FOOTNOTES:

STONE ARCH AT THEBES.The tomb in which the elliptical arch (seeVignette) exists, is near the valley of the Sepulchre of the Queens, at Thebes. It is almost filled up to the ceiling with mummies, which occasioned great difficulty to get at the spring of the arch. It is a painted tomb, and the roof is plastered; and over the plaster, along the centre, is a line of hieroglyphics, containing the name of Amunoph I.; proving the existence of the knowledge of the arch in Egypt, about fifteen centuries and a half before the Christian era. It is also very remarkable, that this arch is not a segment of a circle, but elliptical. A part of the ceiling being broken, discovered the space between the ceiling and the rock.BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.On the road from the Memnonium to the valley of the Hassaseef, a little elevated on a rock, is a very small painted tomb, which is also vaulted. Thevignetterepresents the arch of the roof resting on the rock, and the inner arch of a recess at the end. This recess, as likewise the whole tomb, is covered with a coating of plaster; and on one of the jambs of the recess are the titles and prænomen of Thothmes III., “Sun, Establisher of the World,” fifthking of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned about fifteen centuries before the Christian era. The present access to this tomb is through a hole in the ceiling, from the floor of another tomb. This fracture discovers satisfactorily the construction of the arch. The sections, therefore, of the pointed arch at Gibel el Birkel (seePlate XXVIII.), of the circular one at the site of the metropolis ofEthiopia (seePlate VII.), and this elliptical and circular arch at Thebes, will, I think, satisfy the most sceptical, that the Romans were not the first who were acquainted with the power and principle of the arch. We have here, undoubtedly, the geometrical forms; and in answer to thecui bonoof the learned author of the able article in the last Quarterly Review[92], I must state that the Ethiopian arches were obviously invented to resist the rains; as the peasants of Sennaar have conical roofs to their cottages for the same purpose. The brick arches at Thebes, I conceive to have been erected not merely as ornaments, but, as regards the one of the time of Amunoph III., for the purpose of protecting it from the partial decomposition of the calcareous rock, which happens to be there less solid, while the tomb of the time of Thothmes III., being immediately beneath another, suggested the utility, if not necessity, of strengthening the roof with an arch.BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.The Ethiopian sculpture has the same defects as the Egyptian, as to the manner of representing the profile of the face, but the bodies have a roundness which distinguishes them entirely from the Egyptian. The latter is more graceful and pleasing to the eye, when the traveller is accustomed to that peculiarity of style, but I do conceive the Ethiopian to be, in some respects, more true to nature.It may be asked why, advanced as the Ethiopians were in the arts, they did not draw the human figure better, and more in accordance with nature. It is difficult, and, I must confess, almost impossible, to explain quite satisfactorily this circumstance. The Egyptians, as I have said, had a style still more unnatural, yet few can doubt their high degree of civilisation. The general form of the figures gives one the idea of their being very early efforts of art. It seems to me very possible, that the invention of the sculptor and painter may have been first exercised on the walls of some celebrated temple; and this defective representation may,from the sacredness of the place, have become the conventional style of the country. The bigotted veneration which the people would naturally feel for those forms under which their divinities were first represented, may have made them consider it lawful, indeed, to improve the delineation, but criminal to attempt to change it entirely.The Egyptians and the Ethiopians were equally ignorant of perspective. When Egypt was under the dominion of the Greeks and Romans, we perceive that policy and respect for the prejudices of the people prevented those nations from making any innovations in the national style. The differences between the sculpture, at those periods, and during the eighteenth dynasty, cannot be called so much changes, as marks of the great decline of the pure Egyptian art. No figures, on the walls of the temples, are sculptured or painted in the pure Greek or Roman style. Those rulers of Egypt, though of course acquainted with the latter, continued to follow the Egyptian style in all the edifices that they erected. The only instances in which they seem to have deviated at all from this rule, are in some few portraits found on Greek mummies. This renders it probable that there existed a strong religious prejudice on the subject, and that the Ethiopians and Egyptians were as tenacious of the forms and costumes of their divinities, as religious sects, in more recent times, have shown themselves about the dress and appearance of their ministers.There is, therefore, no reason to suppose, that the Ethiopians were unable to draw figures correctly, because, from reverence to the antiquity of their religion, and the superstition of the people, they did not improve the forms of their divinities. Faulty, however, as that style is, both in design and colour, it has still its attractions, though, in saying so, I may be accused of being an admirer of deformity. Their formality is not inappropriate to sacred edifices. Travellers daily become reconciled to its defects, and at last admire what at first appeared to them so strange.No one can have visited the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, without an enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful and rich harmony of the colouring, the taste displayed in the ornaments, the spirited execution of the animals and hieroglyphics, and the magical effect of the decorations. We see, in the fragments which still exist, that the Ethiopians drew animals, and also ornaments, very beautifully. We may therefore consider it almost certain, that they could have drawn the human figure better had they been permitted.There are few traces of colour remaining on any Ethiopian