Pl. 4.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.INDIGO.SENNA.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.Pl. 52.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.OSSHI.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.The commander of the expedition was the same brave fellow who took such particular care of his person during the former engagement. He encamped near the Mahas, and published a proclamation offering them a general pardon. The Cadi Esau and many of the other sheakhs were disposed to accept the terms, when another fanatic priest started up, and upbraided them with their cowardice, treachery, and folly; “since,” said he, “you know that the Turks will deceive you, and it is evident that God has given our enemies into our hands; for without seeking them they are come to us.” By this absurd harangue, he kindled a wild enthusiasm, to increase which all the fakeers were employed in writing charms on their weapons. The commander was afraid to attack them, on account of their number and their strong position; but the Turkish volunteers laughed him to scorn, and dashed forward on horseback to charge the Mahas. Notwithstanding the formidable position of the insurgents, many of them having fire-arms, and the facility their situation afforded them of rolling down stones on the Turks, yet such was the effect of the instantaneous and gallant example set by the latter, that the soldiers followeden masse, and soon dislodged and put to flight the unfortunate Mahas.In this engagement they calculated that 170 were killed, and about 30 made prisoners. I myself saw here 105 pairs of ears on a string, which the victors were conveying to the governor; and I am informed the commander has another. Very many being shot in the river, their ears could not be obtained. They brought also to Haffeer twenty-two prisoners, linked together in a string, having their arms tied behind their backs, in the ancient Egyptian manner. Their arms were drawn together behind with a rope, attached a little above their elbows; causing, of course, an unnatural and painful projection of the chest. Some of them were apparently half-bred negroes, who were or had been slaves. They were all tall athletic men, but wild and haggard in their appearance, and seemingly insensible either to pity or to suffering.Seeing them in pain, I begged the Turks to loosen their cords, which they did as a favour to me; but the prisoners seemed quite indifferent, and did not even thank me. I persuaded the Turks, also, to liberate from the cords a young boy, of twelve or thirteen, on account of his extreme youth; but the lad has something roguish in his eye; so that, if the soldiers on guard do not pay more attention than it is their custom to do, I flatter myself that, before they arrive at Dongolah, he will profit by the indulgence, and effect his escape.On hearing of the defeat of the Mahas, I determined instantly to start, conceiving that, though Melek Backeet and his followers have escaped, they will, for at least a day or two, be too much engaged in providing for their own safety to lose time, and risk their own security, in waylaying travellers. The only danger is that of falling in with them by accident among the rocky passes of the cataract, or in the desert; and they would gladly get hold of us, not, perhaps, for plunder, but as hostages for their own security. Now, however, we were all willing to encounter every risk rather than support this endless delay, and be any longer confined to the prison of a wretched indigo-house, in which my artist, myself, and the two Turks had only one small hot room to sit, eat, and receive visiters. The heat is dreadful: no cool refreshing wind to mitigate the scorching rays of a sun almost completely vertical; every breath of air heated as if issuing from a furnace; even the evenings, after sunset, are hot. At that time I generally went down to the river, the air on the banks being less oppressive: from about midnight until sunrise, and even a few hours after, it is very cool and delightful; and, not to lose the enjoyment and benefit of that period, I have for the last month slept, like the Arabs, in the open air.[46]My caravan, being strengthened by some merchants who joined us, became now rather formidable, and may be worth describing. My own party consisted of eleven, including thehabeer(guide), two Ababde, and three Hassanyeh, the owners of our two dromedaries and six camels. My artist and myself were well armed, and my dragoman, and Greek and Coptic servant, also had muskets, with which the Mahmoor had provided them. My guide had fire-arms, and the Arabs their lances and swords: therefore, including the guard which the governor had given me, of a baractar and six soldiers, my own party consisted of eighteen persons, of whom thirteen had fire-arms. The two Turks and their two servants were provided with them; and their camel-drivers were three Shageea armed with spears. Besides these, five merchants, three with guns, joined my caravan. We were, therefore, altogether, thirty men; twenty with fire-arms; and were thus, I think, a match for 100 of the Mahas, with their matchlocks and lances: but we all conceived it so very probable that we might meet a party of the insurgents, that I directed each person to keep his musket in his hand during the whole night.We started at four in the afternoon, and marched until two in the morning, ten hours, and encamped in the desert two hours before arriving at Fakeer el Bint. The effect of the caravan winding along the rocky banks of the cataracts in a line, one after the other, on account of the narrowness and badness of the road, was very picturesque. The variety of the costumes and armour; the numerous Arab tribes,—for scarcely more than two or three of ourparty belong to the same one,—Hassanyeh, Shageea, and Ababde; Berberenes of Upper Nubia, and Fellaheen of the lower valley of the Nile; Turks, Greeks, and Europeans,—all differing in dress, features, and complexion,—formed an interesting group. I could trace the gradations of colour, even in my own caravan, from the yellowish Arab of Cairo to the darker native of Upper Egypt, and from the brown Dongoloue to the dark-brown Shageea; but the latter are very different in feature and complexion from the bluish-black of the negro slaves belonging to the Turks.We all preserved the strictest silence, which enabled me to enjoy more the noise of the cataracts, the soft moonlight, and the romantic rocky scenery: but while I felt the beauty of the latter, I was well aware that the granite rocks and passes afforded an ambush for the Mahas, which was not without danger to us, their unskilfulness and ignorance being my only security. We met repeatedly parties of women and boys, either acting as spies, or going, as they pretended, to Haffeer, their houses being destroyed, and husbands and fathers dead. Their manner was certainly suspicious, and I had some difficulty in preventing my soldiers from treating them as spies. We passed several cottages, now uninhabited in consequence of the revolt.June3. We arrived, in two hours, at Fakeer el Bint, and found the village entirely deserted. The Mahas, by their imprudent rising, have entailed a long series of sufferings and wretchedness on their families; even those peasants who took no part in it are ruined; their houses destroyed; their oxen killed, and their water-wheels broken. We may admire the enthusiastic courage of the chiefs, who, born to command, could ill endure the proud contempt and degrading punishments of their insolent oppressors; but we cannot but condemn their guilt and rashness in sacrificing, without the remotest chance of ultimate success, the lives and happiness of so many of their countrymen. I observed, on an island near Fakeer el Bint, several fugitives. The Nileforms, between this place and Solib, a considerable bend, the distance along the banks, through the province of Mahas, being nearly thirty hours’ march of a camel, or about seventy miles, and by the desert only twelve hours, or thirty miles. We entered the desert at three o’clock. Never have I felt such excessive heat; every breath of air is baneful. I tried to protect myself from it with a turban and umbrella, and even the sheets of my bed were put in requisition. I made an endeavour to construct a tent on my dromedary; but my efforts were fruitless, the wind being too strong. I felt my mouth dry and parched, and would have given even one of my drawings of Meroe for a glass of pure cold water; but every drop we had was soon quite warm. Before dark we had passed the mountainous and the only soft part of the desert, and at midnight we encamped within nine miles of Solib. The rocks are chiefly of serpentine, slate, sandstone, and granite, the latter often much decomposed: there were also a few fragments of marble scattered about.Ruins of Solib.—June4-8. This morning, being anxious to arrive at the celebrated Temple of Solib, I started before sunrise, and, pushing on my dromedary at a quick pace, I arrived there in two hours. The first view of the temple is very imposing; standing proudly at the extremity of the desert, the only beacon of civilisation in this sea of barrenness. The situation of the temple is as picturesque as it is extraordinary. The columns are so distinctly visible, that, at a distance, it has almost the appearance of a Grecian edifice. On approaching nearer, the effect is changed, but not injured; for, though not Grecian, it is of the purest Egyptian architecture. I rambled over it for some time, delighted with its picturesque appearance: the plan of the temple is also beautiful, and the architecture of the most chaste simplicity; but, as an antiquarian, I could have wished for more remains of sculpture, and tablets with hieroglyphics.The first grand propylon of the temple is 600 feet from theriver; but the form and exact dimensions of it are now not distinguishable, being entirely ruined, and the materials almost all carried away. From the appearance of the rooms, which the reader will observe on a reference to thePlan,there seems to have been the same economy of stone in constructing of this propylon, which we shall presently observe in the second. Behind the first are the remains of two sphinxes. One of them is nearly destroyed, but the other is not so much injured as to prevent my perceiving that the style of the sculpture has been good; but in its present state I did not consider it worth a drawing. I observed that the first and second propylons were connected together. The Plan (Plate XL.) will show that in front of the second there are the remains of two walls, which, no doubt, connected it with the first. This is quite in conformity with the general construction of Egyptian edifices. A flight of steps, now scarcely distinguishable, led up into a court before the second propylon. This court, the entrance into which is about 85 feet from the first propylon, is 70 feet long and 45 feet wide. It was ornamented with six columns, the diameter of which is 10 feet; the traces of them only are visible.Pl. 40.Drawn by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF SOLIB BUILT BY AMENOPH 3.London. Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.The remains of the second propylon are more considerable. Each wing is 78 feet wide; the door in the centre, leading into the temple, 11 feet wide, making the total width 167 feet. The depth of the propylon is 24 feet. It is remarkable, that this propylon is not, like those of Egypt, a solid mass of stone, with only staircases, and, occasionally, small rooms, but finished, and apparently used for habitations. The one here contains three rooms on one side, and two on the other, but without doors, and evidently constructed with a view of using little stone, as the walls are not hewn smooth. This is an economy of material rarely seen in Egyptian edifices. The doorway leading into the temple is of the correct Egyptian form, the width of the centre part, which is 17 feet long, being 13 feet, and that of the two ends, which are each3 feet long, being, as already mentioned, only 11 feet wide. The recesses, thus formed in the centre of the doorways, add very much to their architectural beauty. The view from this doorway of the next court of the temple is very magnificent. This court is 90 feet long and 113 wide, and was ornamented with twenty-eight columns, a single row on each of the north, south, and east sides, and two on the west, being the side opposite to the entrance. There are now seven of these columns standing, with the bud-shaped capital. I observed a slight difference in their dimensions, but they are of the purest Egyptian architecture; their circumference is 19 feet 4 inches, and intercolumniation 5 feet 5 inches. Few more striking views are presented in any part of the valley of the Nile than the first entrance from the second propylon into this court.COLUMNS OF SOLIB.Plate XLI.is taken from this point, and will, I trust, givethe reader a correct idea of the magnificence and exquisite architectural beauty of this temple. Five columns appear in this view, detached from each other, proud monuments of the power and greatness of the Egyptian conqueror Amunoph III., who erected them, and whose name and titles are engraved in hieroglyphics on their shafts. They bear also the name of the great divinity Amun Ra, to whom the temple was dedicated. The remains of many of the columns are lying on the ground; the roof is gone; and only one piece of architrave remaining, supported by one of the most beautiful and perfect of the columns. The architectural form of these columns is more light and elegant than almost any specimens of the same kind in Egypt; at the same time without losing that character of grandeur and severity, so much in unison with its situation. The background to this view (as will be seen in thePlate) is the trackless desert,—a vast yellow ocean, bounded only by the horizon, without an eminence, or even hillock, visible to relieve the eye; and that tide of sand which never ebbs, driven on continually by the prevailing strong winds from the north, and particularly the north-west, beats against the temple, and daily encroaches on its remains. On the east side, at a short distance from the ruin, towards the Nile, Isis seems still to extend her protection, and a luxuriant and beautiful vegetation flourishes; but on the other sides Typhon reigns in gloomy solitude, and the traveller turns with delight from the contemplation of the bleak and dreary wilderness, to the elegant and magnificent work of art which adorns its margin.Plate XLII.is a view I made which shows all the seven columns which remain in this court.[47]Waddington speaks ofthe red tints of the sandstone: there are a few, but very few, the general colour being much whiter than that of any Egyptian or Ethiopian ruin I have seen. I was in doubt whether to consider it as arenarious limestone, or sandstone; but the specimens I brought to England have been decided to be sandstone. The background of this view, consisting of the river and distant hills, is very pretty. The view is taken from the last existing room; and the reader will perceive to the right, in the foreground, the fragment of a column on which is one of the representations of prisoners which adorn all the columns of that room. The next court is more destroyed; yet there are sufficient traces of the columns to show precisely what the plan has been. It is of the same width as the last court, and 78 feet long; and was ornamented with two rows of columns on the north and south sides, and on the east and west with one only; in all, thirty-two. The circumference of each is 17 feet; but not one of them is standing.Pl. 41.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH III, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.The next chamber, which was apparently an intermediate room leading to the sanctuaries, contains the remains of twelve columns, of which now only one remains perfect. The capital is of a form generally considered as Ptolemaic, but we have here authority for calling it Egyptian. It represents branches of the palm tree, and near the base of these columns there is some interesting sculpture; a number of prisoners, represented with their heads and busts resting on turreted ovals, containing the names of the countries whence they come; and, to signify that they are prisoners, their hands are tied together behind their backs, in the usual Egyptian manner, tight above the elbows, causing a painful and unnatural projection of the chest. The prisoners on the columns on the north side of this room have beards and hair; and some, without hair, appear to be old men. Their features are fine, and have very little of the Negro cast. On the opposite side, the prisoners represented are youths with their hair tied in a knot a little below the crown of the head, and hanging down almost to their shoulders. These have very much of the Negro features, wide nostrils, thick lips,and high cheek-bones. I copied the names of thirty-eight of these provinces: the only one I could make out was that of Mesopotamia, in hieroglyphics.On the column in this room which still preserves its capital, is some sculpture, in a good style, representing the king presenting offerings to Honsoo, with the globe and short horns for a head-dress. The remains of the temple extend a hundred feet beyond this room; so that the entire length of the edifice must have been about 540 feet, and the number of columns with which it was adorned, and whose situation can now be accurately ascertained, is eighty-four. There must, however, have been a greater number; for among the confused piles of stone which are stated above as extending a hundred feet beyond this room, I found some fragments of columns 3 feet in diameter. (Plate XLIII.is taken from this end of the temple.) This is also an extremely beautiful point of view; but although not even a small stone is omitted, and notwithstanding the temple is so ruined, the reader will perceive that there is no excess of shapeless masses of stone to spoil the effect of the splendid architectural remains of the edifice. The column I have described with the Ptolemaic capital is the most prominent object in this view; but the picturesque grouping of the columns of the great court is finely exhibited from this point.On the door leading from the first great court into the second, the king is represented with a staff in his hand, addressing Amun Ra, who has the usual sceptre of the gods. Above the latter is the king presenting offerings to a divinity, the hieroglyphical titles of which are not legible; but the wings of the goddess of truth are visible. Behind the second propylon, there has been some very interesting sculpture, but it is now scarcely perceptible: the figures were apparently only one foot high. One piece I copied, which had some of the hieroglyphics remaining; but above this I could only distinguish the divinities with the attributes of Horus, Thoth, Anubis, Osiris, and Amun Ra, to whom the temple is dedicated. This sculpture is in basso relievo. It is much to beregretted that it is so defaced; for, doubtless, it has been a most interesting mythological tablet. Some of the blocks of stone are harder than the others, but the greater number are exceedingly soft, doubtless, one cause of the ruined state of the temple, and why the sculpture is scarcely distinguishable.Pl. 42.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.The remains of the ancient city extend for a considerable distance both towards the north and south. On the bank of the river, 240 yards farther north than the temple, are the remains of a small pier, 13 feet high, and 20 feet long; while 200 yards to the north of this pier is a projection of stones into the river, thrown in apparently to form a port. This has evidently been a city of some importance. Its situation, at the commencement of the road across the desert, is also deserving of attention. The town was advantageously situated, being on the route both of those who followed the banks of the river and also of those who crossed the desert.Ptolemy places the great cataract at 22° 30′; Φθουρι, at 21° 20′; a difference of 1° 10′. The real difference of latitude is 1° 27′; that is, 17′ more; but Autoba, the town he mentions before Phthouris, is stated to be only 54°, that is, 23° less than the ascertained difference; and Pistre, which is the next town he mentions after Phthouris, is 1° 50′ from the cataract; that is, 23° too far distant. We have thus, I think, no other alternative than to suppose this to be the site of Phthouris, which, from the magnitude of the ruins, must have belonged to a city of great importance, and one that he would not have omitted to mention. The Temple of Siscé is probably the site of Pistre.After the pyramids of Meroe, this is decidedly the most interesting and magnificent ruin we have seen in Ethiopia; superior to the former, perhaps, in picturesque and architectural beauty, but less interesting to the antiquarian, as being Egyptian, and not Ethiopian. It is worthy of remark, that, with the exceptions of the colossal statues of Argo, I have not met with any genuine Ethiopian remains since I left Gibel el Birkel. Travellers who extend theirtour of the Nile to the second cataract, would be amply repaid for their additional fatigue, if they visited this temple.We found, on our arrival at Solib, a number of merchants detained there on their way to Dongolah, on account of the insurrection. They were delighted to see us arrive, and prepared immediately for their departure. They complained bitterly of their long detention and great consequent expense. Solib is almost at the extremity of the province of Mahas; but, the peasants of this end of the province not having taken any part in the revolt, we were comparatively secure, although Melek Backeet, their chief, has a house in the neighbourhood. I lived under a shed at a short distance from the temple, and remained there four days, working almost from sunrise until sunset, regardless of the extreme heat. I now required a sheep every day for my caravan, which I had some difficulty in procuring, having had repeatedly to send across the river. I fortunately provided myself with a large stock of bread and biscuit at Dongolah: there is none to be had here.June8. At the quick pace of the dromedary, I was twenty minutes in going, this evening, from the temple to the village of Solib. It is remarkable for the cottages being made, like those of the latter in Mahas and Dongolah, of the stalks of the dourah, and branches of the palm tree: here, however, the foliage extends considerably above the roofs of the huts; and thus not only protects them in some degree from the rays of the sun, but gives them a very picturesque and graceful appearance. The house of the sheakh of the village is fortified with square towers.Pl. 43.