ISLAND OF DAHL IN THE WADY EL HADJER.The latter part of the small desert I passed this morning was strewed with quartz, generally white. The gneiss of which the rocks, at the commencement of this little desert, are formed, is soft, friable, disposed in strata: there are also rocks of mica slate of a grey colour. The granite rocks, at the other extremity, consist almost entirely of felspar and quartz; the former predominating, with very little mica: the grain is extremely coarse, generally very friable, of a pink, but mostly of a grey colour. There were also in this desert some rocks of felspar, porphyry, and a great variety of granite—tone-granite, syenite, and others.At two o’clock, we left, with great reluctance, the shade of the doum trees, and the enjoyment of one of the most beautiful views in the valley of the Nile, to encounter again the horrors of the desert and a burning sun. For the first part of ourroute, the rocks were of syenite. The circular summits of these dark red rocks were visible as far as our view could reach, rising sometimes in hills, but mostly in pyramidal and conical forms. I observed a line of calcareous rock about 13 feet broad, almost resembling the foundations of a wall, which crossed the road, and extended east and west among the granite rocks. This was followed again by the granite; and shortly after these was a similar narrow, but less regular, cross of jasper, and also one of porphyry. I brought away no specimens of the latter, for the masses were large, and difficult to break. Afterwards, we had a succession of granite, porphyry, compact felspar, hornblende slate, grey gneiss, and serpentine; and the rocks, immediately before arriving at the Nile, were of syenite.We passed this little desert in five hours, with great fatigue to the camels and the men on foot, on account of the sand and heat. We encamped, for the night, at the small village of Uckma, which consists of only eight houses; but I am informed that this is the name of the district, as there are two other little villages, one on the opposite side of the river, and the other on the island, which bear the same name. My servants, or, rather, my guide and camel-drivers, made us pass for Turks; saying, that the peasants of this district were so bigoted, that, if they knew us to be Christians, no consideration would induce them to supply us with either milk or meat for ourselves, or straw for our camels. The noise of the cataract here is very fine.June12. A curious circumstance happened to me last night. I am rather attached to a pretty little capuchin monkey which I received from the Governor of Berber, and which (an unusual circumstance with these animals) shows some little gratitude for my attentions. Several times it has escaped among the acacias of the desert; but, notwithstanding the temptation of the gum, it never attempted to run away when I went for it myself. I was anxious that it should not share the fate of myDongolah greyhound, and die of fatigue. Having taught it to be clean, and being unwilling to trust it to my servants, I carried it always on my own camel, to shelter it from the sun; and as the poor little animal suffered exceedingly from the cold at night, I allowed it to sleep under the margin of the covering of my divan. For some nights past it had got into the habit of laying its head on the corner of my cushion, and, amused at this manœuvre, I indulged it; but the ticking of my watch always annoyed it, and several times it had attempted to take it away; but, aware of this antipathy, and the mischievous propensities of the race, I always wore my chain around my neck. Last night, when in bed, I looked at the watch, which was a hunting one, and having broken the hinge of the gold covering of the face, omitted, I presume, to fasten it with the spring. This morning, on being called, I looked, as usual, at my watch, and found that this piece was missing. I immediately cast my eyes on the monkey, and saw, by its fluttering and leaping about, and the ruffling of its skin, which always takes place when it is afraid, that it was the culprit; yet all my efforts to find the covering were useless. My bed was on the sand of the desert, in which, no doubt, the animal, on seeing it loose, had buried it deep, thinking, by that means, to get rid of its nightly annoyance, or, perhaps, from its usual instinct of taking every opportunity to do mischief.We set out an hour before sunrise, and, crossing a short but heavy sandy desert, arrived, in two hours, at Lamulay. The rocks, at starting, were of gneiss, but there occurred afterwards some of serpentine and grey granite; and I observed some of quartz, and very small particles of the latter disseminated over the sand. There is a cataract at Lamulay, but it is not so loud as the one we heard last night, at Uckma. The view is very fine at this part. We were two hours in going from Lamulay to Tangoure. The rocks were chiefly of two descriptions of quartz. We came then to another cataract, making the sixth from Dongolah:—the first atHannek; the second at Kouki; the third at Dahl; the fourth at Uckma; the fifth at Lamulay; and the sixth at Tangoure. All these may be passed without much difficulty for about six weeks or two months in the year; but at this season no description of boats could pass. Between the above-mentioned places the river and the rocks on the opposite side make so many bends, first east and afterwards north-west, that our roads, across the little deserts, on the west side might often be considered as the strings of a bow. On the eastern side of the river there seems to be a continued range of picturesque rocks. We miss, I fear, much fine scenery in not being able to follow closely the bank.Two hours north of Tangoure there is said to be a spring of mineral water, about 100 yards from the river, which flows in small quantities out of the rock into an ancient reservoir, and is described as so hot that the vapour will answer for a bath. I regretted much not being able to visit it, but I must have gone on foot, and, being to-day far from well, could not have endured the excessive heat; but I have this information not only from the natives, but also from Monsieur M., at Dongolah, who had visited it. We started from Tangoure this afternoon, at half past two, and, after five hours’ march, halted in the desert for the night. The rocks are of granite, serpentine, porphyry schist, and quartz. Strata of these minerals occurred, sometimes alternately, every few minutes.June13. Whenever there are antiquities to be seen, I care not how little sleep I take. I had my men up soon after midnight, and in three hours we arrived, as the sun was rising, at the Temple of Semneh. This temple is more remarkable for its situation than for architectural beauty. It consists of a single narrow room 28 feet by 10 feet, with a plain façade, in the centre of which is the entrance. The exterior sides of this room are ornamented with square pillars, and one polygonal column. The temple faces the south, which is singular, particularly for an edifice constructed by an Egyptian king. On the eastern side are three square pillars standing entire, and the base of another; andon the western one column, one square pillar, and the base of a third. Theviewshows this side, and also the façade of the temple. The pillars sustain blocks of stone, that is, architraves, which still remain, projecting about one foot beyond the columns. I thought, at first, from this projection, that they might have extended to other walls; in which case the edifice would have some resemblance to the sanctuary in the small temple at Medenet Abou; but, from there being no remains to support this supposition, and also from the projection being very small, and, I might say, the architrave’s extending so far beyond the centre of the column, I conceive that the temple has never been finished, and the architraves hewn to the size of the columns.TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.The interior and exterior of the walls of this little temple are covered with sculpture and hieroglyphics; but, unfortunately, in some parts, rather defaced. Over the entrance, the king is represented on his knees making offerings to Kneph. The original sculpture of part of the façade of the temple has been defaced to makeroom for a more modern work, and for a long tablet of hieroglyphics, which I copied. The sculpture, from its style, is certainly Roman; the figures not well drawn, and the hieroglyphics wretchedly executed: the subject represents a woman, with a lotus flower, making offerings to a divinity with the head-dress of the horns and two feathers. The hieroglyphics and sculpture of every other part of the temple are in a good style. The name and titles of Thothmes III., Sun, Establisher of the World, is executed in intaglio on the column and square pillars, and the same name in basso relievo is every where visible on the walls. In the interior of the temple the same subject is repeated four times, but in only one instance is very distinguishable. (SeePlate LI.) The king, Thothmes III., is represented making offerings to his ancestor Osirtesen, seated as a divinity in the boat of the sun, with the crook and lash of Osiris in his hands.Before Osirtesen are four standards, one with a representation of the ibis, emblematical, no doubt, of Thoth: the others are not visible. These standards are supported by arms emanating from the cross of life, and the sceptres of the divinities; emblematical, I conceive, of their being the standards of the gods, perhaps of the divinities of Amenti, Thoth, Horus, and Anubis. One is of Thoth, evidently, from the ibis; the others are defaced. The reader will observe how different this style of sculpture (seePlate LI.), which is the best Egyptian, is to the Ethiopian (seePlate X.). They have evidently had a common origin; but there is a marked difference in the execution. On the western side of the exterior of the temple the king is represented making offerings to different divinities, principally Kneph. I copied all the hieroglyphic inscriptions. The hieroglyphics on the columns and pillars are merely the names of Thothmes. The column which I have stated as polygonal has a base and a square slab for its capital.Pl. 51.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SCULPTURE IN THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.In the interior of the temple is the fragment of a statue of Osiris, badly executed: the head is wanting, and on the breast is the crook and lash. I conceive the style to be Egyptian Roman. It isvery probable that this temple, originally dedicated to Kneph, was afterwards, in the more corrupt Roman age, appropriated to the peculiar worship of Osiris. This edifice (seePlan) is in a large irregular brick inclosure, the walls of which are generally seven to eight feet thick: this is not of Egyptian, but apparently of Roman, construction. In some parts masses of brick project from the wall, perhaps to support them; their ruined state makes it impossible to decide certainly, but I am inclined to believe them to be entrances.PLAN OF RUINS.I went to examine the pass or cataract of Semneh, which I had some difficulty in reaching, having to climb for a considerable space over the granite rocks. The latter are generally rose-coloured, extremely hard; but there are some rocks of basalt shining like black lead, and I observed light thin strata of quartz. The widthof this channel, the only one the Nile passes through, when it is low, I found to be a stone-cast. The river rushes through with great rapidity, so that I could not cross here from the number of vortices caused by the excessive force and velocity of the current.June14. Wishing to pass over the river to the temple on the opposite side, I commissioned the sheakh to collect the inhabitants, and make me some kind of boat. This morning, at eleven o’clock, he came to inform me that a raft was ready, and men to steer it. My Arabs having taken the camels and dromedaries to pasture at a distance from the temple, I was obliged to set out on foot, and, after walking three quarters of an hour, amid severe heat, I arrived at the place where they intended to cross, fully two miles south of the pass or cataract. The river in this part is about a third of a mile wide, and, except in one or two places, where the current is rather strong, it was scarcely ruffled. The peasants had constructed two rafts, one for ourselves, the other for the servants. They were simply trunks of the acacia lashed together, on which they placed dourah for us to sit on. All the inhabitants of the country were collected to see the expedition. Ten or twelve men, some on geerbahs (water-skins), others on pieces of wood, supported and conducted each raft, two or three on each side, and four behind, pushing it along. Doubting the security of the boat, I had taken the precaution to take off my clothes, and fasten them on my head, like the Arabs. This was fortunate; for the dourah straw was soon saturated with water.Nothing could be more picturesque than the boats and their conductors. The Arabs had all their clothes tied on their heads, and they carried their charms, arms, knives, swords and spears, fastened in the same manner. Shouting and singing, they pushed us across very cleverly: the only difficulty was in passing the parts where the current was strong. We had also some little fear of the crocodiles. Three Turks shot two in this very place only two months ago, and yesterday we saw one on the shore. The peasants atfirst refused to take us across for this reason, but the promise of a few piastres more, and the use of my firman, silenced their fears. I did not myself conceive that there was the slightest real danger on this account, as I have observed that the crocodile invariably flies from boats or any number of persons together. After landing we had another three quarters of an hour of fatiguing walk to the temple on the eastern side, which (seeGeneral View) is almost exactly opposite the other. Some parts of our road was over low burning sand-hills, in which we sunk at each step up to our ankles; the heat excessive under a directly vertical sun.TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.Temple at Semneh. East side of the river.