edifice, yet I found sufficient in one of the porticoes of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel, to enable me to ascertain the important fact, that the colouring was similar to the Egyptian. That of the human body is of the same red tint; and is it not singular that man is represented of the same complexion in Ethiopia as in every part of Egypt? Such a coincidence could only arise from the circumstance of the one people having derived their knowledge of the arts from the other. The colouring of the Ethiopians and Egyptians was of course, like the form of the figure, conventional. Now, I ask the reader, Where is it most probable that this colour was first established? Was it in a country where the inhabitants must have been nearly of that dark tint represented in these sculptures, or was it in one, 1700 miles farther north, where the people must have been, as they are now, yellow, or, comparatively speaking, white. The first colonies which introduced the arts into Egypt would naturally represent their divinities under the same appearance as in the mother country, and the first kings, and other persons making offerings, would of course be the colonists. Impressed with reverence for the first models presented to them, the Egyptians would continue to use this colour, tacitly acknowledging, by this circumstance, that they derived the knowledge of the arts from Ethiopia. There are several representations in Egypt of black men and black queens, but these almost invariablybear the negro features. Even if they were intended to represent Ethiopians, that colour could only be a mark of distinction, afterwards introduced, as of a blacker nation than themselves; for we find the Ethiopians, on their own edifices, represented as exactly of the same tint as the Egyptians of Thebes and Memphis.If the artist were to paint them of one of the six colours with which they were acquainted,—white, red, green, blue, yellow, or black, the one approaching nearest to what was probably the real Ethiopian complexion, would certainly be the red. We shall be confirmed in this conclusion, if we consider the latitude and the colour of the present cultivators of the soil. Though they speak the Arabic language, they are most probably (and the tradition I heard at Dongolah confirms the supposition) descended from the race of the true Ethiopians, obliged, by force, to adopt the language and religion of their conquerors. That people, from their climate, could not have been white, and, had they been black, they would have so represented themselves. The Copts, the descendants of the Egyptians, are fairer than the Fellaheen, yet the latter look white in Ethiopia, contrasted with the present inhabitants of that country. It must also be considered that the Arab conquerors, being from the southern part of their country, and therefore darkened by the climate and the desert life they led, would, to a certain extent, give a darker tint to the Ethiopians; nevertheless, I have given views of some Berbers whose complexions are decidedly lighter than they are represented on the walls. (SeePlate XVI.) We must recollect also that it has ever been a custom of the Orientals to represent themselves and their mistresses as beautifully fair. The present Ethiopians esteem nothing more than a light complexion. Before they were accustomed to Europeans, they looked with horror on what they considered their unnatural whiteness; but if an Ethiopian is celebrating in a song the charms of his mistress, he dwells with the greatest rapture on her fair skin. The petty kings seek wives of equal rank with themselves,chiefly on account of their fair complexion, which the daughters of the meleks acquire by being generally confined to the house; particularly as all mixture with the negro blood is carefully shunned. The colour most approaching to nature, if this conventional one had originated in Egypt, would certainly have been the white, or rather light yellow. Such must have been the colour of the Egyptians; and we cannot suppose that they would pay themselves so bad a compliment as to represent their complexion so many shades darker than it must really have been. Here then we have another great proof that civilisation and art descended the river. I have mentioned, in my topographical description, the passages of Diodorus which state shortly, but explicitly, that the Ethiopians stated the Egyptians to have derived all their knowledge from them. The inquiries of that intelligent traveller penetrated through the veil which the pride of the Egyptians, jealous, and anxious to magnify their antiquity, had thrown over the origin of their institutions; and when to this national propensity we add the obstinate wars, which would naturally eradicate every attachment to their parent land, and induce them to conceal their obligations to Ethiopia, it appears surprising how that intelligent traveller should have been able to ascertain the fact, that civilisation descended from Meroe. Diodorus had no object in inventing that account; and if the Ethiopians gave it to him in Egypt, he had there the means of ascertaining the truth from the priests and other learned men, who, no doubt, were acquainted with the fact; and would have contradicted it if he had not believed it. Herodotus apparently heard a similar account. He visited Egypt during the time of the Persian dynasty, while Diodorus was in that country little more than half a century (sixty years) before Christ, when the philosophy of the Greeks may have penetrated through the pride and false pretensions of the Egyptian priests. Herodotus states that the Egyptians believed themselves to befrom where the race of man first existed (ἐξ οὗ ἄνθρωπον γένος ἐγένετο). He mentions that the Thebaid was Egypt before the formation of the Delta[93]: the increase of population forced them to spread themselves down the valleys, emigrating from the Thebaid to the Delta, in the same way, no doubt, as they originally emigrated from Meroe. There is one question connected with this subject, which, I must confess, is an important one; namely, by what language the hieroglyphics of both countries are to be interpreted. Is it by a common one, as emanating from the same origin, or by a different one in the two countries? I shall not now commit myself by a discussion and hasty opinion on a subject which I hope to be better