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.About a mile beyond the village is the rock called Doshe, which, projecting into the river, divides the province of Mahas from Sukkot. It is of sandstone, and contains traces of iron ore: its surface is rugged, and in part blackened by the sun, forming a striking contrast to the bright yellow sand which covers the central part of the rock. At the eastern end, above the river, is an excavated tomb, which contains some traces of sculpture, though now scarcely distinguishable. I perceived, from what remains, that itwas in a good style of basso relievo. There were some ovals, but no hieroglyphics on them at all legible. I endeavoured to make out the name, and, from the slight fragments remaining, I conceived one to be that of Thothmes III., and another that of Osirtisen III., but must confess I could not make them out at all satisfactorily.[48]At the end of the tomb are the remains of three divinities, seated. The sculpture of these does not seem to have been good, but they are so defaced, that it is impossible to decide upon the style. On each side of the divinities is a niche. The site of this tomb is picturesque, commanding a fine prospect of the river. (Seevignette.) Above it a king is represented making offerings to a divinity with the attributes of Kneph, and behind the latter are two other divinities, one with a plain helmet,the other a vase on her head. Beneath the line containing these subjects is another containing a figure kneeling, and a long tablet of hieroglyphics; but the latter are so broken and defaced, that only one here and there is legible. On the south side of the tomb is a beautiful little piece of sculpture, representing a king making offerings to Amun Ra, with the head-dress of the globe and short horns; and behind the last is a goddess. The name of the king seems to have been broken off designedly, and the hieroglyphics are very much defaced.FROM A TOMB EXCAVATED OUT OF THE ROCK NEAR SOLIB.June8. We left the village of Solib, and province of Mahas, at four o’clock, and arrived at the village of Sukkot at six in the evening. This is rather a large place, and the residence of the katshef. I observed, in passing, four of the fortified houses of the sheakhs; the rest of the houses are of mud: there are some few of the palm leaves, but not so picturesque as those of the Mahas.TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.We stopped to examine some ruins, called by the peasants, Biban. The first consists of two fragments of columns, around which are the traces of the temple. The plan is Roman-Egyptian, and is rather curious, though not good. (Seevignette.) Three hundred and fifty yards to the north there is another ruined temple. One column is standing amid a mass of large stones: it reminded me of the solitary column, and the vast masses around it, of the Temple of Hercules at Girgenti; but the comparison is very degrading to the great beauty of the latter. The capital of this is almost entirely defaced, but it has decidedly been a head of Athor. On some of the stones I observed fragments of Egyptian ornaments, and the fragment of a name, apparently Amunoph III. The column is fluted, but not in the usual Egyptian style, being much more flat. Attempts have apparently been recently made to throw it down, or break it to pieces, its architectural ornaments being quite obliterated. Its circumference is 12 feet 8 inches. East of the temple is a basalt statue, the sculpture of which seems to have been very good,but it is very much injured. On the interval between the two temples, and also for 350 yards beyond, extending thus over a space of 700 yards, there are traces of the city. These may be called the ruins of Sukkot, from their vicinity to that village, which is the chief place of the province.It is very difficult to ascertain what was the ancient name of this place. The situation of the ruins agrees better with the position, according to Ptolemy, of Phthouris, than Solib; but the insignificance of the remains here, compared to the splendid ruins of Solib, prevent my imagining it to be that city. It may be one of the many mentioned by Pliny, or the Autoba of Ptolemy.Half an hour after we left this ruin we passed the village of Gobetziteen. I observed a large caravan of slave merchants from Dongolah, who had left Solib this morning: their numerous fires, and the groups seated under the palm trees, were very picturesque, presenting effects that even a Gherardo della Notte could scarcely have done justice to. They complained of the detention at Dongolah having cost them so much. The expense of transporting the slaves from Kordofan, or Abyssinia, to Cairo, is very great; the duty alone, besides the maintenance, is nearly seven dollars each. They pay duty at four different places: at Kordofan, at Dongolah, at Deroueh near Assuan, and, lastly, at Boulak near Cairo.We stopped at the village of Essau, opposite to the Island of Hadji Falme. On the latter they tell me that there are antiquities, but all broken; and I could not procure a boat to visit them. Being rather late of arriving, I found the inhabitants of the village sleeping in the open air; the women on the angoureebs, and the men on mats: and, I can assure the reader, it is a great enjoyment, in this climate, to sleep thus beneath the clear blue sky. About ten o’clock the air becomes rather cool, while at midnight and in the morning it is comparatively cold: this invigorates the frame, after the enervating heat of the day; and, in this climate, there are no fogs or damp to dread. It is the only time that I can now enjoy;yet I support the heat better than my servants, though accustomed to that of Egypt all their lives. We are exposed nearly the whole day to a sun almost directly vertical, without a breath of cool air to alleviate our sufferings. The wind generally blows from the north, but, instead of being refreshing, it is so heated, in passing over the desert, that it not only feels oppressive, but dries up the mouth and skin, and checks perspiration. The Arabs, under the shade of their palm trees, and smoking their pipes, enjoy this hot weather; but the unfortunate traveller, exposed to these scorching winds, and to the heat reflected from the rocks and sand, has no other respite to his sufferings than during the now short nights.June9. At Gobetziteen the Island of Sais commences, and extends for six hours towards the north. At this season of the year no boat is necessary to visit this island, the water which separates it from the main land being only deep enough to reach the knees of the camels. It contains no remains of Egyptian antiquities. The peasants spoke of ruins; but they proved to be some grey granite columns belonging to a Christian edifice. They are in the centre of the island, nearly half an hour from the river. Each column consists of one piece of granite, with a Greek cross on their capitals. They are not very unlike the Christian monolithic pillars in the centre of the splendid portico of Medenet Abou. There are a great many wells in this island, with water-wheels, by means of which a considerable part of the interior is irrigated. I had a drawing of these Christian ruins taken by Mr. B.; but, not setting much value on it, I have mislaid it. From the number of houses the island appears to be populous. An hour beyond Sais, and four hours from Essau, we stopped at a small village of five huts, called Kasr Towaga, from the brick ruins of a castle of that name close adjoining.The ride this morning was most uninteresting; a slip of uncultivated land, narrower than even in the most barren parts ofLower Nubia, separating the river from the bleak and dreary desert. In the latter I observed several hills of light sand, which a strong wind would easily move, to the risk, perhaps, of the unfortunate travellers who might happen to be near. These moving masses of sand would baffle the efforts of cultivators more advanced in knowledge than the Nubians. It is not, therefore, surprising that these unfortunate beings consider as useless any attempt to resist so relentless an invader. The islands, protected by the river, afford them a refuge and support, without which this part of the valley of the Nile would soon be abandoned to the gazelles and beasts of prey. Our camels often sank up to the knees in sand. I observed on the latter great quantities of scarabæi. I have often seen these insects on the sand in parts of the desert where it was difficult to conceive how they could exist. Perhaps they live on other insects too minute to be seen by the naked eye. I once gave a scarabæus a date, and was astonished with what avidity he devoured a part of it, till he was completely gorged, and apparently half dead.I observed here a curious thrush, which is also very common near Dongolah. One I killed measured nine inches in length, including the tail, which is four and a half. The under part of the wings is of a light brown colour, and the lower feathers of the tail are edged at the extremity with white; otherwise, the plumage is entirely of a brownish black. The beak and legs are black; the former is curved.CHAPTER XVIII.KASR TOWAGA. — DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — INDOLENCE OF THE ARABS. — ARAB SHEAKH. — TEMPLE OF AMARAH. — PRESENT INHABITANTS. — WADY EL HADJAR. — FORTIFIED HOUSE ON AN ISLAND AT DAHL. — CATARACT OF UCKMA. — BIGOTRY OF THE INHABITANTS. — VARIOUS CATARACTS OF THE NILE. — MINERAL SPRING AT TANGOURE. — TEMPLES OF SEMNEH, ON THE