—In the first chamber of this temple the door-posts of the entrance remain, and also two polygonal columns without their capitals, and two square pillars. (Seevignette.) The lateral walls seem to have joined the latter; both the square pillars and columns were ornamented with hieroglyphics, of which the names of Thothmes III. are now only distinguishable. The names, however, of Amunoph III. and Thothmes II. occur in this temple. The entrance into the nextroom is filled with rubbish up to the architrave; the latter is ornamented with the winged globe, and a dedicatory tablet of hieroglyphics. There is also another door to the right of this, leading into the interior, with a similar tablet on the architrave. The walls were decorated with sculpture in a good style, but now much defaced. In one place I distinguished the head of Kneph, and elsewhere the same god receiving splendid offerings of vases, fruits, &c. from the King Thothmes, sun, establisher of the world. In another part, the king, with the head-dress of the small globe, two feathers, and horns, is receiving the cross of life from a divinity with a beard and no head-dress, perhaps Amun Ra. Behind this latter figure is the god Kneph again, with his usual attributes of the ram’s head and horns.PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.These two entrances lead into a long gallery full of sand and rubbish. I excavated below the level of the centre doorway into the gallery, but it is singular that I could discover no entrance into the sanctuary of the temple corresponding with it. The only one I found is on the right side. There are three other rooms, onecontaining a column. I believe they are marked accurately in the abovePlan;but, to ascertain very correctly how they are connected, would have required more extensive excavations than my time permitted, nor did I think it worth any sacrifice, for the plan is evidently bad. The sculpture of these rooms is almost buried in the sand. There are slight traces of colour remaining. At a short distance south-east of the temple, on the granite rocks, are some hieroglyphical inscriptions, but very rudely executed. I copied five that were legible; they contain the names of Thothmes III. and Amunoph III.These rocks are interesting as the last hiding-place of the Arab robber, Isah; and it was in this neighbourhood that daring brigand finally met his fate. Isah was a sheakh of the Karareesh tribe. A katshef, near his residence, having threatened him with the bastinado, unless he submitted to some exorbitant demand, he preferred abandoning his domestic happiness, and the peace and quiet of agricultural life, to such galling and vexatious tyranny. He fled into the fastnesses of the desert, and there, with a few chosen followers, bade defiance to the Pasha’s power. He infested the caravan road from Korosko to Abouhammed; and the Dilet el Doum, or the Valley of the Shade of the Doums, was his favourite resort. He was the terror of all the caravans, like the lion of the desert; only allowing them to pass when they had satisfied his demand: but it was against the government that he was most active, plundering their caravans laden with grain and other produce received as taxes, and seizing the numerous herds of cattle which are sent down to Cairo every year, the spoil of the war on the Bahr el Abiad and the Azruk. He sometimes also succeeded in seizing the supplies of ammunition and arms from Cairo; but, what was very annoying to the Turkish governors, he frequently seized the caravans bringing them supplies of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and other luxuries. For five years this daring outlaw eluded every attempt to seize him. The governors made the most strenuous efforts to obtain his head, andthe Pasha engaged the Ababde to hunt him from the great Nubian desert. His troop generally consisted of about twenty; and when, for any important expedition, he required a greater force, Arabs were never wanting to plunder the Turkish caravans. Most of the sheakhs have an immense number of relations; often every individual in their village is a connection; and when their chief is in peril, or requires their services, they consider themselves bound to rally around his standard, at whatever sacrifice or hazard. His wife, like Rob Roy’s, shared her husband’s dangers; and his daughter, Enour, is said to have had as stout a heart as her father, and as much address in throwing the lance as any Arab of her tribe. For five years they shared the perils of this bold brigand; but at last Isah, driven out of the Ababde desert, was betrayed by an Arab sheakh of this neighbourhood, who professed to be his friend. This man, either from fear of the Pasha’s anger, or in the hope of obtaining additional power and wealth by such an essential service, conducted a company of soldiers to the valley where he was secreted, and Isah, while sleeping under the shade of a rock, was shot dead. His death was instantaneous, for it is said that twenty bullets entered his body. His followers fled; but the fidelity of one of them was ultimately rewarded with the hand of his daughter, Enour.I returned to the ruin on the western bank by the same route, but having passed the river, I fortunately found a donkey, which, though a poor one, afforded me some assistance in ascending to the temple.These edifices are not remarkable for their architecture; but nothing can be finer than their situation. They are in sight of, and almost opposite to, each other, on eminences commanding one of the finest views in the Batn el Hadjar. This view has been compared by some travellers to Tivoli; but, besides other dissimilarities, there is here no ugly, ill-built, dirty, modern town, that detracts from the beautiful situation of the antiquities. Theprospects near the western temple are very magnificent; Signor B.’s view,Plate XLV.,will give a just idea of the country: but the magical effect of the desert, contrasted with the surrounding scenery, can be but imperfectly conveyed to the reader’s mind, without a view coloured, as this was, on the spot, exhibiting faithfully the different tints. I regret not being able to publish the numerous views as they were coloured on the spot by Signor B.Pl. 45.On stone by W. P. Sherlock from a Drawing by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.RUINS OF SEMNEH,on the East & West Sides of the River.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.The peasants here are of a dark-brown complexion, and wear their hair bushy, but less so than the Ababde. They are poor, but have the character of being honest. Some of them understand and speak the Arabic, but the language of the country is the Nubian.June15. We started for Wady Halfah, and, after six hours, halted for the night in the desert. The rocks are of serpentine and granite: this desert consists of immense plains covered with sand-hills, and is quite different from the last we passed over, not being so wild and dreary.June16. We started three hours before day, and pushing on our dromedaries, arrived at sunrise at the second cataract. According to the practice of almost every traveller who visits the valley of the Nile, I had made this the limit of my first journey, performed in 1832; but I was not then half so much astonished at the peculiarity and magnificence of this scene. I did not see it at so favourable a season, and, perhaps, I appreciate it the more from the delight I feel that, although I have still a voyage of nearly 1000 miles before I reach Alexandria, my fatigues may now be considered nearly finished, as this day I change the slow and tiresome pace of the caravan for the comparatively luxurious cangia. The effect of the rising sun on the black shining basaltic rocks which project into the river, forming innumerable islands, is very striking, and the picturesque beauty of some of these is heightened by the curious contrast with the stripes of light yellow sand which are mixed with them. These little rocky islands, impeding and compressing the current, increasetenfold its force; and the white foaming river, dashing over the rocks, makes the colour of the dark shining basalt still more remarkable, while the roar of its waters animates the scene. There is also a striking contrast of the black basalt with the white calcareous rock, tinted with red and other hues, which forms the foreground. The beauty of the scene, although peculiar, is not diminished by this contrast, any more than the often lovely form of the dark Abyssinian girl is disfigured by the snow-white veil which covers her.I have seen the beauties of the Alps, the Apennines, Arcadia, and the Pyrenees; I have surveyed the lakes of Bavaria, England, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland; I have followed the Rhine from Schaffhausen to the sea, and sailed on the Danube, the Rhone, and many other rivers; but I must confess I never was more moved by any view than this. I mean not to compare it to the landscapes of Europe for magnificence, or what is generally considered picturesque effect. This is a view of an extraordinary and peculiar kind; for, besides the singularities of the landscape already described, there are associations connected with it which cannot but excite the traveller. The very solitude of the scene, where no habitation of man is visible;—the extent of the view beyond the cataract, along an immense desert of yellow sand, extending over the vast continent of Africa;—then the river, forcing its passage through the rocks, that threaten to stop the progress by which it carries to thousands, and even millions, the means of subsistence;—and shall I say nothing of the mystery which hangs over it? On its banks, perhaps, first flourished the arts; its source is hidden in impenetrable obscurity, as is also the greater part of the historical events which the bordering countries have witnessed. The effect of the rising sun gives a magical lustre to the rocks, extremely difficult, if not impossible, to exhibit in a drawing. I made a camera lucida outline of it, and Signor B. made a drawing in colours of the peculiar tints andeffects. When the Nile is high, it is more picturesque, as, of course, there are then more islands.Pl. 50.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.2D. CATARACT OF THE NILE.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Numerous names of travellers are engraved on the calcareous rock; this place being, as I have said, almost always the limit of their voyage. Some few make an excursion into the Batn el Hadjar; but fatigued with the first two or three days’ journey on camels, they seldom proceed beyond Semneh, and still more rarely, if ever, extend their journey to Solib, one of the most magnificent ruins in the valley of the Nile. The extreme heat of these climates, particularly during this season, is certainly trying to European constitutions. As far as the second cataract, travellers visit the antiquities, comparatively speaking, without any fatigue; in their boats they suffer little from the heat, and they have seldom any distance to walk, as all the ruins are on the banks. I, however, strongly recommend those who are really fond of antiquities, and are possessed of a good constitution, to complete their tour of the Nile. Travellers visit with great fatigue the sites of Sparta, Troy, and even Carthage, where there are no monuments to recompense the toil. It is true that the recollections recalled by such scenes must amply indemnify us; but in the Island of Meroe we have splendid and most interesting works of art, an infinity of sepulchres, which, from their number and extremely elegant architecture, could only have belonged to the metropolis of that ancient kingdom: and what more thrilling, exciting association could the traveller desire, than the circumstance that in that region the arts had their origin?The antiquities of the Island of Meroe, as will have been seen, are not the only remains to indemnify the traveller for his fatigues. The interesting site of Gibel el Birkel, with its extensive, picturesque, and curious monuments; the pyramids of Nouri, the colossal statues of Argo, and the temples of Solib and Semneh, are all interesting in the extreme; and, besides the antiquities, the traveller cannot but be interested in the manners and customs of a people who have not yet adopted those of their conquerors.A knowledge of the desert life, and the different tribes of Arabs, is only to be acquired by a journey of this description through their different districts.Some of the views of the desert are, to those unaccustomed to them, somewhat appalling,—boundless oceans of sand; rocks affording little or no shade to the traveller, and covered, sometimes, with hills of light sand, which appear to want only a storm to put them in motion; and it is a dreadful sight to see the road strewed with the bodies of men and animals, victims of the scorching clime and great fatigue.Often, when the wind has covered with sand the traces of former caravans, we have no other beacon than the small piles of stones which the Arabs occasionally erect on the eminences; but an almost infallible guide to our steps is afforded by the bones which lie bleaching on the road. Yet this is the dark side of the picture: the desert life has its charms, which are only enhanced by these dangers. We