able to treat, as I extend my acquaintance with hieroglyphics, and with the Coptic and the Ethiopian languages. It seems to me, however, that if the Egyptians derived their knowledge of hieroglyphics from Ethiopia, they would, of course, receive from the same source the language by which they were explained.With regard to the early literature and science of the Ethiopians, we know them only by the monuments; but we may rest satisfied, that they could not have been neglected in a country where, as Diodorus says, the language of hieroglyphics was generally understood. The existence of these on the walls of the porticoes of the pyramids, is a proof that some at least were acquainted with them. It is a very remarkable circumstance, which, even at the hazard of repetition, I must impress upon the reader, that notwithstanding the little sculpture and the few monuments that remain, there is sufficient to corroborate the very words of Diodorus. The reader who has examined my drawings will agree with him, that the Ethiopians buried their dead with as much pomp as the Egyptians; the processions were the same; and although there is some little difference in the style of the sculpture and hieroglyphics,it certainly is my conviction, that the Egyptian style had, as he very correctly expresses himself, its origin in Ethiopia.[94]History affords no example, at least that I know, of a people being so advanced in the fine arts, without at the same time having applied themselves to the cultivation of the sciences, of history and philosophy. Their religion, as I may show on another occasion, evinces their acquaintance with metaphysics, not being a gross mythology, but the worship, under different forms, of the one great Divinity, whose attributes are manifested in the wonders of the creation. A people who had evidently so much taste for the arts, must have been sensible to the charms of study. Those who had the means would naturally wish to distinguish themselves, or at least their children, by various literary acquirements. Individuals seeking to elevate themselves above the common level would rise together, and what was at first an extraordinary attainment would become necessary to secure admittance into society.The remarks which I have hitherto made on the arts of Ethiopia are chiefly applicable to their earliest period. In my narrative I have mentioned, that there are still the remains and traces of 80 pyramids at Meroe, 42 at Nouri, and 17 at Gibel el Birkel. In the few which are now nearly entire, the porticoes are decorated with figures sculptured in the round and bulky Ethiopian style. It is impossible now to determine positively whether these are representations of private individuals, of kings, or of members of different royal families. They represent in several instances, two persons,—a king and his wife, and there is one instance of a queen only. The tombs which we can ascertain, from the hieroglyphics, to be those of kings and queens, being not of superior, or even equal magnitude with many of the others, I think it not unreasonable to conclude, that every one of them was erectedfor a sovereign or some members of a royal family. If they were each of a king or queen who had reigned alone, the immense number which can even now be traced, independent of the many which the desert has swallowed up, would carry us back to an earlier era than can be admitted, for it is evident, from the style of the sculpture, and other appearances of the monuments, that they were erected long previous to the time of Tirhaka, (730 years B.C.)That Ethiopian king, who reigned over Egypt, constructed a magnificent temple at Gibel el Birkel, which city, if not the place of his birth, and at one time the seat of his empire, was at all events peculiarly favoured by him; for we do not see his name on any Ethiopian edifice, except on an altar in the great temple, and on the walls and columns of the temple of Athor at Birkel.Part of the temple of Tirhaka is excavated out of the rock, either in imitation of those he had seen in Egypt, or it may perhaps be a more ancient temple, added to and decorated by that king. The style of sculpture at that time was tolerably good, very like the Egyptian, but by no means equal to the best at Thebes. The architecture, however, seems to have then very much declined. The columns of Athor and the deformed Pthah in the temple built by Tirhaka, are very inferior to the fragment we have at Abou Naga, and the great temple at Gibel el Birkel, built, perhaps, by Pionchei, probably a much more ancient king. That edifice, for magnificence, may be compared to any in the valley of the Nile. I may here also remark, that, notwithstanding the great pecuniary resources which Tirhaka must have possessed, as king of two such rich and powerful countries as Egypt and Ethiopia, still the temple erected by him is not to be compared to the splendid edifice of his predecessor.It is singular, that, with the exception of the remains of this large temple, and some other less important vestiges of smaller edifices there, the colossal statues of Argo, the Ethiopian temple of Amarah, the fragment of an Ethiopian ruin at Naga, on theNile, and the Ethiopian temples at Mecaurat or Naga, in the desert (see Cailliaud), there are no remains of any sacred edifice of an earlier period than Tirhaka, or indeed of a later, except the ruins at Wady el Owataib. The sepulchres of the kings only are standing. The temples which remain in the best state of preservation above the second cataract are those of Semneh, built by Thothmes III., an Egyptian king, and the magnificent temple of Solib, built by Amunoph III., also an Egyptian monarch. Petronius, in his hatred for every thing that was Ethiopian, probably destroyed all the edifices which had escaped from the ravages of previous wars.If Gibel el Birkel was Napata (as it is considered by many), the temples might have been destroyed by Petronius, but I have before stated, that I cannot conceive it to be that town. We must therefore attribute its destruction to an earlier era, or to the Christians or Arabs. The great temple of Gibel el Birkel must have required great labour to demolish it so utterly. The immense and massive columns and thick walls would have lasted for ages, had they not been destroyed by violence. As no attempts have apparently been made to restore these edifices, the