WESTERN BANK. — CURIOUS MANNER OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — TEMPLE OF SEMNEH, ON THE EASTERN BANK. — INSCRIPTIONS ON THE ROCKS. — THE ARAB ROBBER ISAH. — SECOND CATARACT OF THE NILE. — INDUCEMENTS FOR TRAVELLERS TO EXTEND THEIR JOURNEY BEYOND THIS POINT. — COMPARISON BETWEEN VOYAGES IN THE DESERT AND AT SEA.AtKasr Towaga I wished to visit the remains of the Temple of Amarah, on the eastern bank; but for several hours I despaired of procuring a raft or boat, or any other means of crossing the river. After waiting some time, I observed at a distance a Sukkot ferry-boat, and immediately offered nine Turkish piastres to an Arab to go for it, and the same sum for the boat; and, as the camel-drivers began to be mutinous at the idea of being detained another day, I promised them a backsheesh of eighteen piastres; but such is the character of the Arabs in this country, that, so long as they have enough to procure any kind of food, they will seldom exert themselves to procure more. They prefer to live miserably, scarcely better than their fellow-labourers the camels, rather than to better their condition, secure an independence, and a provision against a day of distress.To increase their possessions, and elevate themselves to a higher rank by their activity and frugality, are ideas which never enter the minds of these children of destiny. If they earn a little money, or if some favour of fortune places unexpectedly in their hands a hundred piastres, they more generally spend it in afew nights of festivity, and burden themselves with the expense of another wife, than reserve it for the day when the fickle goddess may cease to befriend them. With what alacrity would a poor European accept the offer of 9 piastres (2s.3d.) to walk two miles for a boat! How gladly would a European boatman earn the same sum by merely ferrying us across the stream; yet it was more by threats than by this offer (although equal to eighteen days’ wages) that I induced one of my camel-drivers to go, during the heat of the day, for the boat. As, of course, I promised the reward only in case of success, he was unwilling to undergo this little fatigue on an uncertainty. My firman was also necessary to dispose the boatmen to earn more in twenty-four hours than they certainly have gained during the whole of the past week.My camel-drivers were very mutinous when they found me determined to pass the night at Amarah: my guide threatened to leave me, but he changed his tone when I told him to go, and declared I would not pay him. By the present of eighteen piastres, added to certain threats of thekorbash(whip made of the hide of the hippopotamus), if they annoyed me, order was restored. Backsheesh has great influence on the Arabs, but without a certain degree of firmness they are sometimes difficult to manage.We crossed the river, landed on the eastern bank, and went to the nearest village, called Heber. We found the sheakh and the principal inhabitants assembled under the shade of the palm trees. The sheakh, a noble-looking fellow, with that dignified gravity which I have so often found among the Arabs of this rank, received us with the usual attentions; and, in compliance with my request, immediately procured us donkeys, and conducted us to the village of Amarah, a ride of an hour and a half. The sheakh had a house at Amarah, to which he took us, and gave us an excellent supper and angoureebs to sleep on, which are very necessary here, on account of the number of scorpions. The road between the villages of Heber and Amarah is through the desert. I foundon it some beautiful specimens of red Egyptian jasper and hornstone nodules. We passed a large mountain, called Hadjer el Heber, of a very imposing appearance, which we had remarked this morning, on the opposite side of the river. It is about ten miles distant from the Nile.PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMARAH.The Temple of Amarah is about half an hour’s walk from the village of the same name, and is situated between the villages of Heber and Amarah, in the desert, to the right of the road we passed. There is sufficient remaining of the Temple of Amarah to exhibit the style and epoch. The architecture is Ethiopian (seePlan). A gateway, 19 feet wide, and ornamented withtwo columns, fragments of which are remaining, 3 feet 8 inches in diameter, leads into a room 53 feet by 30, ornamented with eight columns, also 3 feet 8 inches in diameter. Not a fragment of their capitals remains; but a considerable portion, covered with sculpture, of each column is standing.The sculpture on the columns is Ethiopian, but very indifferent, and the hieroglyphics so wretchedly executed, and so defaced, that it was scarcely possible to decipher any of them. The lowest row on the columns represents divinities of the Nile, besides which I observed a goddess with the globe, long horns, and two feathers, perhaps Koht, another with a plain helmet such as Neith often wears; and there is a representation of a king making offerings to Kneph, represented with a ram’s head, globe, and two feathers; and also to Thriphis, with a tiger’s head; a plain figure of Amun Ra, and the same with the figure of a mummy and globe and two feathers: I also remarked Honsoo with the globe and short horns. In the centre of the columns is a line of hieroglyphics, which I copied as well as their ruined condition would permit: they contain some curious titles, and the name of a king which is unknown. I conceive the temple to have been dedicated to Kneph, as the representations of that divinity are more frequent, and in more conspicuous situations, than the others.The foundations of the temple are of brick, and, for some distance around, are scattered fragments of pottery with branches of the palm tree painted on them, remains, no doubt, of the ancient city. The columns are of sandstone. Plate XLIV. (seeFrontispiece) shows two of them in detail, and their situation in regard to the Nile, or rather, I should say, as the river is not visible, to the palm groves on its banks, and will enable the reader to judge of the style of the sculpture. Ptolemy places the second cataract in latitude 22° 30′, and Berethis, on the eastern bank, 21° 30′. The difference of 1° agrees very exactly with the distance between the cataract and the ruins of Amarah.The country on this side of the Nile is richly cultivated, and the inhabitants bear no appearance of poverty. Notwithstanding the heavy taxes which they pay, those who are industrious may easily earn sufficient to render them comfortable. I saw about thirty of the peasants, who were all particularly clean and well-dressed. A party of them were feasting on raw liver. The custom of eating raw kidneys and liver is very common south of the second cataract. The same custom is, I understand, very general in Syria, and once existed in Scotland. I observed here, also, a custom which I had often heard of, but never before witnessed. When an Arab loses any near relation, his friends are expected to condole with him on his loss, by literally mingling their tears with his; for they place their cheeks together, and sigh and sob often for ten minutes at a time. This custom in the land of crocodiles reminded me of our expression of “crocodile tears.” A French merchant, Sheakh Ibrahim, who has often visited these regions, was described to me as a perfect Arab; and when I asked why, “Oh,” said they, “he eats raw liver, and cries as we do.”[Illustration]I saw here a description of guitar, which is very common in Upper Nubia, but it may be called the guitar of the Shageea, as that tribe possess more beautiful ones than are found elsewhere. They consist, as the vignette will show (seevignette), of a circular bowl, about nine inches in diameter, of wood, or sometimes of the shell of a tortoise of the Nile: this is covered with prepared sheepskin, in which are six small holes, marked E. The three sticks B, C, D, are generally of acacia; but in Dar Shageea they are sometimes of ebony, and ornamented with silver and ivory. There are five cords attached to the cross stick C, but they have no pegs, merely folding several times round the latter in rather a clumsymanner: they, however, manage to tighten them. F is a string to attach it to the wall; and G is a plectrum, with which they strike with their right hand the cords near the bridge; playing, at the same time, with the left. Their music is wild and simple,—little variation in it,—but some of their airs are not unpleasing. The reader will perceive, from the vignette, that the form is not very unlike that of the Greek lyre.June10. We returned at noon from the Temple of Amarah to the village of Kasr Towaga; started from the latter place at two in the afternoon, and advanced five hours in the desert. The first part of this wilderness is desolate and frightful, beyond any I have ever seen. After a short space its appearance became still more terrible, resembling a sea agitated and driven into the most awful shapes by wild winds. For the first few hours the ground was covered with pebbles and quartz nodules of various colours. The rocks, which are of gneiss, serpentine, and flinty slate, occasionally appear. Four hours after starting, we passed a mountain called Hellal, of a conical shape, the second we have observed of this form since we left Kasr Towaga; and an hour afterwards we encamped in the desert.June11. We started at sunrise; and in half an hour entered among a chain of granite rocks; fine, bold, roundish masses, having all the appearance, at a distance, of being detached and piled on each other. In two hours and a half from the time we started, we arrived at the Nile, opposite the Island of Dahl. For some time before arriving, we observed, on the eastern bank, a fine eminence, which, at one point of view, reminded me somewhat of the western mountain of Thebes, although smaller, and of a less brilliant colour. The place at which we stopped (seevignette) offers one of the most picturesque views in the Batn, or Wady el Hadjar, into which we have now entered. The Island of Dahl is the principal object: on a picturesque rock, in the centre of it, is a fortified castle of a sheakh, thesuccessor, perhaps, of one of the forts on the islands represented on the walls of Thebes.
Pl. 4.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.INDIGO.SENNA.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 4.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.INDIGO.SENNA.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 4.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 52.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.OSSHI.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 52.From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.OSSHI.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 52.