are there independent, perfectly free from the restraints of the world, and those passions which agitate man in society.All feel a pleasure in gazing on the ocean, and (when well) in sailing on its bosom; but the desert life is still more delightful. I feel it difficult to analyse this sentiment, and yet I strongly feel it. At sea we are mere passengers; we take no share in avoiding the dangers which threaten us; our powers are not called into action; we feel a certain excitement, but, of course, less than the captain and sailors, on whom all depends: and is not this a reason why the latter are so attached to that kind of life, notwithstanding the numerous and severe hardships which they have to undergo?The traveller in the desert is, to a certain degree, similarly situated. As head of the caravan, its safety depends mainly on the prudential measures which he adopts. Appointing a guard in case of danger, encamping in a judicious situation in case of astorm, attention to secure a supply of water, and to prevent the Arabs from consuming, as they would willingly do, two days’ portion in one day, are cares which keep his mind constantly occupied. A judicious choice of camels, drivers, and servants; a just distribution of their labour, and attention to their maintenance, lessen the chance of being detained by illness.Well supplied with rice, good biscuit, and meat, the traveller may live tolerably well, even in the deserts. Since I left Thebes, four months and a half ago, I have passed two deserts of eight days each, and many small ones, and generally been in a miserable country, yet I have only been one day without fresh meat, and that by accident. To court privations is as great folly as to fear them when they arrive, and not submit to them cheerfully when requisite. I am certain that wine and spirituous liquors are injurious in this climate. During the whole of this journey water has been my only beverage; and, on the whole, I have enjoyed very tolerable health, considering the excessive heat, and the many annoyances and delays, still more injurious in this climate than the fatiguing pace of the camel. The desert life has also another charm; it is gratifying to see how, when treated as men, the Arabs become attached to you. If they have any quarrel between each other, a word from the traveller makes them silent.At sea, it is a pleasure to observe the colour and motion of the waters; to see the dolphins playing at the ship’s head; and sometimes, as in the Mediterranean, the surface of the waters animated by their singular forms. The Nile has its crocodiles and hippopotami; every desert also presents something new,—lions, panthers, hyenas, wolves, serpents, gazelles, antelopes, giraffes, ostriches, guinea-fowls, wild asses, zebras, &c. The traveller may have seen all these in menageries in Europe; it is, however, a great pleasure to see or hear them in their native haunts. The deserts have also a great charm for the traveller who has any tastefor mineralogy, then each rock, each pebble, each step, I may say, is interesting. During a sea voyage, we read, and scarcely look at the water once a day: in the deserts, on the contrary, our attention is continually occupied by the transition of rocks, their formation, the minerals which are disseminated on, and mixed with, the sand.At sea, it is a pleasure to meet another vessel, to hail her, and demand where she is from, and to what port she is bound; and we often experience delight at finding the passing crew to be countrymen, perhaps relations, or friends: but what pen can describe the meeting of a caravan in the desert? Brothers, who have not seen each other for months, and even years, often meet thus, by accident. The caravan never stops; they have, therefore, only a few moments, and they must part again, and run after their camels. Their hands locked together, they inquire after each other’s health, and after that of their friends. Travellers laugh at the repeated “Taip een salamat, taip een salamat,” of the Arabs. “How do you do?—Good morning! How do you do?—Good morning!” repeated twenty times; and “Taip een abouk? taip een ahouk? taip een omek?” “How is your father? How is your brother? How is your mother?” &c. always repeating thetaip een?“how is?” to each person that they name. The indifference with which the Fellaheen, who see each other daily, go through this ceremony, may seem rather ridiculous; but in the deserts, as I have seen them sometimes, even with tears starting from their eyes, affection could not dictate a stronger and more appropriate manner of inquiring rapidly, but particularly and separately, after each relation and friend who is dear to them. Frequently have I observed my Arabs meeting with their friends of other tribes, and even of their own district or village, and witnessed the pure and natural joy which illuminated their countenances; friends who have travelled together, shared the same toils, the same dangers—companions of their youth, of their early voyages, who have not seen each other for years, meet in the solitudes of the wilderness, but fora moment only, and the same period may elapse before they again see each other. Let it not be supposed that, in the interior of Africa, the natives, although ignorant and uncultivated, are destitute of honest affection.It is, however, true, that sometimes in the desert we trace those violent passions and habits which generally characterise the wandering tribes of Central Africa. The Bishareen, and others, often plunder the caravans; and tribes occasionally meet between whom there have been constant feuds. Under the strong government of the Pasha, they now seldom make use of their arms; but they exchange no salutes: their silent manner of passing each other, the knitted brow, and involuntary firmer grasp of their spears and swords, evince the deadly hatred which still lurks secretly in their breasts.CHAPTER XIX.ON THE HISTORY OF MEROE.OBSCURITY OF HER ANNALS. — HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS NECESSARY TO RENDER A COUNTRY INTERESTING. — WORKS OF ART HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. — LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — AMUNOPH III. — MEMNON, KING OF ETHIOPIA. — EXPEDITION OF SEMIRAMIS, QUEEN OF ASSYRIA, INTO ETHIOPIA. — ETHIOPIANS IN THE ARMY OF SHISHAK MARCHED TO JERUSALEM. — THE SUKKIIMS OF SCRIPTURE. — EXPEDITION OF ZERAH, THE ETHIOPIAN KING OF THE BIBLE, AND HIS DEFEAT BY THE TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN. — THE ETHIOPIAN DYNASTY OF KINGS WHO REIGNED OVER EGYPT. — THE TESTIMONY OF THE HISTORIANS PROVED BY LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — THE NAME OF TIRHAKA, KING OF ETHIOPIA, WHO DEFEATED SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA, FOUND BOTH ON THE MONUMENTS OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. — THE NAMES AND TITLES OF THIS DYNASTY OF KINGS. — ACCORDANCE OF THE SCRIPTURAL, MONUMENTAL, AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCES. — THE SETHOS OF HERODOTUS, THE TIRHAKA OF SCRIPTURE, AND OF THE MONUMENTS. — THE SUA, KING OF EGYPT OF THE BIBLE, THE SEVECHUS OF MANETHO, AND THE SHABATOK OF THE MONUMENTS.TheIsland of Meroe is a classic region, whose name is familiar to almost every reader, as the cradle of arts and civilisation. The Nile was the source of her prosperity, and an object of adoration to the ancient, and even to the present inhabitants[49]; yet most of the great events which have given celebrity to the countries on its banks, are lost in impenetrable obscurity. The names even of the kings under whom she rose to such a height of greatness and power are almost wholly unknown. So scanty are the materials which can be found in the ancient writings and on the monuments, that it is almost an act of presumption to attempt, in the slightest degree, to penetrate the veil which envelopes her history.Professor Rosellini, in his extensive and admirable work on the antiquities of Egypt, has made many valuable observations on the dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned in that country, which have facilitated my researches; and I gladly testify, that the ruins in Ethiopia, in many instances, confirm the conclusions which that learned traveller drew from his examination of the monuments of Egypt. Availing myself of the inquiries of the learned Italian, I shall also put together the most important fragments contained in history, and the valuable lapidary inscriptions I have been able to copy from the antiquities. A country is always interesting, to which we feel ourselves indebted for inventions from which we now derive any important benefit; and as a nation thus rises in our estimation, we become anxious to form an acquaintance with its historical records. There is a charm even in its name, when it recalls to our memory heroic deeds and other important associations.It is not merely the wonders of art, surprising as they are, which enchant the traveller at Rome and Athens. It is not the vast pile of the Coliseum, the triumphal arches and temples in the Forum, the exquisitely chaste architecture of the Temple of Theseus and of the edifices on the Acropolis, but the crowd of thrilling recollections of the heroism, genius, philosophy, and art, by which these scenes were illustrated, that render them for ever classic and hallowed in our eyes. Had there been no records of the history of Athens, we should have wanted no other evidence of her civilisation and knowledge than the splendid architectural monuments with which her site is adorned. The Parthenon itself speaks volumes, and the most eloquent pages of her greatest historians do not bear more conclusive testimony to her civilisation, than the treasures of Grecian art and taste in the museums of Europe. Had all the written records of her valour and patriotism perished, our knowledge of Athens would have been very nearly what it now is in regard to Ethiopia. The labours of the historians of her landare lost; the brilliant deeds which adorned her annals are enveloped in a cloud of mystery. The history of her neighbours affords only a few scanty gleams, sufficient to make us deplore the general darkness. So changed is the kingdom of Meroe from what it must once have been, that I myself should have almost doubted the short but important passages preserved in the Greek and Latin authors, were they not triumphantly confirmed by the monuments existing at Meroe and Gibel el Birkel.The reader will, I trust, find in this and the following chapters, that Ethiopia was not unjustly celebrated for civilisation, and as the birth-place of many arts which now contribute highly to our welfare and enjoyment; and the few fragments we have been enabled to glean will prove that she had also her kings and heroes, and that her history was diversified by the usual vicissitudes of triumphs and reverses. I am obliged to refrain from publishing, on the present occasion, all the names of the kings and inscriptions which I found on the edifices of Meroe, Gibel el Birkel, Solib, Semneh, Toumbos, and Amarah.Pl. 53.Printed by C. Hullmandel.GREAT TEMPLE, GIBEL EL BIRKEL.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Pl. 54.Inscriptions at Meroe.Inscriptions at Gibel el Birkel.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Printed by C. Hullmandel.For the benefit of the learned, who peculiarly apply themselves to this study, I give, however, a few of those inscriptions, which, mutilated and imperfect as some of them are, the initiated in the recent discoveries in hieroglyphics will immediately perceive to be of the greatest importance, as the earliest undoubted records of Ethiopian history. The inscriptions in PlatesLII.andLIII.,the hieroglyphics of the PlatesX.XI.andXII.of sculpture of Meroe, and also many I am unable to publish, are curious, not only for the names, but for the singular titles which they contain, for the mythology, the variations in the appellations of the divinities, the names of places, and other valuable historical matter.[50]Many scientific men have urged me to publish the whole of these inscriptions; and Signor Rosellini informed me that he should add another volume to his work from these materials. I hope this able writer will not forget his promise, and will excuse my employing it as an apology for not undertaking the interpretation of any portion of them myself; as such an attempt, on my part, would only be unsatisfactory to the learned, and tiresome to the general reader.“Non nostrum tantas componere lites.”The monuments of Egypt afford historical evidence of the wars between that country and Ethiopia, during the 18th dynasty; that is, from about the 13th to the 16th century before Christ. In the topographical description I stated that the temples of Semneh were built by the Egyptian king Thothmes III. I have been told that scarabæi have been found, with the name of this king, opposite Gibel el Birkel.[51]Amunoph III., the Memnon of the Greeks, has also left, as a monument of his victories still farther in Ethiopia, the splendid Temple of Solib. I thought, at first, that this was the Amunoph mentioned by Josephus, who, at the second invasion of the Shepherds, took refuge in Ethiopia until hehad collected an army, and his son Sethos, or Rameses, was of a sufficient age to lead it against the insurgents: but both Eusebius and Africanus agree in calling Sethos the first king of the 19th dynasty: therefore, as the Temple of Solib bears the name of Amunoph, with the prænomen ofⲢⲏ-ⲛⲉⲃ-ⲛⲧⲙⲉ, “Sun, Lord of Truth,” it is of the eighth king of the 18th dynasty, and not the last: besides, the representations of the countries conquered by that king are still preserved, and prove, by some of them having the features of negroes, that the splendid Temple of Solib was erected as a monument of his victory and long possession of the country, and not of a mere alliance with the King of Ethiopia.