant on success?All this I know:—Ammon can’t tellmemore!We all depend on God:—(his priest and oracleSilent) His will is known, nor does he needA voice, but that within the breast of man:Our duties are implanted on our births!The God of Nature ne’er confin’d his lessonsHere, to the few;—or buried his great truthsIn Afric’s sands.—Is nothis holy place,—At once all earth, sea, air, and heav’n, and virtue?—God is, whate’er we see,—where’er we move!Let those who doubt, go ask at yonder faneTheir lot?—not knowing how they’d act, or feel.No oracle confirms, or moves,mythoughts;—Makes nought more sure:—I know I am to die,And this doth make me sure,—of how to live!The coward and the brave, the bad and goodAlike must die!—and God declaring this,Made known to man, all man requires to know!”Thus Cato spoke,—turn’d from the hallow’d faneIn faith and virtue satisfied; and leftAmmon, to Ammon’s votaries,—the people.W. Y.

Cato, (his spirit flaming high, as e’er

From Ammon’s fane burst forth in prophecy)—

Spoke from his heart,—the sacred shrine of truth!—

“What wouldst thou, Labienus?—should I ask,

If being free, that freedom I’d resign?

If I would die,—before I’d be a slave?

If life is nought,—when measur’d but by years?

If evil can affect the good;—or whether

The threat of Fortune’s lost upon the brave?

If to deserve well is enough?—or if,

Desert is yet dependant on success?

All this I know:—Ammon can’t tellmemore!

We all depend on God:—(his priest and oracle

Silent) His will is known, nor does he need

A voice, but that within the breast of man:

Our duties are implanted on our births!

The God of Nature ne’er confin’d his lessons

Here, to the few;—or buried his great truths

In Afric’s sands.—Is nothis holy place,—

At once all earth, sea, air, and heav’n, and virtue?—

God is, whate’er we see,—where’er we move!

Let those who doubt, go ask at yonder fane

Their lot?—not knowing how they’d act, or feel.

No oracle confirms, or moves,mythoughts;

—Makes nought more sure:—I know I am to die,

And this doth make me sure,—of how to live!

The coward and the brave, the bad and good

Alike must die!—and God declaring this,

Made known to man, all man requires to know!”

Thus Cato spoke,—turn’d from the hallow’d fane

In faith and virtue satisfied; and left

Ammon, to Ammon’s votaries,—the people.

W. Y.

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