OSSHI.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
The commander of the expedition was the same brave fellow who took such particular care of his person during the former engagement. He encamped near the Mahas, and published a proclamation offering them a general pardon. The Cadi Esau and many of the other sheakhs were disposed to accept the terms, when another fanatic priest started up, and upbraided them with their cowardice, treachery, and folly; “since,” said he, “you know that the Turks will deceive you, and it is evident that God has given our enemies into our hands; for without seeking them they are come to us.” By this absurd harangue, he kindled a wild enthusiasm, to increase which all the fakeers were employed in writing charms on their weapons. The commander was afraid to attack them, on account of their number and their strong position; but the Turkish volunteers laughed him to scorn, and dashed forward on horseback to charge the Mahas. Notwithstanding the formidable position of the insurgents, many of them having fire-arms, and the facility their situation afforded them of rolling down stones on the Turks, yet such was the effect of the instantaneous and gallant example set by the latter, that the soldiers followeden masse, and soon dislodged and put to flight the unfortunate Mahas.
In this engagement they calculated that 170 were killed, and about 30 made prisoners. I myself saw here 105 pairs of ears on a string, which the victors were conveying to the governor; and I am informed the commander has another. Very many being shot in the river, their ears could not be obtained. They brought also to Haffeer twenty-two prisoners, linked together in a string, having their arms tied behind their backs, in the ancient Egyptian manner. Their arms were drawn together behind with a rope, attached a little above their elbows; causing, of course, an unnatural and painful projection of the chest. Some of them were apparently half-bred negroes, who were or had been slaves. They were all tall athletic men, but wild and haggard in their appearance, and seemingly insensible either to pity or to suffering.Seeing them in pain, I begged the Turks to loosen their cords, which they did as a favour to me; but the prisoners seemed quite indifferent, and did not even thank me. I persuaded the Turks, also, to liberate from the cords a young boy, of twelve or thirteen, on account of his extreme youth; but the lad has something roguish in his eye; so that, if the soldiers on guard do not pay more attention than it is their custom to do, I flatter myself that, before they arrive at Dongolah, he will profit by the indulgence, and effect his escape.
On hearing of the defeat of the Mahas, I determined instantly to start, conceiving that, though Melek Backeet and his followers have escaped, they will, for at least a day or two, be too much engaged in providing for their own safety to lose time, and risk their own security, in waylaying travellers. The only danger is that of falling in with them by accident among the rocky passes of the cataract, or in the desert; and they would gladly get hold of us, not, perhaps, for plunder, but as hostages for their own security. Now, however, we were all willing to encounter every risk rather than support this endless delay, and be any longer confined to the prison of a wretched indigo-house, in which my artist, myself, and the two Turks had only one small hot room to sit, eat, and receive visiters. The heat is dreadful: no cool refreshing wind to mitigate the scorching rays of a sun almost completely vertical; every breath of air heated as if issuing from a furnace; even the evenings, after sunset, are hot. At that time I generally went down to the river, the air on the banks being less oppressive: from about midnight until sunrise, and even a few hours after, it is very cool and delightful; and, not to lose the enjoyment and benefit of that period, I have for the last month slept, like the Arabs, in the open air.[46]
My caravan, being strengthened by some merchants who joined us, became now rather formidable, and may be worth describing. My own party consisted of eleven, including thehabeer(guide), two Ababde, and three Hassanyeh, the owners of our two dromedaries and six camels. My artist and myself were well armed, and my dragoman, and Greek and Coptic servant, also had muskets, with which the Mahmoor had provided them. My guide had fire-arms, and the Arabs their lances and swords: therefore, including the guard which the governor had given me, of a baractar and six soldiers, my own party consisted of eighteen persons, of whom thirteen had fire-arms. The two Turks and their two servants were provided with them; and their camel-drivers were three Shageea armed with spears. Besides these, five merchants, three with guns, joined my caravan. We were, therefore, altogether, thirty men; twenty with fire-arms; and were thus, I think, a match for 100 of the Mahas, with their matchlocks and lances: but we all conceived it so very probable that we might meet a party of the insurgents, that I directed each person to keep his musket in his hand during the whole night.
We started at four in the afternoon, and marched until two in the morning, ten hours, and encamped in the desert two hours before arriving at Fakeer el Bint. The effect of the caravan winding along the rocky banks of the cataracts in a line, one after the other, on account of the narrowness and badness of the road, was very picturesque. The variety of the costumes and armour; the numerous Arab tribes,—for scarcely more than two or three of ourparty belong to the same one,—Hassanyeh, Shageea, and Ababde; Berberenes of Upper Nubia, and Fellaheen of the lower valley of the Nile; Turks, Greeks, and Europeans,—all differing in dress, features, and complexion,—formed an interesting group. I could trace the gradations of colour, even in my own caravan, from the yellowish Arab of Cairo to the darker native of Upper Egypt, and from the brown Dongoloue to the dark-brown Shageea; but the latter are very different in feature and complexion from the bluish-black of the negro slaves belonging to the Turks.
We all preserved the strictest silence, which enabled me to enjoy more the noise of the cataracts, the soft moonlight, and the romantic rocky scenery: but while I felt the beauty of the latter, I was well aware that the granite rocks and passes afforded an ambush for the Mahas, which was not without danger to us, their unskilfulness and ignorance being my only security. We met repeatedly parties of women and boys, either acting as spies, or going, as they pretended, to Haffeer, their houses being destroyed, and husbands and fathers dead. Their manner was certainly suspicious, and I had some difficulty in preventing my soldiers from treating them as spies. We passed several cottages, now uninhabited in consequence of the revolt.
June3. We arrived, in two hours, at Fakeer el Bint, and found the village entirely deserted. The Mahas, by their imprudent rising, have entailed a long series of sufferings and wretchedness on their families; even those peasants who took no part in it are ruined; their houses destroyed; their oxen killed, and their water-wheels broken. We may admire the enthusiastic courage of the chiefs, who, born to command, could ill endure the proud contempt and degrading punishments of their insolent oppressors; but we cannot but condemn their guilt and rashness in sacrificing, without the remotest chance of ultimate success, the lives and happiness of so many of their countrymen. I observed, on an island near Fakeer el Bint, several fugitives. The Nileforms, between this place and Solib, a considerable bend, the distance along the banks, through the province of Mahas, being nearly thirty hours’ march of a camel, or about seventy miles, and by the desert only twelve hours, or thirty miles. We entered the desert at three o’clock. Never have I felt such excessive heat; every breath of air is baneful. I tried to protect myself from it with a turban and umbrella, and even the sheets of my bed were put in requisition. I made an endeavour to construct a tent on my dromedary; but my efforts were fruitless, the wind being too strong. I felt my mouth dry and parched, and would have given even one of my drawings of Meroe for a glass of pure cold water; but every drop we had was soon quite warm. Before dark we had passed the mountainous and the only soft part of the desert, and at midnight we encamped within nine miles of Solib. The rocks are chiefly of serpentine, slate, sandstone, and granite, the latter often much decomposed: there were also a few fragments of marble scattered about.
Ruins of Solib.—June4-8. This morning, being anxious to arrive at the celebrated Temple of Solib, I started before sunrise, and, pushing on my dromedary at a quick pace, I arrived there in two hours. The first view of the temple is very imposing; standing proudly at the extremity of the desert, the only beacon of civilisation in this sea of barrenness. The situation of the temple is as picturesque as it is extraordinary. The columns are so distinctly visible, that, at a distance, it has almost the appearance of a Grecian edifice. On approaching nearer, the effect is changed, but not injured; for, though not Grecian, it is of the purest Egyptian architecture. I rambled over it for some time, delighted with its picturesque appearance: the plan of the temple is also beautiful, and the architecture of the most chaste simplicity; but, as an antiquarian, I could have wished for more remains of sculpture, and tablets with hieroglyphics.
The first grand propylon of the temple is 600 feet from theriver; but the form and exact dimensions of it are now not distinguishable, being entirely ruined, and the materials almost all carried away. From the appearance of the rooms, which the reader will observe on a reference to thePlan,there seems to have been the same economy of stone in constructing of this propylon, which we shall presently observe in the second. Behind the first are the remains of two sphinxes. One of them is nearly destroyed, but the other is not so much injured as to prevent my perceiving that the style of the sculpture has been good; but in its present state I did not consider it worth a drawing. I observed that the first and second propylons were connected together. The Plan (Plate XL.) will show that in front of the second there are the remains of two walls, which, no doubt, connected it with the first. This is quite in conformity with the general construction of Egyptian edifices. A flight of steps, now scarcely distinguishable, led up into a court before the second propylon. This court, the entrance into which is about 85 feet from the first propylon, is 70 feet long and 45 feet wide. It was ornamented with six columns, the diameter of which is 10 feet; the traces of them only are visible.
Pl. 40.Drawn by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF SOLIB BUILT BY AMENOPH 3.London. Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 40.Drawn by L. Bandoni.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF SOLIB BUILT BY AMENOPH 3.London. Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 40.
TEMPLE OF SOLIB BUILT BY AMENOPH 3.
London. Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
The remains of the second propylon are more considerable. Each wing is 78 feet wide; the door in the centre, leading into the temple, 11 feet wide, making the total width 167 feet. The depth of the propylon is 24 feet. It is remarkable, that this propylon is not, like those of Egypt, a solid mass of stone, with only staircases, and, occasionally, small rooms, but finished, and apparently used for habitations. The one here contains three rooms on one side, and two on the other, but without doors, and evidently constructed with a view of using little stone, as the walls are not hewn smooth. This is an economy of material rarely seen in Egyptian edifices. The doorway leading into the temple is of the correct Egyptian form, the width of the centre part, which is 17 feet long, being 13 feet, and that of the two ends, which are each3 feet long, being, as already mentioned, only 11 feet wide. The recesses, thus formed in the centre of the doorways, add very much to their architectural beauty. The view from this doorway of the next court of the temple is very magnificent. This court is 90 feet long and 113 wide, and was ornamented with twenty-eight columns, a single row on each of the north, south, and east sides, and two on the west, being the side opposite to the entrance. There are now seven of these columns standing, with the bud-shaped capital. I observed a slight difference in their dimensions, but they are of the purest Egyptian architecture; their circumference is 19 feet 4 inches, and intercolumniation 5 feet 5 inches. Few more striking views are presented in any part of the valley of the Nile than the first entrance from the second propylon into this court.
COLUMNS OF SOLIB.
COLUMNS OF SOLIB.
COLUMNS OF SOLIB.
Plate XLI.is taken from this point, and will, I trust, givethe reader a correct idea of the magnificence and exquisite architectural beauty of this temple. Five columns appear in this view, detached from each other, proud monuments of the power and greatness of the Egyptian conqueror Amunoph III., who erected them, and whose name and titles are engraved in hieroglyphics on their shafts. They bear also the name of the great divinity Amun Ra, to whom the temple was dedicated. The remains of many of the columns are lying on the ground; the roof is gone; and only one piece of architrave remaining, supported by one of the most beautiful and perfect of the columns. The architectural form of these columns is more light and elegant than almost any specimens of the same kind in Egypt; at the same time without losing that character of grandeur and severity, so much in unison with its situation. The background to this view (as will be seen in thePlate) is the trackless desert,—a vast yellow ocean, bounded only by the horizon, without an eminence, or even hillock, visible to relieve the eye; and that tide of sand which never ebbs, driven on continually by the prevailing strong winds from the north, and particularly the north-west, beats against the temple, and daily encroaches on its remains. On the east side, at a short distance from the ruin, towards the Nile, Isis seems still to extend her protection, and a luxuriant and beautiful vegetation flourishes; but on the other sides Typhon reigns in gloomy solitude, and the traveller turns with delight from the contemplation of the bleak and dreary wilderness, to the elegant and magnificent work of art which adorns its margin.
Plate XLII.is a view I made which shows all the seven columns which remain in this court.[47]Waddington speaks ofthe red tints of the sandstone: there are a few, but very few, the general colour being much whiter than that of any Egyptian or Ethiopian ruin I have seen. I was in doubt whether to consider it as arenarious limestone, or sandstone; but the specimens I brought to England have been decided to be sandstone. The background of this view, consisting of the river and distant hills, is very pretty. The view is taken from the last existing room; and the reader will perceive to the right, in the foreground, the fragment of a column on which is one of the representations of prisoners which adorn all the columns of that room. The next court is more destroyed; yet there are sufficient traces of the columns to show precisely what the plan has been. It is of the same width as the last court, and 78 feet long; and was ornamented with two rows of columns on the north and south sides, and on the east and west with one only; in all, thirty-two. The circumference of each is 17 feet; but not one of them is standing.
Pl. 41.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH III, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 41.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH III, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 41.
TEMPLE OF AMENOPH III, SOLIB.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
The next chamber, which was apparently an intermediate room leading to the sanctuaries, contains the remains of twelve columns, of which now only one remains perfect. The capital is of a form generally considered as Ptolemaic, but we have here authority for calling it Egyptian. It represents branches of the palm tree, and near the base of these columns there is some interesting sculpture; a number of prisoners, represented with their heads and busts resting on turreted ovals, containing the names of the countries whence they come; and, to signify that they are prisoners, their hands are tied together behind their backs, in the usual Egyptian manner, tight above the elbows, causing a painful and unnatural projection of the chest. The prisoners on the columns on the north side of this room have beards and hair; and some, without hair, appear to be old men. Their features are fine, and have very little of the Negro cast. On the opposite side, the prisoners represented are youths with their hair tied in a knot a little below the crown of the head, and hanging down almost to their shoulders. These have very much of the Negro features, wide nostrils, thick lips,and high cheek-bones. I copied the names of thirty-eight of these provinces: the only one I could make out was that of Mesopotamia, in hieroglyphics.
On the column in this room which still preserves its capital, is some sculpture, in a good style, representing the king presenting offerings to Honsoo, with the globe and short horns for a head-dress. The remains of the temple extend a hundred feet beyond this room; so that the entire length of the edifice must have been about 540 feet, and the number of columns with which it was adorned, and whose situation can now be accurately ascertained, is eighty-four. There must, however, have been a greater number; for among the confused piles of stone which are stated above as extending a hundred feet beyond this room, I found some fragments of columns 3 feet in diameter. (Plate XLIII.is taken from this end of the temple.) This is also an extremely beautiful point of view; but although not even a small stone is omitted, and notwithstanding the temple is so ruined, the reader will perceive that there is no excess of shapeless masses of stone to spoil the effect of the splendid architectural remains of the edifice. The column I have described with the Ptolemaic capital is the most prominent object in this view; but the picturesque grouping of the columns of the great court is finely exhibited from this point.
On the door leading from the first great court into the second, the king is represented with a staff in his hand, addressing Amun Ra, who has the usual sceptre of the gods. Above the latter is the king presenting offerings to a divinity, the hieroglyphical titles of which are not legible; but the wings of the goddess of truth are visible. Behind the second propylon, there has been some very interesting sculpture, but it is now scarcely perceptible: the figures were apparently only one foot high. One piece I copied, which had some of the hieroglyphics remaining; but above this I could only distinguish the divinities with the attributes of Horus, Thoth, Anubis, Osiris, and Amun Ra, to whom the temple is dedicated. This sculpture is in basso relievo. It is much to beregretted that it is so defaced; for, doubtless, it has been a most interesting mythological tablet. Some of the blocks of stone are harder than the others, but the greater number are exceedingly soft, doubtless, one cause of the ruined state of the temple, and why the sculpture is scarcely distinguishable.
Pl. 42.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 42.On stone by C. Hullmandel from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 42.
SOLIB.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
The remains of the ancient city extend for a considerable distance both towards the north and south. On the bank of the river, 240 yards farther north than the temple, are the remains of a small pier, 13 feet high, and 20 feet long; while 200 yards to the north of this pier is a projection of stones into the river, thrown in apparently to form a port. This has evidently been a city of some importance. Its situation, at the commencement of the road across the desert, is also deserving of attention. The town was advantageously situated, being on the route both of those who followed the banks of the river and also of those who crossed the desert.
Ptolemy places the great cataract at 22° 30′; Φθουρι, at 21° 20′; a difference of 1° 10′. The real difference of latitude is 1° 27′; that is, 17′ more; but Autoba, the town he mentions before Phthouris, is stated to be only 54°, that is, 23° less than the ascertained difference; and Pistre, which is the next town he mentions after Phthouris, is 1° 50′ from the cataract; that is, 23° too far distant. We have thus, I think, no other alternative than to suppose this to be the site of Phthouris, which, from the magnitude of the ruins, must have belonged to a city of great importance, and one that he would not have omitted to mention. The Temple of Siscé is probably the site of Pistre.
After the pyramids of Meroe, this is decidedly the most interesting and magnificent ruin we have seen in Ethiopia; superior to the former, perhaps, in picturesque and architectural beauty, but less interesting to the antiquarian, as being Egyptian, and not Ethiopian. It is worthy of remark, that, with the exceptions of the colossal statues of Argo, I have not met with any genuine Ethiopian remains since I left Gibel el Birkel. Travellers who extend theirtour of the Nile to the second cataract, would be amply repaid for their additional fatigue, if they visited this temple.
We found, on our arrival at Solib, a number of merchants detained there on their way to Dongolah, on account of the insurrection. They were delighted to see us arrive, and prepared immediately for their departure. They complained bitterly of their long detention and great consequent expense. Solib is almost at the extremity of the province of Mahas; but, the peasants of this end of the province not having taken any part in the revolt, we were comparatively secure, although Melek Backeet, their chief, has a house in the neighbourhood. I lived under a shed at a short distance from the temple, and remained there four days, working almost from sunrise until sunset, regardless of the extreme heat. I now required a sheep every day for my caravan, which I had some difficulty in procuring, having had repeatedly to send across the river. I fortunately provided myself with a large stock of bread and biscuit at Dongolah: there is none to be had here.