[52]The successor of Amunoph III., Amulek, or, perhaps, more correctly, Horus, as Eusebius and Africanus call him, must, I conceive, from an inscription I saw at Turin, have also carried his arms into the interior of Africa; but Herodotus[53]states, that only Rameses II. (Sesostris) made himself master of Ethiopia; and it is singular, as I have stated in the account of the ruins of Gibel el Birkel, that the only fragment of the name of an Egyptian king which I saw, either there or at Meroe, was half of the name of Rameses II., which I found, by accident, in the Arab burial-ground at the former place. This is an extraordinary corroboration of the testimony of the historian;for that conqueror must have possessed that Ethiopian city for a sufficient length of time to erect or restore a temple; otherwise I should not have found his name.Diodorus mentions that, when Egypt was suffering under the dominion of Amasis, a violent, proud, and arrogant man, Aktisanes, king of Ethiopia, profiting by the discontent of the people, invaded Egypt, and had little difficulty in overthrowing the tyrant, and taking possession of the country, as the greater number of his subjects were weary of his oppression, and rebelled against him. Aktisanes, he adds, was a great prince, and built a city, called Rhinocolura, on the confines of Syria and Egypt, and detained there the thieves whom he had punished with the loss of their noses; from which circumstance Rhinocolura had its name. Eusebius, Africanus, and Herodotus do not mention this king. Diodorus’s account is difficult to explain; for his Amasis cannot be the Amasis of Manetho, the first of the 18th dynasty; as Diodorus places his Amasis several reigns after Sesostris or Rameses II. As there are no traces of the name of this king on the monuments either of Ethiopia or Egypt, I see no reason why we should receive the testimony of Diodorus, to the prejudice of other historians; and, doubting, as I do, whether such a king ever reigned in Egypt, I think it unnecessary to enter into any discussion about the period of his reign.We have also, about this time, an account of another king, whose name is familiar to the classical scholar,—Memnon, the son of Aurora, who killed Antilochus[54]in the Trojan war; and again, in the same poem[55], he is called the most beautiful of warriors, the brother of Priam; and Hesiod calls him the son of Aurora, and the king of the Ethiopians. Monsieur Letronne, in his learned work on the vocal statue of Memnon, has treated the whole story as a romance; but though we may refuse our credence to the embellishmentsof the Greek poets, tragic writers, and historians, I must confess myself of the opinion of those who believe in the possibility that the statement of a king of Ethiopia of that name having gone to the assistance of Troy may, perhaps, not be without foundation. The distance was certainly very great; but navigation by the Nile, or the Red Sea, would obviate, in a great measure, that difficulty; and it is not much more extraordinary to read of an Ethiopian king going to the relief of Troy in the 13th century before the Christian era, than, in the tenth century, to read of a king, called Zerah, who, with a host of a thousand thousand, went unto Maresha; and, in the 8th century, we find that Tirhaka assisted the King of Israel against Sennacherib, which event I will presently relate. History, both ancient and modern, affords many instances of wars between very distant states, and of expeditions sent against remote kingdoms, often even from continent to continent. I think, therefore, that it is not very surprising that the Ethiopian king, Memnon, should go with his troops from Meroe to Troy, either to assist his relation, or, at the instigation of some neighbour, to join in the common defence against the Greek invasion.[56]In the 11th century before the Christian era, Semiramis, the celebrated queen of Assyria, fearless of those deserts in which, according to the fable, she was exposed when an infant, invadedEthiopia. Notwithstanding the celebrity of the Assyrian heroine for cutting through mountains, filling up valleys, and conveying water, by costly aqueducts, to unfruitful plains and vast deserts, it does not seem that her success in subduing Ethiopia was very great. Diodorus only mentions her admiration of a wonderful lake, 160 feet square, of a vermilion colour, which sent forth a delicious smell, not unlike old wine, and of such wonderful efficacy, that whoever drank of it acknowledged the sins which he had long since secretly committed and forgotten. That the kingdom of Meroe was the part of Ethiopia invaded by her is not improbable. Her mortified vanity at not having succeeded in her enterprise, the reflections caused by the dangers and solitudes of the deserts, or the influence of the religion of Ammon, may have been the monitors that awakened the guilty conscience of the Assyrian queen.The next occasion on which we find mention made of an Ethiopian army is the expedition of Shishak against Jerusalem, in 971A.C.That monarch is represented as bringing 1200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen; and “the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, and the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.”[57]The Ethiopians and Lubims are called a “huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen.”[58]These Ethiopians may have come from a district of their country which was subject to Shishak, as we see, recorded on the monuments at Thebes, not only the invasion of Judea, mentioned in the Bible, but also victories achieved by that warlike king over various other nations. It is not, however, improbable that the Ethiopians were merely assisting the Egyptians. The Sukkiims are considered by many to be the ancient Troglodytes, the ancestors, perhaps, of the present Bishareen; there is certainly a curious resemblance betweenthe name of the present capital of the latter tribe, Souakim, and their Scripture title, Sukkiim.Sixteen years only after this event we have an account of another invasion of the Ethiopians. “So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.” “And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto theLordhis God.”[59]“So theLordsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves.”[60]I conceive that the army of Zerah, like that of Memnon, and those, perhaps, who assisted Shishak, may have been transported from their own country, by the navigation of the Red Sea. It has been objected by some, that Zerah could not have been king of Ethiopia above Egypt, without being master of the latter country: but not only was the way by the Red Sea shorter, and much more convenient, but the kings of Meroe at that time may have possessed a part of Arabia, and he may thus have marched his army through the peninsula. We may, however, reasonably suppose, that he would not have undertaken such an important war against the people of Judah, if he had apprehended any impediment to his progress, from such near and powerful neighbours as theEgyptians and Arabians. I see no more reason to doubt that this Zerah was a king of Meroe, than that Tirhaka was such, who bears the same title in Scripture, of king of Ethiopia. The monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia, fortunately, confirm the correctness of the title of the latter, and show us that Tirhaka, called king of Ethiopia, in the Bible, was also king of Meroe; but because no vestiges of edifices constructed by Zerah have survived the almost complete destruction of Ethiopian monuments, there is no reason why we should conceive that the Ethiopia of which he is called king is not the same country which Tirhaka afterwards ruled.The army of Zerah, which is stated in the Bible at a thousand thousand, that is, a million of men, may seem enormous; and, perhaps, this is only a vague expression of an almost innumerable host; but we must consider, that the tribe of Judah raised an army of 300,000, and that of Benjamin 280,000, to oppose him. The obligation, still customary, for every one who could bear arms to join the array of their king, accounts for the magnitude of their forces. Their duty, as vassals, would oblige the Ethiopians to join the standards of their chiefs, and the same cause, joined to the more noble motives of zeal and devotedness for their country and religion, would draw from their more peaceful avocations the sons of Judah and Benjamin. The latter are described as armed with targets, spears, shields, and bows: such would be precisely the equipment of an army in the centre of Africa at the present day; but the Ethiopian had also three hundred chariots, which at once denotes a people to a certain degree advanced in the art of war. Whatever might be the circumstances which enabled Zerah to collect together this immense army, we could not have a more striking proof of the extent and the affluent condition of the kingdom of Meroe, when we consider that she was able to support the expense of such a vast and distant expedition, and dispense, for so long a period, with the services of so many of her sons.The events hitherto mentioned as connected with the history of Meroe have been important, as showing her political importance at a very early period. We have seen her successfully repelling the invasions of Semiramis, and of her powerful neighbours the Egyptians, and carrying her arms to the succour of the Trojans, and to attack the people of Judah.We come now to that glorious epoch in the annals of Ethiopia, when her kings reigned not only over their native country, but over the entire valley of the Nile, including the whole of Egypt. We shall see that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, felt their power. Their dominion embraced nations of every variety of colour and character, from Memphis to the interior of Africa. It is highly satisfactory to know, that the account of this dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt is not only transmitted to us by the joint testimony of sacred and profane history, but also is amply confirmed by the monuments of both countries.The lists of Eusebius and Africanus, extracted from Manetho, agree perfectly with the names of the three Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt, from 732 to 688 before the Christian era. The following table shows that they do not exactly correspond, either as to particular reigns, or the entire length of the dynasty, which Africanus makes 40 years, and Eusebius 44; but the difference is very slight.Africanus.Eusebius.Sabbakon8Sabbakon12Sevechus, his son14Sevechus12Tarkus18Tarakus204044Herodotus says[61], that after Asychis, who erected the brick pyramid, a certain blind man was said to have reigned in the city ofAnysis. During his sway, a large force of Ethiopians, under Sabachus, their king, invaded Egypt. The blind king escaped by flight into the mountains, and the Ethiopian reigned in Egypt fifty years. At the end of that period, according to Herodotus[62], a vision appeared to Sabachus, commanding him to assemble the priests together, and destroy them. Rather than be guilty of such a sacrilege, he preferred returning into his country, particularly as the fifty years, which the oracle usually consulted by the Ethiopians had stated to be the term of their sojourn in Egypt, was expired. Diodorus gives a narrative of this event, agreeing with that of Herodotus, except that he does not state the name of the king to whom Sabachus succeeded. He speaks of a king Bucchoris, of a vile appearance, who exceeded all his predecessors in talent and prudence, and says this king reigned some time before Sabachus. Both Eusebius and Africanus agree that Sabachus ascended the throne, after making prisoner a king called Bocchoris, or Bonchoris. When we consider the loose accounts which both Herodotus and Diodorus have, in every instance, given of the Egyptian kings, it is only extraordinary that the time assigned by them as the duration of the Ethiopian dominion in Egypt should differ only by six years from that stated by Eusebius. They have preserved few names of any of the dynasties, and these so generally differ from Manetho and the monuments, that it is not surprising to find them describe the Ethiopian dynasty as the reign of one monarch. We may consider it fortunate that the name of that king agrees so exactly with the always more correct orthography in the lists of Eusebius and Africanus. The accuracy, however, of the list of Eusebius is confirmed by testimony which cannot be disputed, namely, the evidence of lapidary inscriptions on the monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia. I will first mention to the reader the names and titles of those kings, with the places where they werefound recorded; and will afterwards show him that the third king of this dynasty is the same Tirhaka whose name is connected with one of the most interesting historical events narrated in the sacred writings.
ISLAND OF DAHL IN THE WADY EL HADJER.
ISLAND OF DAHL IN THE WADY EL HADJER.
ISLAND OF DAHL IN THE WADY EL HADJER.
The latter part of the small desert I passed this morning was strewed with quartz, generally white. The gneiss of which the rocks, at the commencement of this little desert, are formed, is soft, friable, disposed in strata: there are also rocks of mica slate of a grey colour. The granite rocks, at the other extremity, consist almost entirely of felspar and quartz; the former predominating, with very little mica: the grain is extremely coarse, generally very friable, of a pink, but mostly of a grey colour. There were also in this desert some rocks of felspar, porphyry, and a great variety of granite—tone-granite, syenite, and others.