place was perhaps deserted, and the name erased from among the list of cities. My drawings, plans, &c. of the temples of Semneh, Solib, and the small temple at Gibel el Birkel, will show that they are exceedingly ruined, yet not with the same dreadful destruction as the large temple at the latter place, and others, of which scarcely a vestige remains.Some of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel and Meroe bear evidence of the greatest violence having been employed to destroy them, whereas others seem injured only by time. The demolition of the former, may, I conceive, be entirely attributed to the avarice of the Mahometans. The very nature of the construction of the pyramids would certainly present greater difficulties in destroying them, but this could not have been the motive in forbearingfrom the attempt; for all events it would have been easy for the levellers of whole rows of immense and lofty columns to demolish entirely every portico. That respect for the sepulchres of the dead, which has existed in every age, among civilised and uncivilised nations, prevented probably the devastators from violating the pyramids of Meroe and Nouri, whilst, at both those places, every trace of the temples has been obliterated. Religious bigotry must have been the cause of this violence. The invaders, while they respected the habitations of the dead, the sepulchres of ancient kings, might consider the destruction of the sanctuaries to be the surest mode of eradicating every trace of the idolatrous worship of Ammon.The monuments of Ethiopia present unfortunately no regular series of edifices by which we might trace the progressive rise and subsequent decline of the arts. There is as wide a difference between the most ancient sculpture and architecture of Meroe and that of the time of Tirhaka, as between the latter and the far more modern edifice, the ruins of which are now called Wady el Owataib. In my description of the latter, (see narrative,Chapter VIII.) I have stated my belief that it was erected during the last stage of the arts. The confused and extremely defective plan, and the wretched style of the sculpture, are proofs that it must have been built very long after the reign of Tirhaka. I have mentioned also that, from the design, and from a certain affectation of Greek ornaments, particularly in the fluting of the columns, I conceive it not improbable, that this, and also, perhaps, the Greek edifice at Mecaurat, were erected by the Ethiopian king Ergamenes, who had a Greek education, and was contemporary with Ptolemy Philadelphus.It will be remarked, that there is a vast difference between these monuments in Ethiopia, and the magnificent architectural edifices erected at that period in Egypt; but we must recollect, that the dynasty of the Ptolemies infused fresh vigour into every pursuit connected with the prosperity of the country. The first kings ofthat dynasty occupied themselves almost exclusively in promoting the commerce and encouraging the literature and arts of the country. The sculpture indeed was then very inferior to the pure Egyptian; but their temples, notwithstanding this inferiority, may rank among the most splendid edifices which ornament the banks of the Nile, or even any part of the world. But Meroe did not enjoy the same advantage. The extended commerce of her rival would of course diminish more and more her own prosperity. Her territory declining continually in richness and affluence, and her commerce impaired, her kings, instead of occupying themselves in encouraging the arts, would require all the resources of the state to save them from becoming the prey of their more powerful neighbour.The next and only additional edifice which I have now to notice, as marking the last epoch in the history of the arts of Meroe, is the Christian church opposite Gibel el Birkel. As we have no certain ground to suppose that Christianity was much spread in Ethiopia before the year 330[95], a later date cannot be assigned to that structure. I conceive it to be one of the earliest Christian edifices erected in that country, as I have remarked, in my description of it, that it is ornamented with the Ethiopian cornice and beading. This is the most modern architectural construction that now remains in Ethiopia.The Arabs at their invasion do not seem to have brought with them the talent and means to erect any of those splendid mosques which they have reared in honour of their prophet in other climes. I have elsewhere described the dwellings of the present inhabitants. They are miserable mud and straw huts, some of the latter having conical roofs, a remnant of the knowledge of the arch. The fortified castles of the chiefs are superior to these, but necessity only has taught them to build towers and thick walls for their protection: nothing can be more barbarous and rude than theirinternal structure. For the man who has made himself independent, or is ignorant, of the luxuries, elegancies, and comforts of life, they are perhaps sufficient, since they afford shelter against the summer heat, the occasional showers of rain, and the winter cold; but it is impossible to have a more striking evidence of the effects of civilisation, than the contrast between the wretched abodes of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia, and the magnificent sepulchres of her departed kings.Some writers even of ability affect to doubt the civilisation and great power of the Ethiopians and Egyptians, particularly the latter. They reason on the present condition of the country, without reflecting on the great changes it has undergone. I may add, that they display little knowledge of Egyptian subjects, and even of the history of the arts in general. They would otherwise be aware of the time necessary for a nation to acquire the degree of taste, knowledge, and affluence, necessary for the construction of such edifices as those still existing in the valley of the Nile. Setting aside altogether the authority of historians, let us only compare the present inhabitants, who are almost destitute of any ideas or information, incapable even of rearing for themselves a suitable abode, with a nation whose architectural proficiency has never been surpassed, and whose advancement in so many branches of science and civilisation is established by the indisputable evidence of lapidary