June8. At the quick pace of the dromedary, I was twenty minutes in going, this evening, from the temple to the village of Solib. It is remarkable for the cottages being made, like those of the latter in Mahas and Dongolah, of the stalks of the dourah, and branches of the palm tree: here, however, the foliage extends considerably above the roofs of the huts; and thus not only protects them in some degree from the rays of the sun, but gives them a very picturesque and graceful appearance. The house of the sheakh of the village is fortified with square towers.
Pl. 43.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 43.On stone by W. P. Sherlock, from a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.Printed by C. Hullmandel.TEMPLE OF AMENOPH, SOLIB.Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
Pl. 43.
TEMPLE OF AMENOPH, SOLIB.
Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835.
About a mile beyond the village is the rock called Doshe, which, projecting into the river, divides the province of Mahas from Sukkot. It is of sandstone, and contains traces of iron ore: its surface is rugged, and in part blackened by the sun, forming a striking contrast to the bright yellow sand which covers the central part of the rock. At the eastern end, above the river, is an excavated tomb, which contains some traces of sculpture, though now scarcely distinguishable. I perceived, from what remains, that itwas in a good style of basso relievo. There were some ovals, but no hieroglyphics on them at all legible. I endeavoured to make out the name, and, from the slight fragments remaining, I conceived one to be that of Thothmes III., and another that of Osirtisen III., but must confess I could not make them out at all satisfactorily.[48]At the end of the tomb are the remains of three divinities, seated. The sculpture of these does not seem to have been good, but they are so defaced, that it is impossible to decide upon the style. On each side of the divinities is a niche. The site of this tomb is picturesque, commanding a fine prospect of the river. (Seevignette.) Above it a king is represented making offerings to a divinity with the attributes of Kneph, and behind the latter are two other divinities, one with a plain helmet,the other a vase on her head. Beneath the line containing these subjects is another containing a figure kneeling, and a long tablet of hieroglyphics; but the latter are so broken and defaced, that only one here and there is legible. On the south side of the tomb is a beautiful little piece of sculpture, representing a king making offerings to Amun Ra, with the head-dress of the globe and short horns; and behind the last is a goddess. The name of the king seems to have been broken off designedly, and the hieroglyphics are very much defaced.
FROM A TOMB EXCAVATED OUT OF THE ROCK NEAR SOLIB.
FROM A TOMB EXCAVATED OUT OF THE ROCK NEAR SOLIB.
FROM A TOMB EXCAVATED OUT OF THE ROCK NEAR SOLIB.
June8. We left the village of Solib, and province of Mahas, at four o’clock, and arrived at the village of Sukkot at six in the evening. This is rather a large place, and the residence of the katshef. I observed, in passing, four of the fortified houses of the sheakhs; the rest of the houses are of mud: there are some few of the palm leaves, but not so picturesque as those of the Mahas.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
TEMPLE OF SUKKOT.
We stopped to examine some ruins, called by the peasants, Biban. The first consists of two fragments of columns, around which are the traces of the temple. The plan is Roman-Egyptian, and is rather curious, though not good. (Seevignette.) Three hundred and fifty yards to the north there is another ruined temple. One column is standing amid a mass of large stones: it reminded me of the solitary column, and the vast masses around it, of the Temple of Hercules at Girgenti; but the comparison is very degrading to the great beauty of the latter. The capital of this is almost entirely defaced, but it has decidedly been a head of Athor. On some of the stones I observed fragments of Egyptian ornaments, and the fragment of a name, apparently Amunoph III. The column is fluted, but not in the usual Egyptian style, being much more flat. Attempts have apparently been recently made to throw it down, or break it to pieces, its architectural ornaments being quite obliterated. Its circumference is 12 feet 8 inches. East of the temple is a basalt statue, the sculpture of which seems to have been very good,but it is very much injured. On the interval between the two temples, and also for 350 yards beyond, extending thus over a space of 700 yards, there are traces of the city. These may be called the ruins of Sukkot, from their vicinity to that village, which is the chief place of the province.
It is very difficult to ascertain what was the ancient name of this place. The situation of the ruins agrees better with the position, according to Ptolemy, of Phthouris, than Solib; but the insignificance of the remains here, compared to the splendid ruins of Solib, prevent my imagining it to be that city. It may be one of the many mentioned by Pliny, or the Autoba of Ptolemy.
Half an hour after we left this ruin we passed the village of Gobetziteen. I observed a large caravan of slave merchants from Dongolah, who had left Solib this morning: their numerous fires, and the groups seated under the palm trees, were very picturesque, presenting effects that even a Gherardo della Notte could scarcely have done justice to. They complained of the detention at Dongolah having cost them so much. The expense of transporting the slaves from Kordofan, or Abyssinia, to Cairo, is very great; the duty alone, besides the maintenance, is nearly seven dollars each. They pay duty at four different places: at Kordofan, at Dongolah, at Deroueh near Assuan, and, lastly, at Boulak near Cairo.
We stopped at the village of Essau, opposite to the Island of Hadji Falme. On the latter they tell me that there are antiquities, but all broken; and I could not procure a boat to visit them. Being rather late of arriving, I found the inhabitants of the village sleeping in the open air; the women on the angoureebs, and the men on mats: and, I can assure the reader, it is a great enjoyment, in this climate, to sleep thus beneath the clear blue sky. About ten o’clock the air becomes rather cool, while at midnight and in the morning it is comparatively cold: this invigorates the frame, after the enervating heat of the day; and, in this climate, there are no fogs or damp to dread. It is the only time that I can now enjoy;yet I support the heat better than my servants, though accustomed to that of Egypt all their lives. We are exposed nearly the whole day to a sun almost directly vertical, without a breath of cool air to alleviate our sufferings. The wind generally blows from the north, but, instead of being refreshing, it is so heated, in passing over the desert, that it not only feels oppressive, but dries up the mouth and skin, and checks perspiration. The Arabs, under the shade of their palm trees, and smoking their pipes, enjoy this hot weather; but the unfortunate traveller, exposed to these scorching winds, and to the heat reflected from the rocks and sand, has no other respite to his sufferings than during the now short nights.
June9. At Gobetziteen the Island of Sais commences, and extends for six hours towards the north. At this season of the year no boat is necessary to visit this island, the water which separates it from the main land being only deep enough to reach the knees of the camels. It contains no remains of Egyptian antiquities. The peasants spoke of ruins; but they proved to be some grey granite columns belonging to a Christian edifice. They are in the centre of the island, nearly half an hour from the river. Each column consists of one piece of granite, with a Greek cross on their capitals. They are not very unlike the Christian monolithic pillars in the centre of the splendid portico of Medenet Abou. There are a great many wells in this island, with water-wheels, by means of which a considerable part of the interior is irrigated. I had a drawing of these Christian ruins taken by Mr. B.; but, not setting much value on it, I have mislaid it. From the number of houses the island appears to be populous. An hour beyond Sais, and four hours from Essau, we stopped at a small village of five huts, called Kasr Towaga, from the brick ruins of a castle of that name close adjoining.
The ride this morning was most uninteresting; a slip of uncultivated land, narrower than even in the most barren parts ofLower Nubia, separating the river from the bleak and dreary desert. In the latter I observed several hills of light sand, which a strong wind would easily move, to the risk, perhaps, of the unfortunate travellers who might happen to be near. These moving masses of sand would baffle the efforts of cultivators more advanced in knowledge than the Nubians. It is not, therefore, surprising that these unfortunate beings consider as useless any attempt to resist so relentless an invader. The islands, protected by the river, afford them a refuge and support, without which this part of the valley of the Nile would soon be abandoned to the gazelles and beasts of prey. Our camels often sank up to the knees in sand. I observed on the latter great quantities of scarabæi. I have often seen these insects on the sand in parts of the desert where it was difficult to conceive how they could exist. Perhaps they live on other insects too minute to be seen by the naked eye. I once gave a scarabæus a date, and was astonished with what avidity he devoured a part of it, till he was completely gorged, and apparently half dead.
I observed here a curious thrush, which is also very common near Dongolah. One I killed measured nine inches in length, including the tail, which is four and a half. The under part of the wings is of a light brown colour, and the lower feathers of the tail are edged at the extremity with white; otherwise, the plumage is entirely of a brownish black. The beak and legs are black; the former is curved.