At two o’clock, we left, with great reluctance, the shade of the doum trees, and the enjoyment of one of the most beautiful views in the valley of the Nile, to encounter again the horrors of the desert and a burning sun. For the first part of ourroute, the rocks were of syenite. The circular summits of these dark red rocks were visible as far as our view could reach, rising sometimes in hills, but mostly in pyramidal and conical forms. I observed a line of calcareous rock about 13 feet broad, almost resembling the foundations of a wall, which crossed the road, and extended east and west among the granite rocks. This was followed again by the granite; and shortly after these was a similar narrow, but less regular, cross of jasper, and also one of porphyry. I brought away no specimens of the latter, for the masses were large, and difficult to break. Afterwards, we had a succession of granite, porphyry, compact felspar, hornblende slate, grey gneiss, and serpentine; and the rocks, immediately before arriving at the Nile, were of syenite.
We passed this little desert in five hours, with great fatigue to the camels and the men on foot, on account of the sand and heat. We encamped, for the night, at the small village of Uckma, which consists of only eight houses; but I am informed that this is the name of the district, as there are two other little villages, one on the opposite side of the river, and the other on the island, which bear the same name. My servants, or, rather, my guide and camel-drivers, made us pass for Turks; saying, that the peasants of this district were so bigoted, that, if they knew us to be Christians, no consideration would induce them to supply us with either milk or meat for ourselves, or straw for our camels. The noise of the cataract here is very fine.
June12. A curious circumstance happened to me last night. I am rather attached to a pretty little capuchin monkey which I received from the Governor of Berber, and which (an unusual circumstance with these animals) shows some little gratitude for my attentions. Several times it has escaped among the acacias of the desert; but, notwithstanding the temptation of the gum, it never attempted to run away when I went for it myself. I was anxious that it should not share the fate of myDongolah greyhound, and die of fatigue. Having taught it to be clean, and being unwilling to trust it to my servants, I carried it always on my own camel, to shelter it from the sun; and as the poor little animal suffered exceedingly from the cold at night, I allowed it to sleep under the margin of the covering of my divan. For some nights past it had got into the habit of laying its head on the corner of my cushion, and, amused at this manœuvre, I indulged it; but the ticking of my watch always annoyed it, and several times it had attempted to take it away; but, aware of this antipathy, and the mischievous propensities of the race, I always wore my chain around my neck. Last night, when in bed, I looked at the watch, which was a hunting one, and having broken the hinge of the gold covering of the face, omitted, I presume, to fasten it with the spring. This morning, on being called, I looked, as usual, at my watch, and found that this piece was missing. I immediately cast my eyes on the monkey, and saw, by its fluttering and leaping about, and the ruffling of its skin, which always takes place when it is afraid, that it was the culprit; yet all my efforts to find the covering were useless. My bed was on the sand of the desert, in which, no doubt, the animal, on seeing it loose, had buried it deep, thinking, by that means, to get rid of its nightly annoyance, or, perhaps, from its usual instinct of taking every opportunity to do mischief.
We set out an hour before sunrise, and, crossing a short but heavy sandy desert, arrived, in two hours, at Lamulay. The rocks, at starting, were of gneiss, but there occurred afterwards some of serpentine and grey granite; and I observed some of quartz, and very small particles of the latter disseminated over the sand. There is a cataract at Lamulay, but it is not so loud as the one we heard last night, at Uckma. The view is very fine at this part. We were two hours in going from Lamulay to Tangoure. The rocks were chiefly of two descriptions of quartz. We came then to another cataract, making the sixth from Dongolah:—the first atHannek; the second at Kouki; the third at Dahl; the fourth at Uckma; the fifth at Lamulay; and the sixth at Tangoure. All these may be passed without much difficulty for about six weeks or two months in the year; but at this season no description of boats could pass. Between the above-mentioned places the river and the rocks on the opposite side make so many bends, first east and afterwards north-west, that our roads, across the little deserts, on the west side might often be considered as the strings of a bow. On the eastern side of the river there seems to be a continued range of picturesque rocks. We miss, I fear, much fine scenery in not being able to follow closely the bank.
Two hours north of Tangoure there is said to be a spring of mineral water, about 100 yards from the river, which flows in small quantities out of the rock into an ancient reservoir, and is described as so hot that the vapour will answer for a bath. I regretted much not being able to visit it, but I must have gone on foot, and, being to-day far from well, could not have endured the excessive heat; but I have this information not only from the natives, but also from Monsieur M., at Dongolah, who had visited it. We started from Tangoure this afternoon, at half past two, and, after five hours’ march, halted in the desert for the night. The rocks are of granite, serpentine, porphyry schist, and quartz. Strata of these minerals occurred, sometimes alternately, every few minutes.
June13. Whenever there are antiquities to be seen, I care not how little sleep I take. I had my men up soon after midnight, and in three hours we arrived, as the sun was rising, at the Temple of Semneh. This temple is more remarkable for its situation than for architectural beauty. It consists of a single narrow room 28 feet by 10 feet, with a plain façade, in the centre of which is the entrance. The exterior sides of this room are ornamented with square pillars, and one polygonal column. The temple faces the south, which is singular, particularly for an edifice constructed by an Egyptian king. On the eastern side are three square pillars standing entire, and the base of another; andon the western one column, one square pillar, and the base of a third. Theviewshows this side, and also the façade of the temple. The pillars sustain blocks of stone, that is, architraves, which still remain, projecting about one foot beyond the columns. I thought, at first, from this projection, that they might have extended to other walls; in which case the edifice would have some resemblance to the sanctuary in the small temple at Medenet Abou; but, from there being no remains to support this supposition, and also from the projection being very small, and, I might say, the architrave’s extending so far beyond the centre of the column, I conceive that the temple has never been finished, and the architraves hewn to the size of the columns.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
The interior and exterior of the walls of this little temple are covered with sculpture and hieroglyphics; but, unfortunately, in some parts, rather defaced. Over the entrance, the king is represented on his knees making offerings to Kneph. The original sculpture of part of the façade of the temple has been defaced to makeroom for a more modern work, and for a long tablet of hieroglyphics, which I copied. The sculpture, from its style, is certainly Roman; the figures not well drawn, and the hieroglyphics wretchedly executed: the subject represents a woman, with a lotus flower, making offerings to a divinity with the head-dress of the horns and two feathers. The hieroglyphics and sculpture of every other part of the temple are in a good style. The name and titles of Thothmes III., Sun, Establisher of the World, is executed in intaglio on the column and square pillars, and the same name in basso relievo is every where visible on the walls. In the interior of the temple the same subject is repeated four times, but in only one instance is very distinguishable. (SeePlate LI.) The king, Thothmes III., is represented making offerings to his ancestor Osirtesen, seated as a divinity in the boat of the sun, with the crook and lash of Osiris in his hands.
Before Osirtesen are four standards, one with a representation of the ibis, emblematical, no doubt, of Thoth: the others are not visible. These standards are supported by arms emanating from the cross of life, and the sceptres of the divinities; emblematical, I conceive, of their being the standards of the gods, perhaps of the divinities of Amenti, Thoth, Horus, and Anubis. One is of Thoth, evidently, from the ibis; the others are defaced. The reader will observe how different this style of sculpture (seePlate LI.), which is the best Egyptian, is to the Ethiopian (seePlate X.). They have evidently had a common origin; but there is a marked difference in the execution. On the western side of the exterior of the temple the king is represented making offerings to different divinities, principally Kneph. I copied all the hieroglyphic inscriptions. The hieroglyphics on the columns and pillars are merely the names of Thothmes. The column which I have stated as polygonal has a base and a square slab for its capital.
Pl. 51.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SCULPTURE IN THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 51.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SCULPTURE IN THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 51.
SCULPTURE IN THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
In the interior of the temple is the fragment of a statue of Osiris, badly executed: the head is wanting, and on the breast is the crook and lash. I conceive the style to be Egyptian Roman. It isvery probable that this temple, originally dedicated to Kneph, was afterwards, in the more corrupt Roman age, appropriated to the peculiar worship of Osiris. This edifice (seePlan) is in a large irregular brick inclosure, the walls of which are generally seven to eight feet thick: this is not of Egyptian, but apparently of Roman, construction. In some parts masses of brick project from the wall, perhaps to support them; their ruined state makes it impossible to decide certainly, but I am inclined to believe them to be entrances.
PLAN OF RUINS.
PLAN OF RUINS.
PLAN OF RUINS.
I went to examine the pass or cataract of Semneh, which I had some difficulty in reaching, having to climb for a considerable space over the granite rocks. The latter are generally rose-coloured, extremely hard; but there are some rocks of basalt shining like black lead, and I observed light thin strata of quartz. The widthof this channel, the only one the Nile passes through, when it is low, I found to be a stone-cast. The river rushes through with great rapidity, so that I could not cross here from the number of vortices caused by the excessive force and velocity of the current.
June14. Wishing to pass over the river to the temple on the opposite side, I commissioned the sheakh to collect the inhabitants, and make me some kind of boat. This morning, at eleven o’clock, he came to inform me that a raft was ready, and men to steer it. My Arabs having taken the camels and dromedaries to pasture at a distance from the temple, I was obliged to set out on foot, and, after walking three quarters of an hour, amid severe heat, I arrived at the place where they intended to cross, fully two miles south of the pass or cataract. The river in this part is about a third of a mile wide, and, except in one or two places, where the current is rather strong, it was scarcely ruffled. The peasants had constructed two rafts, one for ourselves, the other for the servants. They were simply trunks of the acacia lashed together, on which they placed dourah for us to sit on. All the inhabitants of the country were collected to see the expedition. Ten or twelve men, some on geerbahs (water-skins), others on pieces of wood, supported and conducted each raft, two or three on each side, and four behind, pushing it along. Doubting the security of the boat, I had taken the precaution to take off my clothes, and fasten them on my head, like the Arabs. This was fortunate; for the dourah straw was soon saturated with water.
Nothing could be more picturesque than the boats and their conductors. The Arabs had all their clothes tied on their heads, and they carried their charms, arms, knives, swords and spears, fastened in the same manner. Shouting and singing, they pushed us across very cleverly: the only difficulty was in passing the parts where the current was strong. We had also some little fear of the crocodiles. Three Turks shot two in this very place only two months ago, and yesterday we saw one on the shore. The peasants atfirst refused to take us across for this reason, but the promise of a few piastres more, and the use of my firman, silenced their fears. I did not myself conceive that there was the slightest real danger on this account, as I have observed that the crocodile invariably flies from boats or any number of persons together. After landing we had another three quarters of an hour of fatiguing walk to the temple on the eastern side, which (seeGeneral View) is almost exactly opposite the other. Some parts of our road was over low burning sand-hills, in which we sunk at each step up to our ankles; the heat excessive under a directly vertical sun.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
Temple at Semneh. East side of the river.—In the first chamber of this temple the door-posts of the entrance remain, and also two polygonal columns without their capitals, and two square pillars. (Seevignette.) The lateral walls seem to have joined the latter; both the square pillars and columns were ornamented with hieroglyphics, of which the names of Thothmes III. are now only distinguishable. The names, however, of Amunoph III. and Thothmes II. occur in this temple. The entrance into the nextroom is filled with rubbish up to the architrave; the latter is ornamented with the winged globe, and a dedicatory tablet of hieroglyphics. There is also another door to the right of this, leading into the interior, with a similar tablet on the architrave. The walls were decorated with sculpture in a good style, but now much defaced. In one place I distinguished the head of Kneph, and elsewhere the same god receiving splendid offerings of vases, fruits, &c. from the King Thothmes, sun, establisher of the world. In another part, the king, with the head-dress of the small globe, two feathers, and horns, is receiving the cross of life from a divinity with a beard and no head-dress, perhaps Amun Ra. Behind this latter figure is the god Kneph again, with his usual attributes of the ram’s head and horns.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF SEMNEH.