inscriptions. It were vain to expect to find at the present day in this part of Ethiopia, an individual capable of constructing such edifices as we have seen existing at Meroe. I do not hesitate to say, that were it possible to transport one of the pyramids of Meroe entire to London, it would be considered one of the most chaste and beautiful ornaments of our metropolis. Though constructed more perhaps than three thousand years ago, it might, even now, be studied with advantage by our artists and architects.When such observations are applied to Egypt, the answer isstill more easily made. Where in Europe is there an edifice like the great temple at Karnak, one hall of which contains 140 columns, 36 feet in circumference, dimensions rarely to be found in Europe, and every portion of that splendid court covered with carefully finished and painted sculptures? Having, however, trespassed so long on the reader’s patience, I must not now allow myself to enter on the subject of Egyptian art. I will only say, in conclusion, that the materials used in the pyramids of Memphis are sufficient to construct a city, and that no palaces of Europe are comparable in splendour to the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes.THE END.London:Printed by A.Spottiswoode.New-Street-Square.FOOTNOTES:[1]I possess numerous notes and drawings of the antiquities in the lower valley of the Nile, selections from which I had some intention of publishing, as intimated several times in my journal. But I doubt much now if I shall enter on a field in which there are already so many competitors. Signor Rosellini’s magnificent work is already well known to the literary world. That of Champollion will, I believe, soon appear. Mr. Wilkinson’s invaluable work, “Thebes, and General View of Egypt,” with his most accurate map of that interesting city, are already before the public. The same author has promised us an account of the private life of the Egyptians; and such a subject could not be in more learned hands. I trust the result of Mr. Burton’s residence of above twelve years in that country will soon appear. Mr. Hay’s portfolio is the most magnificent which has ever been brought from that country. It comprises plans, sections, and detailed drawings, by eminent architects; also delineations of sculpture from the tombs and temples, by himself and able artists, whom he employed; with a complete series of picturesque views, entirely by his own pencil. Mr. Lane, Dr. Hogg, and others, are on the eve of publishing. In mentioning the interesting works which I hope will soon appear, I cannot refrain from expressing my regret, that the valuable labours and researches of the above English travellers in that classic soil have not been combined for the formation of a great national work,—an imperishable monument of public utility and individual enterprise.I refer the reader, with great pleasure, to the fifth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, in which there is a very interesting description of the peninsula of Sennaar, communicated by Sir John Barrow, from the memoranda of Lord Prudhoe. Had it been published before this volume was completed, I should have availed myself of the information which it contains; but I am glad to find that in many respects it confirms my statement.[2]Lord Prudhoe and Major Felix are the only Englishmen who have seen the antiquities of the island of Meroe; and it is deeply to be regretted that they have not published their observations.[3]In a work on Egypt, for which I have ample notes, and 400 drawings to select from, I may give a more detailed description of these places.[4]The temples I mention in this volume, below the second cataract, I may perhaps describe at a future opportunity.[5]It somewhat resembled, also, what Festus says of the Salian dancers: the præsaltor advanced “et amptruabat,” then all the rest came “et redamptruabant,” or danced and sang as he had done.—Sir Wm. Gell, T. R. vol. ii. p. 385.[6]Part I. Canto II.[7]The reader will have observed that my estimate of the pace of the camel differs from those of many travellers, and particularly from that of Mr. Burnes, the author of the justly celebrated work “Travels into Bokhara” (see vol. ii. p. 149.); but he must recollect that my camels were of the Bishareen race. My servants were all mounted; and the animals, even at starting, were not heavily laden with a stock of water, which diminished daily. There being only one well containing water, and that bad, in a distance of 250 miles, it was their interest to urge on their camels, which they did by singing in the manner I have described. I took great pains to ascertain the pace of these animals, observing not only theirs, but also that of the drivers walking by their side, dismounting repeatedly myself for that purpose. I had the gratification to find, on arriving at the Nile, that my calculations agreed, within two or three miles, with the observations of latitude. I have made many long journeys on camels, and I certainly think that animal, when well taken care of, and not overloaded, fully capable of marching ten or eleven hours per day, at the average rate of two miles and a half an hour in valleys or over rough roads, and three miles on plains, without beingat alldistressed. On the banks of rivers, and in districts where water and forage are plentiful, except urged on, the men are always inclined to move more slowly, and make a shorter day’s journey, not so much to save their camels as to lessen the fatigue to themselves: a few days more or lessen routebeing generally a matter of indifference to them.[8]Burckhardt calls them angareyg, and says the peculiar smell of the leather some of them are made of keeps them free from vermin. I conceive it to be rather the excessive heat of the climate that preserves the inhabitants of these latitudes from the plagues of Egypt.[9]These flies also annoy the cattle; but neither here nor on the Mugrum (the Astaboras) have they the effect described by Bruce.[10]The specimens which I brought to England have confirmed the accuracy of the description of them in Cailliaud’s work—“Cette coquille, bien reconnue aujourd-hui comme devant appartenir au genre éthérie, est remarquable par son talon, qui souvent semble s’accroître et présenter nombre de compartimens. J’avais conservé de ces valves d’éthéries qui avaient jusqu’à huit ou dix poules de longueur: la forme en est alongée et variée, la nacre blanche et feuilletée. Les deux attaches musculaires semblent être le seul motif qui jusqu’à present a fait placer ces éthéries avec les cames plutôt qu’avec les huîtres, dont elles ont du reste tout le caractère.”