KASR TOWAGA. — DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — INDOLENCE OF THE ARABS. — ARAB SHEAKH. — TEMPLE OF AMARAH. — PRESENT INHABITANTS. — WADY EL HADJAR. — FORTIFIED HOUSE ON AN ISLAND AT DAHL. — CATARACT OF UCKMA. — BIGOTRY OF THE INHABITANTS. — VARIOUS CATARACTS OF THE NILE. — MINERAL SPRING AT TANGOURE. — TEMPLES OF SEMNEH, ON THE WESTERN BANK. — CURIOUS MANNER OF CROSSING THE RIVER. — TEMPLE OF SEMNEH, ON THE EASTERN BANK. — INSCRIPTIONS ON THE ROCKS. — THE ARAB ROBBER ISAH. — SECOND CATARACT OF THE NILE. — INDUCEMENTS FOR TRAVELLERS TO EXTEND THEIR JOURNEY BEYOND THIS POINT. — COMPARISON BETWEEN VOYAGES IN THE DESERT AND AT SEA.
AtKasr Towaga I wished to visit the remains of the Temple of Amarah, on the eastern bank; but for several hours I despaired of procuring a raft or boat, or any other means of crossing the river. After waiting some time, I observed at a distance a Sukkot ferry-boat, and immediately offered nine Turkish piastres to an Arab to go for it, and the same sum for the boat; and, as the camel-drivers began to be mutinous at the idea of being detained another day, I promised them a backsheesh of eighteen piastres; but such is the character of the Arabs in this country, that, so long as they have enough to procure any kind of food, they will seldom exert themselves to procure more. They prefer to live miserably, scarcely better than their fellow-labourers the camels, rather than to better their condition, secure an independence, and a provision against a day of distress.
To increase their possessions, and elevate themselves to a higher rank by their activity and frugality, are ideas which never enter the minds of these children of destiny. If they earn a little money, or if some favour of fortune places unexpectedly in their hands a hundred piastres, they more generally spend it in afew nights of festivity, and burden themselves with the expense of another wife, than reserve it for the day when the fickle goddess may cease to befriend them. With what alacrity would a poor European accept the offer of 9 piastres (2s.3d.) to walk two miles for a boat! How gladly would a European boatman earn the same sum by merely ferrying us across the stream; yet it was more by threats than by this offer (although equal to eighteen days’ wages) that I induced one of my camel-drivers to go, during the heat of the day, for the boat. As, of course, I promised the reward only in case of success, he was unwilling to undergo this little fatigue on an uncertainty. My firman was also necessary to dispose the boatmen to earn more in twenty-four hours than they certainly have gained during the whole of the past week.
My camel-drivers were very mutinous when they found me determined to pass the night at Amarah: my guide threatened to leave me, but he changed his tone when I told him to go, and declared I would not pay him. By the present of eighteen piastres, added to certain threats of thekorbash(whip made of the hide of the hippopotamus), if they annoyed me, order was restored. Backsheesh has great influence on the Arabs, but without a certain degree of firmness they are sometimes difficult to manage.
We crossed the river, landed on the eastern bank, and went to the nearest village, called Heber. We found the sheakh and the principal inhabitants assembled under the shade of the palm trees. The sheakh, a noble-looking fellow, with that dignified gravity which I have so often found among the Arabs of this rank, received us with the usual attentions; and, in compliance with my request, immediately procured us donkeys, and conducted us to the village of Amarah, a ride of an hour and a half. The sheakh had a house at Amarah, to which he took us, and gave us an excellent supper and angoureebs to sleep on, which are very necessary here, on account of the number of scorpions. The road between the villages of Heber and Amarah is through the desert. I foundon it some beautiful specimens of red Egyptian jasper and hornstone nodules. We passed a large mountain, called Hadjer el Heber, of a very imposing appearance, which we had remarked this morning, on the opposite side of the river. It is about ten miles distant from the Nile.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMARAH.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMARAH.
PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMARAH.
The Temple of Amarah is about half an hour’s walk from the village of the same name, and is situated between the villages of Heber and Amarah, in the desert, to the right of the road we passed. There is sufficient remaining of the Temple of Amarah to exhibit the style and epoch. The architecture is Ethiopian (seePlan). A gateway, 19 feet wide, and ornamented withtwo columns, fragments of which are remaining, 3 feet 8 inches in diameter, leads into a room 53 feet by 30, ornamented with eight columns, also 3 feet 8 inches in diameter. Not a fragment of their capitals remains; but a considerable portion, covered with sculpture, of each column is standing.
The sculpture on the columns is Ethiopian, but very indifferent, and the hieroglyphics so wretchedly executed, and so defaced, that it was scarcely possible to decipher any of them. The lowest row on the columns represents divinities of the Nile, besides which I observed a goddess with the globe, long horns, and two feathers, perhaps Koht, another with a plain helmet such as Neith often wears; and there is a representation of a king making offerings to Kneph, represented with a ram’s head, globe, and two feathers; and also to Thriphis, with a tiger’s head; a plain figure of Amun Ra, and the same with the figure of a mummy and globe and two feathers: I also remarked Honsoo with the globe and short horns. In the centre of the columns is a line of hieroglyphics, which I copied as well as their ruined condition would permit: they contain some curious titles, and the name of a king which is unknown. I conceive the temple to have been dedicated to Kneph, as the representations of that divinity are more frequent, and in more conspicuous situations, than the others.
The foundations of the temple are of brick, and, for some distance around, are scattered fragments of pottery with branches of the palm tree painted on them, remains, no doubt, of the ancient city. The columns are of sandstone. Plate XLIV. (seeFrontispiece) shows two of them in detail, and their situation in regard to the Nile, or rather, I should say, as the river is not visible, to the palm groves on its banks, and will enable the reader to judge of the style of the sculpture. Ptolemy places the second cataract in latitude 22° 30′, and Berethis, on the eastern bank, 21° 30′. The difference of 1° agrees very exactly with the distance between the cataract and the ruins of Amarah.
The country on this side of the Nile is richly cultivated, and the inhabitants bear no appearance of poverty. Notwithstanding the heavy taxes which they pay, those who are industrious may easily earn sufficient to render them comfortable. I saw about thirty of the peasants, who were all particularly clean and well-dressed. A party of them were feasting on raw liver. The custom of eating raw kidneys and liver is very common south of the second cataract. The same custom is, I understand, very general in Syria, and once existed in Scotland. I observed here, also, a custom which I had often heard of, but never before witnessed. When an Arab loses any near relation, his friends are expected to condole with him on his loss, by literally mingling their tears with his; for they place their cheeks together, and sigh and sob often for ten minutes at a time. This custom in the land of crocodiles reminded me of our expression of “crocodile tears.” A French merchant, Sheakh Ibrahim, who has often visited these regions, was described to me as a perfect Arab; and when I asked why, “Oh,” said they, “he eats raw liver, and cries as we do.”
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
I saw here a description of guitar, which is very common in Upper Nubia, but it may be called the guitar of the Shageea, as that tribe possess more beautiful ones than are found elsewhere. They consist, as the vignette will show (seevignette), of a circular bowl, about nine inches in diameter, of wood, or sometimes of the shell of a tortoise of the Nile: this is covered with prepared sheepskin, in which are six small holes, marked E. The three sticks B, C, D, are generally of acacia; but in Dar Shageea they are sometimes of ebony, and ornamented with silver and ivory. There are five cords attached to the cross stick C, but they have no pegs, merely folding several times round the latter in rather a clumsymanner: they, however, manage to tighten them. F is a string to attach it to the wall; and G is a plectrum, with which they strike with their right hand the cords near the bridge; playing, at the same time, with the left. Their music is wild and simple,—little variation in it,—but some of their airs are not unpleasing. The reader will perceive, from the vignette, that the form is not very unlike that of the Greek lyre.
June10. We returned at noon from the Temple of Amarah to the village of Kasr Towaga; started from the latter place at two in the afternoon, and advanced five hours in the desert. The first part of this wilderness is desolate and frightful, beyond any I have ever seen. After a short space its appearance became still more terrible, resembling a sea agitated and driven into the most awful shapes by wild winds. For the first few hours the ground was covered with pebbles and quartz nodules of various colours. The rocks, which are of gneiss, serpentine, and flinty slate, occasionally appear. Four hours after starting, we passed a mountain called Hellal, of a conical shape, the second we have observed of this form since we left Kasr Towaga; and an hour afterwards we encamped in the desert.
June11. We started at sunrise; and in half an hour entered among a chain of granite rocks; fine, bold, roundish masses, having all the appearance, at a distance, of being detached and piled on each other. In two hours and a half from the time we started, we arrived at the Nile, opposite the Island of Dahl. For some time before arriving, we observed, on the eastern bank, a fine eminence, which, at one point of view, reminded me somewhat of the western mountain of Thebes, although smaller, and of a less brilliant colour. The place at which we stopped (seevignette) offers one of the most picturesque views in the Batn, or Wady el Hadjar, into which we have now entered. The Island of Dahl is the principal object: on a picturesque rock, in the centre of it, is a fortified castle of a sheakh, thesuccessor, perhaps, of one of the forts on the islands represented on the walls of Thebes.