These two entrances lead into a long gallery full of sand and rubbish. I excavated below the level of the centre doorway into the gallery, but it is singular that I could discover no entrance into the sanctuary of the temple corresponding with it. The only one I found is on the right side. There are three other rooms, onecontaining a column. I believe they are marked accurately in the abovePlan;but, to ascertain very correctly how they are connected, would have required more extensive excavations than my time permitted, nor did I think it worth any sacrifice, for the plan is evidently bad. The sculpture of these rooms is almost buried in the sand. There are slight traces of colour remaining. At a short distance south-east of the temple, on the granite rocks, are some hieroglyphical inscriptions, but very rudely executed. I copied five that were legible; they contain the names of Thothmes III. and Amunoph III.
These rocks are interesting as the last hiding-place of the Arab robber, Isah; and it was in this neighbourhood that daring brigand finally met his fate. Isah was a sheakh of the Karareesh tribe. A katshef, near his residence, having threatened him with the bastinado, unless he submitted to some exorbitant demand, he preferred abandoning his domestic happiness, and the peace and quiet of agricultural life, to such galling and vexatious tyranny. He fled into the fastnesses of the desert, and there, with a few chosen followers, bade defiance to the Pasha’s power. He infested the caravan road from Korosko to Abouhammed; and the Dilet el Doum, or the Valley of the Shade of the Doums, was his favourite resort. He was the terror of all the caravans, like the lion of the desert; only allowing them to pass when they had satisfied his demand: but it was against the government that he was most active, plundering their caravans laden with grain and other produce received as taxes, and seizing the numerous herds of cattle which are sent down to Cairo every year, the spoil of the war on the Bahr el Abiad and the Azruk. He sometimes also succeeded in seizing the supplies of ammunition and arms from Cairo; but, what was very annoying to the Turkish governors, he frequently seized the caravans bringing them supplies of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and other luxuries. For five years this daring outlaw eluded every attempt to seize him. The governors made the most strenuous efforts to obtain his head, andthe Pasha engaged the Ababde to hunt him from the great Nubian desert. His troop generally consisted of about twenty; and when, for any important expedition, he required a greater force, Arabs were never wanting to plunder the Turkish caravans. Most of the sheakhs have an immense number of relations; often every individual in their village is a connection; and when their chief is in peril, or requires their services, they consider themselves bound to rally around his standard, at whatever sacrifice or hazard. His wife, like Rob Roy’s, shared her husband’s dangers; and his daughter, Enour, is said to have had as stout a heart as her father, and as much address in throwing the lance as any Arab of her tribe. For five years they shared the perils of this bold brigand; but at last Isah, driven out of the Ababde desert, was betrayed by an Arab sheakh of this neighbourhood, who professed to be his friend. This man, either from fear of the Pasha’s anger, or in the hope of obtaining additional power and wealth by such an essential service, conducted a company of soldiers to the valley where he was secreted, and Isah, while sleeping under the shade of a rock, was shot dead. His death was instantaneous, for it is said that twenty bullets entered his body. His followers fled; but the fidelity of one of them was ultimately rewarded with the hand of his daughter, Enour.
I returned to the ruin on the western bank by the same route, but having passed the river, I fortunately found a donkey, which, though a poor one, afforded me some assistance in ascending to the temple.
These edifices are not remarkable for their architecture; but nothing can be finer than their situation. They are in sight of, and almost opposite to, each other, on eminences commanding one of the finest views in the Batn el Hadjar. This view has been compared by some travellers to Tivoli; but, besides other dissimilarities, there is here no ugly, ill-built, dirty, modern town, that detracts from the beautiful situation of the antiquities. Theprospects near the western temple are very magnificent; Signor B.’s view,Plate XLV.,will give a just idea of the country: but the magical effect of the desert, contrasted with the surrounding scenery, can be but imperfectly conveyed to the reader’s mind, without a view coloured, as this was, on the spot, exhibiting faithfully the different tints. I regret not being able to publish the numerous views as they were coloured on the spot by Signor B.
Pl. 45.On stone by W. P. Sherlock from a Drawing by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.RUINS OF SEMNEH,on the East & West Sides of the River.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 45.On stone by W. P. Sherlock from a Drawing by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.RUINS OF SEMNEH,on the East & West Sides of the River.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 45.
RUINS OF SEMNEH,on the East & West Sides of the River.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
The peasants here are of a dark-brown complexion, and wear their hair bushy, but less so than the Ababde. They are poor, but have the character of being honest. Some of them understand and speak the Arabic, but the language of the country is the Nubian.
June15. We started for Wady Halfah, and, after six hours, halted for the night in the desert. The rocks are of serpentine and granite: this desert consists of immense plains covered with sand-hills, and is quite different from the last we passed over, not being so wild and dreary.
June16. We started three hours before day, and pushing on our dromedaries, arrived at sunrise at the second cataract. According to the practice of almost every traveller who visits the valley of the Nile, I had made this the limit of my first journey, performed in 1832; but I was not then half so much astonished at the peculiarity and magnificence of this scene. I did not see it at so favourable a season, and, perhaps, I appreciate it the more from the delight I feel that, although I have still a voyage of nearly 1000 miles before I reach Alexandria, my fatigues may now be considered nearly finished, as this day I change the slow and tiresome pace of the caravan for the comparatively luxurious cangia. The effect of the rising sun on the black shining basaltic rocks which project into the river, forming innumerable islands, is very striking, and the picturesque beauty of some of these is heightened by the curious contrast with the stripes of light yellow sand which are mixed with them. These little rocky islands, impeding and compressing the current, increasetenfold its force; and the white foaming river, dashing over the rocks, makes the colour of the dark shining basalt still more remarkable, while the roar of its waters animates the scene. There is also a striking contrast of the black basalt with the white calcareous rock, tinted with red and other hues, which forms the foreground. The beauty of the scene, although peculiar, is not diminished by this contrast, any more than the often lovely form of the dark Abyssinian girl is disfigured by the snow-white veil which covers her.
I have seen the beauties of the Alps, the Apennines, Arcadia, and the Pyrenees; I have surveyed the lakes of Bavaria, England, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland; I have followed the Rhine from Schaffhausen to the sea, and sailed on the Danube, the Rhone, and many other rivers; but I must confess I never was more moved by any view than this. I mean not to compare it to the landscapes of Europe for magnificence, or what is generally considered picturesque effect. This is a view of an extraordinary and peculiar kind; for, besides the singularities of the landscape already described, there are associations connected with it which cannot but excite the traveller. The very solitude of the scene, where no habitation of man is visible;—the extent of the view beyond the cataract, along an immense desert of yellow sand, extending over the vast continent of Africa;—then the river, forcing its passage through the rocks, that threaten to stop the progress by which it carries to thousands, and even millions, the means of subsistence;—and shall I say nothing of the mystery which hangs over it? On its banks, perhaps, first flourished the arts; its source is hidden in impenetrable obscurity, as is also the greater part of the historical events which the bordering countries have witnessed. The effect of the rising sun gives a magical lustre to the rocks, extremely difficult, if not impossible, to exhibit in a drawing. I made a camera lucida outline of it, and Signor B. made a drawing in colours of the peculiar tints andeffects. When the Nile is high, it is more picturesque, as, of course, there are then more islands.
Pl. 50.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.2D. CATARACT OF THE NILE.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 50.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.2D. CATARACT OF THE NILE.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 50.
2D. CATARACT OF THE NILE.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Numerous names of travellers are engraved on the calcareous rock; this place being, as I have said, almost always the limit of their voyage. Some few make an excursion into the Batn el Hadjar; but fatigued with the first two or three days’ journey on camels, they seldom proceed beyond Semneh, and still more rarely, if ever, extend their journey to Solib, one of the most magnificent ruins in the valley of the Nile. The extreme heat of these climates, particularly during this season, is certainly trying to European constitutions. As far as the second cataract, travellers visit the antiquities, comparatively speaking, without any fatigue; in their boats they suffer little from the heat, and they have seldom any distance to walk, as all the ruins are on the banks. I, however, strongly recommend those who are really fond of antiquities, and are possessed of a good constitution, to complete their tour of the Nile. Travellers visit with great fatigue the sites of Sparta, Troy, and even Carthage, where there are no monuments to recompense the toil. It is true that the recollections recalled by such scenes must amply indemnify us; but in the Island of Meroe we have splendid and most interesting works of art, an infinity of sepulchres, which, from their number and extremely elegant architecture, could only have belonged to the metropolis of that ancient kingdom: and what more thrilling, exciting association could the traveller desire, than the circumstance that in that region the arts had their origin?
The antiquities of the Island of Meroe, as will have been seen, are not the only remains to indemnify the traveller for his fatigues. The interesting site of Gibel el Birkel, with its extensive, picturesque, and curious monuments; the pyramids of Nouri, the colossal statues of Argo, and the temples of Solib and Semneh, are all interesting in the extreme; and, besides the antiquities, the traveller cannot but be interested in the manners and customs of a people who have not yet adopted those of their conquerors.A knowledge of the desert life, and the different tribes of Arabs, is only to be acquired by a journey of this description through their different districts.
Some of the views of the desert are, to those unaccustomed to them, somewhat appalling,—boundless oceans of sand; rocks affording little or no shade to the traveller, and covered, sometimes, with hills of light sand, which appear to want only a storm to put them in motion; and it is a dreadful sight to see the road strewed with the bodies of men and animals, victims of the scorching clime and great fatigue.
Often, when the wind has covered with sand the traces of former caravans, we have no other beacon than the small piles of stones which the Arabs occasionally erect on the eminences; but an almost infallible guide to our steps is afforded by the bones which lie bleaching on the road. Yet this is the dark side of the picture: the desert life has its charms, which are only enhanced by these dangers. We are there independent, perfectly free from the restraints of the world, and those passions which agitate man in society.
All feel a pleasure in gazing on the ocean, and (when well) in sailing on its bosom; but the desert life is still more delightful. I feel it difficult to analyse this sentiment, and yet I strongly feel it. At sea we are mere passengers; we take no share in avoiding the dangers which threaten us; our powers are not called into action; we feel a certain excitement, but, of course, less than the captain and sailors, on whom all depends: and is not this a reason why the latter are so attached to that kind of life, notwithstanding the numerous and severe hardships which they have to undergo?