—Vol. ii. p. 222.[11]“Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.”[12]Pliny.[13]Lib. ii. c. 29.[14]See the Chapters on theCommerceandArtsof Meroe.[15]SeeHistorical Appendix,andAccount of the Ruinsof Gebel el Berkel, for further remarks on the arch.[16]The first Egyptian edifice recorded is the pyramid built by Venephes, at Cochon; according to Eusebius from Manetho, the fourth king of the first dynasty. Africanus calls the town Cochomen. That valuable remark shows the great antiquity of this description of tomb.[17]Virg. Georg. iv. 291.[18]In theAppendixon the arts of Meroe I have mentioned many other reasons for this opinion.[19]Assour, on the north side, I did not see.[20]The Sheakhs and Meleks generally profess to be very religious, and observant of the laws of the Koran; but when they want another wife, and have already four, they divorce one of their old ones.[21]They have some few wells, but generally send for water from the river.[22]Agatharchides of Gnidos (Diod. lib. i.), and others in the time of the Ptolemies, seem to have divined the cause; and Homer (vide Odyssey, book iv. ver. 581.), when he describes the Nile as descending from heaven, apparently alludes to the rain in Ethiopia; but at the time of Herodotus it is certain that the Egyptians were not acquainted with the true cause; and Moses, in describing the promised land (Deut. ch. xi. ver. 10.), “not as the land of Egypt, but as a land of hills and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of heaven,” that is, owed its fertility to the rain that fell from the clouds, would not have used those expressions, had he been exhorting a people aware that the rain in Ethiopia was the cause of the rising of the Nile; the source of the productiveness of the two countries being the same, although in the one more immediate, and therefore more apparent.[23]As a boat would sail, following all the windings of the river and the islands, the distance from Shendy to Rosetta can scarcely be less than 1800 miles.[24]In crossing this desert, to save anxiety, I gave each person his own provision of water to take care of, warning him, if that fell short, it was his own fault. This plan succeeded, each individual taking such care of his skins that none of them ran out.[25]In calling it not very ancient, I, of course, mean, in comparison to some of the edifices in Ethiopia and Egypt. Tirhaka began to reign in the latter country about 700 years A.C.[26]See PlatesLIII.andLIV.[27]The generality of the pyramids face a little to the south of south-east. I regret to state, that, from an error of the engraver’s, which I did not discover until all the copies were printed off, their direction is not correctly marked in theGeneral Plan;but, as their position is accurately shown in the abovevignette,I have considered it unnecessary to incur the expense of having the plate reprinted.[28]I have not considered it necessary to publish a separate drawing which I made of this group.[29]The Ethiopians are represented by Herodotus (vii. 69.) as carrying bows not less than four cubits in length.[30]The arch at North Der is formed by approaching stones.[31]I shall make some further remarks on this important subject in myAppendixon the arts of Meroe.[32]Lib. xvi. p. 770.[33]The okre consists of 2¾ rotles, or pounds of 12 ounces; and 150 rotles, or pounds, make a cantar.[34]This Plate contains also an Ababde of the Desert, in the short drawers they sometimes wear.[35]The bearings of the course of the river, and numerous other villages and islands, whose names I obtained, are marked in themap.[36]About fifteen miles from the second cataract.[37]The rotle consists of 12 ounces.[38]He fell ill in Kordofan, but did not die until he arrived at Wady Modeen, on the Bahr el Azruk, where I believe he is buried.[39]As regards the title of “melek,” this is the name given in Hebrew to the different chiefs: but it is invariably translated, in our version, “kings.”[40]I have heard a song that describes this battle. The Arabs adopt very generally this method of preserving the recollection of any important event. There is a curious one about the Deftar Dar Bey, when he avenged the death of Ismael Pasha on the Shendyans. He is represented as coming as swift as the ostrich; “burning the fakeers,” and “killing the sheakhs.”[41]The Ababde girl, in relating this tale, sang this part very sweetly, and several who were standing by joined in the chorus.[42]The Ababde girl sang this.[43]This man gave me the description of the customs, &c., which I have given, having found them to agree with other accounts. When I asked him whether I could be of any service to him in Cairo, he begged, as a favour, that I would send him a blank book, as he was anxious to make a copy of the Koran.[44]“Le 17 Avril nous eûmes occasion de voir à Beit el Fakih un exemple du sangfroid et de la fermeté des Arabes. Le feu prit à une maison à l’extrémité méridionale, et, comme le vent soufflait du sud avec violence, en peu de tems la plus grande partie de la ville fut dévorée par les flammes: cependant les habitants restaient tranquilles: on n’entendait dans les rues ni cris, ni lamentations; et quand on plaignait leur sort, ils répliquaient, C’est la volonté de Dieu. Nous occupions une maison de pierre dans un quartier que les flammes épargnèrent: montés sur notre toit nous vîmes les toits des autres maisons, remplis de spectateurs, qui regardaient tranquillement l’incendie. Un savant pauvre, qui nous rendait souvent des visites, vint à nous voir après avoir mis en sûreté ses effets, et nous indiqua d’un air indifférent le moment où sa maison s’embrasa.”