The traveller in the desert is, to a certain degree, similarly situated. As head of the caravan, its safety depends mainly on the prudential measures which he adopts. Appointing a guard in case of danger, encamping in a judicious situation in case of astorm, attention to secure a supply of water, and to prevent the Arabs from consuming, as they would willingly do, two days’ portion in one day, are cares which keep his mind constantly occupied. A judicious choice of camels, drivers, and servants; a just distribution of their labour, and attention to their maintenance, lessen the chance of being detained by illness.
Well supplied with rice, good biscuit, and meat, the traveller may live tolerably well, even in the deserts. Since I left Thebes, four months and a half ago, I have passed two deserts of eight days each, and many small ones, and generally been in a miserable country, yet I have only been one day without fresh meat, and that by accident. To court privations is as great folly as to fear them when they arrive, and not submit to them cheerfully when requisite. I am certain that wine and spirituous liquors are injurious in this climate. During the whole of this journey water has been my only beverage; and, on the whole, I have enjoyed very tolerable health, considering the excessive heat, and the many annoyances and delays, still more injurious in this climate than the fatiguing pace of the camel. The desert life has also another charm; it is gratifying to see how, when treated as men, the Arabs become attached to you. If they have any quarrel between each other, a word from the traveller makes them silent.
At sea, it is a pleasure to observe the colour and motion of the waters; to see the dolphins playing at the ship’s head; and sometimes, as in the Mediterranean, the surface of the waters animated by their singular forms. The Nile has its crocodiles and hippopotami; every desert also presents something new,—lions, panthers, hyenas, wolves, serpents, gazelles, antelopes, giraffes, ostriches, guinea-fowls, wild asses, zebras, &c. The traveller may have seen all these in menageries in Europe; it is, however, a great pleasure to see or hear them in their native haunts. The deserts have also a great charm for the traveller who has any tastefor mineralogy, then each rock, each pebble, each step, I may say, is interesting. During a sea voyage, we read, and scarcely look at the water once a day: in the deserts, on the contrary, our attention is continually occupied by the transition of rocks, their formation, the minerals which are disseminated on, and mixed with, the sand.
At sea, it is a pleasure to meet another vessel, to hail her, and demand where she is from, and to what port she is bound; and we often experience delight at finding the passing crew to be countrymen, perhaps relations, or friends: but what pen can describe the meeting of a caravan in the desert? Brothers, who have not seen each other for months, and even years, often meet thus, by accident. The caravan never stops; they have, therefore, only a few moments, and they must part again, and run after their camels. Their hands locked together, they inquire after each other’s health, and after that of their friends. Travellers laugh at the repeated “Taip een salamat, taip een salamat,” of the Arabs. “How do you do?—Good morning! How do you do?—Good morning!” repeated twenty times; and “Taip een abouk? taip een ahouk? taip een omek?” “How is your father? How is your brother? How is your mother?” &c. always repeating thetaip een?“how is?” to each person that they name. The indifference with which the Fellaheen, who see each other daily, go through this ceremony, may seem rather ridiculous; but in the deserts, as I have seen them sometimes, even with tears starting from their eyes, affection could not dictate a stronger and more appropriate manner of inquiring rapidly, but particularly and separately, after each relation and friend who is dear to them. Frequently have I observed my Arabs meeting with their friends of other tribes, and even of their own district or village, and witnessed the pure and natural joy which illuminated their countenances; friends who have travelled together, shared the same toils, the same dangers—companions of their youth, of their early voyages, who have not seen each other for years, meet in the solitudes of the wilderness, but fora moment only, and the same period may elapse before they again see each other. Let it not be supposed that, in the interior of Africa, the natives, although ignorant and uncultivated, are destitute of honest affection.
It is, however, true, that sometimes in the desert we trace those violent passions and habits which generally characterise the wandering tribes of Central Africa. The Bishareen, and others, often plunder the caravans; and tribes occasionally meet between whom there have been constant feuds. Under the strong government of the Pasha, they now seldom make use of their arms; but they exchange no salutes: their silent manner of passing each other, the knitted brow, and involuntary firmer grasp of their spears and swords, evince the deadly hatred which still lurks secretly in their breasts.
ON THE HISTORY OF MEROE.
OBSCURITY OF HER ANNALS. — HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS NECESSARY TO RENDER A COUNTRY INTERESTING. — WORKS OF ART HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. — LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — AMUNOPH III. — MEMNON, KING OF ETHIOPIA. — EXPEDITION OF SEMIRAMIS, QUEEN OF ASSYRIA, INTO ETHIOPIA. — ETHIOPIANS IN THE ARMY OF SHISHAK MARCHED TO JERUSALEM. — THE SUKKIIMS OF SCRIPTURE. — EXPEDITION OF ZERAH, THE ETHIOPIAN KING OF THE BIBLE, AND HIS DEFEAT BY THE TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN. — THE ETHIOPIAN DYNASTY OF KINGS WHO REIGNED OVER EGYPT. — THE TESTIMONY OF THE HISTORIANS PROVED BY LAPIDARY INSCRIPTIONS. — THE NAME OF TIRHAKA, KING OF ETHIOPIA, WHO DEFEATED SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA, FOUND BOTH ON THE MONUMENTS OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA. — THE NAMES AND TITLES OF THIS DYNASTY OF KINGS. — ACCORDANCE OF THE SCRIPTURAL, MONUMENTAL, AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCES. — THE SETHOS OF HERODOTUS, THE TIRHAKA OF SCRIPTURE, AND OF THE MONUMENTS. — THE SUA, KING OF EGYPT OF THE BIBLE, THE SEVECHUS OF MANETHO, AND THE SHABATOK OF THE MONUMENTS.
TheIsland of Meroe is a classic region, whose name is familiar to almost every reader, as the cradle of arts and civilisation. The Nile was the source of her prosperity, and an object of adoration to the ancient, and even to the present inhabitants[49]; yet most of the great events which have given celebrity to the countries on its banks, are lost in impenetrable obscurity. The names even of the kings under whom she rose to such a height of greatness and power are almost wholly unknown. So scanty are the materials which can be found in the ancient writings and on the monuments, that it is almost an act of presumption to attempt, in the slightest degree, to penetrate the veil which envelopes her history.
Professor Rosellini, in his extensive and admirable work on the antiquities of Egypt, has made many valuable observations on the dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned in that country, which have facilitated my researches; and I gladly testify, that the ruins in Ethiopia, in many instances, confirm the conclusions which that learned traveller drew from his examination of the monuments of Egypt. Availing myself of the inquiries of the learned Italian, I shall also put together the most important fragments contained in history, and the valuable lapidary inscriptions I have been able to copy from the antiquities. A country is always interesting, to which we feel ourselves indebted for inventions from which we now derive any important benefit; and as a nation thus rises in our estimation, we become anxious to form an acquaintance with its historical records. There is a charm even in its name, when it recalls to our memory heroic deeds and other important associations.
It is not merely the wonders of art, surprising as they are, which enchant the traveller at Rome and Athens. It is not the vast pile of the Coliseum, the triumphal arches and temples in the Forum, the exquisitely chaste architecture of the Temple of Theseus and of the edifices on the Acropolis, but the crowd of thrilling recollections of the heroism, genius, philosophy, and art, by which these scenes were illustrated, that render them for ever classic and hallowed in our eyes. Had there been no records of the history of Athens, we should have wanted no other evidence of her civilisation and knowledge than the splendid architectural monuments with which her site is adorned. The Parthenon itself speaks volumes, and the most eloquent pages of her greatest historians do not bear more conclusive testimony to her civilisation, than the treasures of Grecian art and taste in the museums of Europe. Had all the written records of her valour and patriotism perished, our knowledge of Athens would have been very nearly what it now is in regard to Ethiopia. The labours of the historians of her landare lost; the brilliant deeds which adorned her annals are enveloped in a cloud of mystery. The history of her neighbours affords only a few scanty gleams, sufficient to make us deplore the general darkness. So changed is the kingdom of Meroe from what it must once have been, that I myself should have almost doubted the short but important passages preserved in the Greek and Latin authors, were they not triumphantly confirmed by the monuments existing at Meroe and Gibel el Birkel.
The reader will, I trust, find in this and the following chapters, that Ethiopia was not unjustly celebrated for civilisation, and as the birth-place of many arts which now contribute highly to our welfare and enjoyment; and the few fragments we have been enabled to glean will prove that she had also her kings and heroes, and that her history was diversified by the usual vicissitudes of triumphs and reverses. I am obliged to refrain from publishing, on the present occasion, all the names of the kings and inscriptions which I found on the edifices of Meroe, Gibel el Birkel, Solib, Semneh, Toumbos, and Amarah.
Pl. 53.Printed by C. Hullmandel.GREAT TEMPLE, GIBEL EL BIRKEL.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 53.Printed by C. Hullmandel.GREAT TEMPLE, GIBEL EL BIRKEL.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 53.
Printed by C. Hullmandel.
GREAT TEMPLE, GIBEL EL BIRKEL.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 54.Inscriptions at Meroe.Inscriptions at Gibel el Birkel.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Printed by C. Hullmandel.
Pl. 54.Inscriptions at Meroe.Inscriptions at Gibel el Birkel.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Printed by C. Hullmandel.
Pl. 54.
Inscriptions at Meroe.
Inscriptions at Gibel el Birkel.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Printed by C. Hullmandel.
For the benefit of the learned, who peculiarly apply themselves to this study, I give, however, a few of those inscriptions, which, mutilated and imperfect as some of them are, the initiated in the recent discoveries in hieroglyphics will immediately perceive to be of the greatest importance, as the earliest undoubted records of Ethiopian history. The inscriptions in PlatesLII.andLIII.,the hieroglyphics of the PlatesX.XI.andXII.of sculpture of Meroe, and also many I am unable to publish, are curious, not only for the names, but for the singular titles which they contain, for the mythology, the variations in the appellations of the divinities, the names of places, and other valuable historical matter.[50]Many scientific men have urged me to publish the whole of these inscriptions; and Signor Rosellini informed me that he should add another volume to his work from these materials. I hope this able writer will not forget his promise, and will excuse my employing it as an apology for not undertaking the interpretation of any portion of them myself; as such an attempt, on my part, would only be unsatisfactory to the learned, and tiresome to the general reader.
“Non nostrum tantas componere lites.”
“Non nostrum tantas componere lites.”
“Non nostrum tantas componere lites.”
“Non nostrum tantas componere lites.”
The monuments of Egypt afford historical evidence of the wars between that country and Ethiopia, during the 18th dynasty; that is, from about the 13th to the 16th century before Christ. In the topographical description I stated that the temples of Semneh were built by the Egyptian king Thothmes III. I have been told that scarabæi have been found, with the name of this king, opposite Gibel el Birkel.[51]Amunoph III., the Memnon of the Greeks, has also left, as a monument of his victories still farther in Ethiopia, the splendid Temple of Solib. I thought, at first, that this was the Amunoph mentioned by Josephus, who, at the second invasion of the Shepherds, took refuge in Ethiopia until hehad collected an army, and his son Sethos, or Rameses, was of a sufficient age to lead it against the insurgents: but both Eusebius and Africanus agree in calling Sethos the first king of the 19th dynasty: therefore, as the Temple of Solib bears the name of Amunoph, with the prænomen ofⲢⲏ-ⲛⲉⲃ-ⲛⲧⲙⲉ, “Sun, Lord of Truth,” it is of the eighth king of the 18th dynasty, and not the last: besides, the representations of the countries conquered by that king are still preserved, and prove, by some of them having the features of negroes, that the splendid Temple of Solib was erected as a monument of his victory and long possession of the country, and not of a mere alliance with the King of Ethiopia.[52]
The successor of Amunoph III., Amulek, or, perhaps, more correctly, Horus, as Eusebius and Africanus call him, must, I conceive, from an inscription I saw at Turin, have also carried his arms into the interior of Africa; but Herodotus[53]states, that only Rameses II. (Sesostris) made himself master of Ethiopia; and it is singular, as I have stated in the account of the ruins of Gibel el Birkel, that the only fragment of the name of an Egyptian king which I saw, either there or at Meroe, was half of the name of Rameses II., which I found, by accident, in the Arab burial-ground at the former place. This is an extraordinary corroboration of the testimony of the historian;for that conqueror must have possessed that Ethiopian city for a sufficient length of time to erect or restore a temple; otherwise I should not have found his name.
Diodorus mentions that, when Egypt was suffering under the dominion of Amasis, a violent, proud, and arrogant man, Aktisanes, king of Ethiopia, profiting by the discontent of the people, invaded Egypt, and had little difficulty in overthrowing the tyrant, and taking possession of the country, as the greater number of his subjects were weary of his oppression, and rebelled against him. Aktisanes, he adds, was a great prince, and built a city, called Rhinocolura, on the confines of Syria and Egypt, and detained there the thieves whom he had punished with the loss of their noses; from which circumstance Rhinocolura had its name. Eusebius, Africanus, and Herodotus do not mention this king. Diodorus’s account is difficult to explain; for his Amasis cannot be the Amasis of Manetho, the first of the 18th dynasty; as Diodorus places his Amasis several reigns after Sesostris or Rameses II. As there are no traces of the name of this king on the monuments either of Ethiopia or Egypt, I see no reason why we should receive the testimony of Diodorus, to the prejudice of other historians; and, doubting, as I do, whether such a king ever reigned in Egypt, I think it unnecessary to enter into any discussion about the period of his reign.
We have also, about this time, an account of another king, whose name is familiar to the classical scholar,—Memnon, the son of Aurora, who killed Antilochus[54]in the Trojan war; and again, in the same poem[55], he is called the most beautiful of warriors, the brother of Priam; and Hesiod calls him the son of Aurora, and the king of the Ethiopians. Monsieur Letronne, in his learned work on the vocal statue of Memnon, has treated the whole story as a romance; but though we may refuse our credence to the embellishmentsof the Greek poets, tragic writers, and historians, I must confess myself of the opinion of those who believe in the possibility that the statement of a king of Ethiopia of that name having gone to the assistance of Troy may, perhaps, not be without foundation. The distance was certainly very great; but navigation by the Nile, or the Red Sea, would obviate, in a great measure, that difficulty; and it is not much more extraordinary to read of an Ethiopian king going to the relief of Troy in the 13th century before the Christian era, than, in the tenth century, to read of a king, called Zerah, who, with a host of a thousand thousand, went unto Maresha; and, in the 8th century, we find that Tirhaka assisted the King of Israel against Sennacherib, which event I will presently relate. History, both ancient and modern, affords many instances of wars between very distant states, and of expeditions sent against remote kingdoms, often even from continent to continent. I think, therefore, that it is not very surprising that the Ethiopian king, Memnon, should go with his troops from Meroe to Troy, either to assist his relation, or, at the instigation of some neighbour, to join in the common defence against the Greek invasion.[56]
In the 11th century before the Christian era, Semiramis, the celebrated queen of Assyria, fearless of those deserts in which, according to the fable, she was exposed when an infant, invadedEthiopia. Notwithstanding the celebrity of the Assyrian heroine for cutting through mountains, filling up valleys, and conveying water, by costly aqueducts, to unfruitful plains and vast deserts, it does not seem that her success in subduing Ethiopia was very great. Diodorus only mentions her admiration of a wonderful lake, 160 feet square, of a vermilion colour, which sent forth a delicious smell, not unlike old wine, and of such wonderful efficacy, that whoever drank of it acknowledged the sins which he had long since secretly committed and forgotten. That the kingdom of Meroe was the part of Ethiopia invaded by her is not improbable. Her mortified vanity at not having succeeded in her enterprise, the reflections caused by the dangers and solitudes of the deserts, or the influence of the religion of Ammon, may have been the monitors that awakened the guilty conscience of the Assyrian queen.
The next occasion on which we find mention made of an Ethiopian army is the expedition of Shishak against Jerusalem, in 971A.C.That monarch is represented as bringing 1200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen; and “the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, and the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.”[57]The Ethiopians and Lubims are called a “huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen.”[58]These Ethiopians may have come from a district of their country which was subject to Shishak, as we see, recorded on the monuments at Thebes, not only the invasion of Judea, mentioned in the Bible, but also victories achieved by that warlike king over various other nations. It is not, however, improbable that the Ethiopians were merely assisting the Egyptians. The Sukkiims are considered by many to be the ancient Troglodytes, the ancestors, perhaps, of the present Bishareen; there is certainly a curious resemblance betweenthe name of the present capital of the latter tribe, Souakim, and their Scripture title, Sukkiim.
Sixteen years only after this event we have an account of another invasion of the Ethiopians. “So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.” “And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour. And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto theLordhis God.”[59]“So theLordsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves.”[60]
I conceive that the army of Zerah, like that of Memnon, and those, perhaps, who assisted Shishak, may have been transported from their own country, by the navigation of the Red Sea. It has been objected by some, that Zerah could not have been king of Ethiopia above Egypt, without being master of the latter country: but not only was the way by the Red Sea shorter, and much more convenient, but the kings of Meroe at that time may have possessed a part of Arabia, and he may thus have marched his army through the peninsula. We may, however, reasonably suppose, that he would not have undertaken such an important war against the people of Judah, if he had apprehended any impediment to his progress, from such near and powerful neighbours as theEgyptians and Arabians. I see no more reason to doubt that this Zerah was a king of Meroe, than that Tirhaka was such, who bears the same title in Scripture, of king of Ethiopia. The monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia, fortunately, confirm the correctness of the title of the latter, and show us that Tirhaka, called king of Ethiopia, in the Bible, was also king of Meroe; but because no vestiges of edifices constructed by Zerah have survived the almost complete destruction of Ethiopian monuments, there is no reason why we should conceive that the Ethiopia of which he is called king is not the same country which Tirhaka afterwards ruled.
The army of Zerah, which is stated in the Bible at a thousand thousand, that is, a million of men, may seem enormous; and, perhaps, this is only a vague expression of an almost innumerable host; but we must consider, that the tribe of Judah raised an army of 300,000, and that of Benjamin 280,000, to oppose him. The obligation, still customary, for every one who could bear arms to join the array of their king, accounts for the magnitude of their forces. Their duty, as vassals, would oblige the Ethiopians to join the standards of their chiefs, and the same cause, joined to the more noble motives of zeal and devotedness for their country and religion, would draw from their more peaceful avocations the sons of Judah and Benjamin. The latter are described as armed with targets, spears, shields, and bows: such would be precisely the equipment of an army in the centre of Africa at the present day; but the Ethiopian had also three hundred chariots, which at once denotes a people to a certain degree advanced in the art of war. Whatever might be the circumstances which enabled Zerah to collect together this immense army, we could not have a more striking proof of the extent and the affluent condition of the kingdom of Meroe, when we consider that she was able to support the expense of such a vast and distant expedition, and dispense, for so long a period, with the services of so many of her sons.
The events hitherto mentioned as connected with the history of Meroe have been important, as showing her political importance at a very early period. We have seen her successfully repelling the invasions of Semiramis, and of her powerful neighbours the Egyptians, and carrying her arms to the succour of the Trojans, and to attack the people of Judah.
We come now to that glorious epoch in the annals of Ethiopia, when her kings reigned not only over their native country, but over the entire valley of the Nile, including the whole of Egypt. We shall see that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, felt their power. Their dominion embraced nations of every variety of colour and character, from Memphis to the interior of Africa. It is highly satisfactory to know, that the account of this dynasty of Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt is not only transmitted to us by the joint testimony of sacred and profane history, but also is amply confirmed by the monuments of both countries.
The lists of Eusebius and Africanus, extracted from Manetho, agree perfectly with the names of the three Ethiopian kings who reigned over Egypt, from 732 to 688 before the Christian era. The following table shows that they do not exactly correspond, either as to particular reigns, or the entire length of the dynasty, which Africanus makes 40 years, and Eusebius 44; but the difference is very slight.
Herodotus says[61], that after Asychis, who erected the brick pyramid, a certain blind man was said to have reigned in the city ofAnysis. During his sway, a large force of Ethiopians, under Sabachus, their king, invaded Egypt. The blind king escaped by flight into the mountains, and the Ethiopian reigned in Egypt fifty years. At the end of that period, according to Herodotus[62], a vision appeared to Sabachus, commanding him to assemble the priests together, and destroy them. Rather than be guilty of such a sacrilege, he preferred returning into his country, particularly as the fifty years, which the oracle usually consulted by the Ethiopians had stated to be the term of their sojourn in Egypt, was expired. Diodorus gives a narrative of this event, agreeing with that of Herodotus, except that he does not state the name of the king to whom Sabachus succeeded. He speaks of a king Bucchoris, of a vile appearance, who exceeded all his predecessors in talent and prudence, and says this king reigned some time before Sabachus. Both Eusebius and Africanus agree that Sabachus ascended the throne, after making prisoner a king called Bocchoris, or Bonchoris. When we consider the loose accounts which both Herodotus and Diodorus have, in every instance, given of the Egyptian kings, it is only extraordinary that the time assigned by them as the duration of the Ethiopian dominion in Egypt should differ only by six years from that stated by Eusebius. They have preserved few names of any of the dynasties, and these so generally differ from Manetho and the monuments, that it is not surprising to find them describe the Ethiopian dynasty as the reign of one monarch. We may consider it fortunate that the name of that king agrees so exactly with the always more correct orthography in the lists of Eusebius and Africanus. The accuracy, however, of the list of Eusebius is confirmed by testimony which cannot be disputed, namely, the evidence of lapidary inscriptions on the monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia. I will first mention to the reader the names and titles of those kings, with the places where they werefound recorded; and will afterwards show him that the third king of this dynasty is the same Tirhaka whose name is connected with one of the most interesting historical events narrated in the sacred writings.