[45]The title which all travellers, who remain any time in Egypt, generally take, is that of Effende. There are two great advantages in assuming a Turkish name:—it affords greater facility to the natives in recollecting it, and it likewise prevents your being called Howwajee, merchant, or, rather, pedler; and as that class of persons are, in this country, rarely respectable, either from their morals or station, an Englishman submitting to such a title, of course, lowers himself, both in the eyes of the Turks and natives. The Arabs, among themselves, often have other names for Europeans. I was called Abou Toweel, Father of the tall. Rosellini had a name in reference to his beard (Abou Dagan); Champollion (Abou Galeed), from his corpulency; and a noble traveller, who has surpassed us all in the extent of his journey up the Nile, was called, I am told, Abou Dagegah, or Father of the Minutes, from the report having spread that he had a dollar every minute. The Turks and Arabs of these provinces, where travellers are more rare, sometimes honour me with the title of Bey Zadé, or, Son of a Governor.[46]My servant having broken my thermometer at Gibel el Birkel, I have, unfortunately, been unable to ascertain the heat here: I can only remark, that the temperature for these last three months has increased perceptibly every week. Some travellers have stated that the extreme heat in Nubia is in April. Such an observation, if not entirely an error, can only be applicable to that part where heavy tropical rains fall. On the 11th of March (seep. 97.) we had 110° in the shade; but although that was the commencement of the extreme heat, and for that reason more difficult to support, I did not experience so great an inconvenience from it as at present. The natives did not then complain as they do now, nor did my servants from Cairo and Thebes suffer so much. They were all ill at El Ourde, and I thought my Greek servant Ibrahim would have died.[47]Mr. Waddington’s Travels in Ethiopia contain a view and plan of this temple, and also some views of Gibel el Birkel. I have avoided, as much as possible, the disagreeable task of swelling my text with criticisms on the observations and plates of Monsieur Cailliaud. It would, however, be unjust and ungenerous to make any observation on the views of Mr. Waddington, as he states candidly that he was no draughtsman; yet, as no other views had been published, he was, of course, justified in giving such as he possessed.[48]The names of these two kings occurring together at Semneh, where Thothmes is represented worshipping his ancestor Osirtisen as a god, is confirmatory of the accuracy of the supposition that these are the names in the tomb at Doshe.[49]See Bruce’s account of the reverence and adoration of the Agous at the source of the Nile.[50]Inscription No. 1. is from the same portico, and opposite to a large figure, similar to the one inPlate X.,Sculpture, Meroe. No. 2. is before a figure presenting offerings. No. 4. before a figure of Anubis. No. 5. before a figure of Horus. The tablet, No. 3. is in the same portico, over a figure kneeling before a funeral boat, very much defaced, at the end of the portico. As will be seen by theplate,these inscriptions are very much injured; but, although the least perfect of any that I possess, I publish them, because they are the most important, being from the pyramids of Meroe. No. 6. is an inscription which was above the sculpture on one side of the first chamber excavated out of the rock of the Temple of Tirhaka, Gibel el Birkel. No 7. is another portion of this apparently dedicatory inscription, going round the whole of the room. The hieroglyphics are large, well executed, and very legible, except some which were quite defaced, and others almost covered with dirt. No. 8. are fragments from the large granite altar in the western corner of the great Temple, Gibel el Birkel. The first line is on the south-east side, the second on the north-east; the remainder of the hieroglyphics on this altar I have not been able to publish.Plate LIII.shows the two subjects on the altar in the sanctuary of the same temple. (SeePlate XXIV.) I have alluded to them in my description of the ruins.[51]His name is also found in the tomb near Solib, and on the rocks at Toumbos.[52]Since I wrote the above, I have seen the two beautiful granite lions which were brought from Gibel el Birkel, and presented to the British Museum, by Lord Prudhoe. The sculpture is most beautiful. They appear to be of the same period, as their attitude is similar; otherwise, their forms are different. The one which is the most defaced, and has been apparently the most symmetrical, bears the name of Amunoph III., in deep intaglio. As the name of this king does not exist on any edifice at Gibel el Birkel, I think the circumstance of the lion bearing his name being found there, no decisive proof of his having penetrated so far south. The sculpture is too good to be Ethiopian, and the granite is not of a description I met with near there. Gibel el Birkel, whatever might be its ancient name, was evidently the capital and favoured city of Tirhaka, who might, on his abdication of the throne of Egypt, have brought away these splendid specimens of Egyptian art. The nomen and prænomen on the other are not Egyptian, but seem to be of a king called Amnasre, or Amun Asre.[53]Lib. ii. cap. 110.[54]Odys. Δ′. 184.[55]Odys. Λ′. 522.[56]Pausanias correctly states the vocal statue of Memnon at Thebes was by the natives called Phamenoph (that is, Amunoph III.), the name it actually bears; and it certainly is curious, that this is the very king whose name we find in Ethiopia at Solib, and on the lion, as I have stated, brought from Gibel el Birkel. That king may possibly have been master of a portion of Ethiopia, and styled himself, as was often the custom, king of the Upper and Lower Countries; but he could not have been the Ethiopian Memnon, who marched to the succour of Troy: for the king who reigned in Egypt at the time of the Trojan war was Osirei, or Menephtah II.; and Amunoph III. died more than a century and a half before that event. As no edifices remain bearing the name of this king south of Solib, which is not a hundred miles above the second cataract, I see no just reason, as I have said before, for supposing that he carried his arms to Gibel el Birkel, much less to Meroe.[57]2 Chronicles, xii. 2, 3.[58]2 Chronicles, xvi. 8.[59]2 Chronicles, chap. xiv. l. 8-11.[60]2 Chronicles, xiv. 12, 13.[61]Lib. ii. 137.[62]Lib. ii. 139.[63]Major Felix’s account of the Egyptian dynasties was the first that showed us the great utility of the lapidary inscriptions. Although brief, it is so admirably arranged, the information it contains so valuable, and, notwithstanding the recent progress in the study of hieroglyphics, generally so correct, that it is very much to be regretted that the papers he lithographed at Cairo have not been more widely circulated by a reprint in England.[64]2 Kings, chap. xviii.[65]Rosellini, i Monumenti dell’ Egitto e della Nubia, lib. ii. chap. 7.[66]Isaiah, xxxvii. 36-38.[67]Lib. ii. 137.[68]Page 1007.[69][Hieroglyphs]Meroe. (SeePlate X.) There is a fragment of a figure of a god, with the hieroglyphics before it; this is evidently the god Sebek, which, with the Greek termination, makes the Sevechus of Eusebius; but, although the name in the list and that of Eusebius and Africanus are made thus to agree with the name in the Bible, I have some doubts if Signor Rosellini is correct in the connection he supposes between the name of these hieroglyphics and the god Sevek; for the Ethiopians apparently wrote the name of that deity in the same manner as the Egyptians, and yet not one of the hieroglyphics used in writing the name of the god is employed in that of the king.[70]Herodotus, lib. ii. 30. Diodorus states the number to have been more than 200,000; and assigns as the reason of their emigration, that in the expedition into Syria the post of honour was given to foreigners.—Lib. iii. vol. i. p. 175.[71]Herodotus, lib. iii. 17. 20.[72]Heliodorus, in his history of Ethiopia, or, rather, novel of Theagenes and Cariclia, relates the war of Hydaspes, king of the East and West Ethiopians, with the Egyptians, or rather the Persians, then in possession of Egypt, for the island of Philæ and the emerald mines. He gives also an account of the siege of Syene; and mentions the prisoners being bound with chains of gold, so that one of them, Theagenes, the hero of the tale, laughed, and said, that he was more richly decorated in prison than out.[73]Heeren’s Afrikanische Völker, vol. i. ch. 3.[74]Lib. iii. 102.[75]The following description, extracted from the journal of my first voyage up the Nile, may amuse the reader:—“April 8. 1832.—Our pilot afforded us a curious exhibition, although not, I believe, uncommon; but to us it was new. He pretended or believed that his saint, to whom he had been addressing his evening devotions, had entered his body, and he immediately fell into the most violent paroxysms, throwing his arms about, rolling his head, and twisting his body in a very outrageous manner: sometimes he held up his hands, and shook, as in the most dreadful convulsions, groaning most piteously, and gabbling forth all sorts of gibberish. The sailors made a circle round him, and continued making low obeisances, calling on Mahomet to assist him, for nearly two hours; they believe that, unless they did this, the saint would never leave him, and he would have probably died. The man, in his madness, seemed to have a great jealousy for his honour; one of the mariners was sleeping on board the boat, while the others were on the banks praying for them; on a sudden he darted into the boat, and, had he not been detained, would have roughly used the drowsy mariner. After all the Mahometans near him had joined the circle to pray for his recovery, he returned, by degrees, to his senses: when the fit was over, he lay for some time apparently quite exhausted. The man is remarkable at other times for the mildness of his manner, and is one of the finest looking Nubians I have seen, being above six feet high, with uncommonly handsome features. The people consider those who are thus possessed as peculiarly favoured, not one in a thousand being so fortunate. After death they are generally considered as saints, and have tombs erected to them by the government, which does this, no doubt, to gain popularity, or conciliate the people: but it is generally believed that the saint has appeared to the Pasha, ordering him to erect it.”[76]Lib. xvii. p. 820.[77]Lib. vi. chap. 29.[78]See Letronne’s note on Strabo, l. xvii. vol. v. p. 435.[79]See Acts, chap. vi. vii. 33.[80]Lib. iii. c. 2.[81]Except Rameses II., who certainly penetrated as far as Gibel el Birkel; but there is no other Egyptian name on any rocks or edifices south of Solib and Toumbos.[82]Herodotus (Thalia, 114.) describes Ethiopia as the last of the inhabited regions of the earth, and possessed by men of very great stature, beautiful, and of very long life; adding, that it produces much gold, and very large elephants, with long teeth, wild trees of every description, and ebony.[83]Diodorus (lib. iii. p. 105.) says, that near the confines of Egypt and the adjacent Ethiopia and Arabia, there is a place which abounds in rich gold mines, whence, at a great expense and toil of a great multitude of criminals, gold is dug. He speaks also of the manner they pounded the gold; and also mentions veins of white marble. It is a singular coincidence, that at the mines in the great Nubian desert, there are actually remaining mortars exactly such as he describes; and, with one exception, the only place I found white marble during this journey was in that desert, not far from the mines. The marble, however, may perhaps be the white quartz the gold is found in.[84]On the road to Abou Hashim, in the kingdom of Berber, and other places, I found rocks of sandstone, much charged with iron, and beyond Sennaar, they say that there are iron mines.[85]I regret that in some few of the impressions the caps were printed black. The reader must be aware, that the management of such engravings as these is excessively difficult. Four colours are impressed from separate stones—red, blue, black, and the ground. The others were put in by hand. I took great pains in superintending the mixing of the colours, to give the reader as exact a representation of an Egyptian painting as was in my power. I am indebted to Mr. Bonomi for having drawn for me on the stones these and the other plates of sculpture.[86]The past and present condition of Ethiopia are so admirably described in the first two verses, chap. xviii. of Isaiah, and the prophecy so admirably fulfilled, that I cannot refrain from repeating them:—“Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!” Can the expression “shadowing with wings” allude to the winged globe on all the edifices in Egypt and Ethiopia? Vessels of bulrushes are highly characteristic of a wild tribe in the interior, almost similar ones being used at the present day; but the “nation, terrible from the beginning, meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled,” can only be Ethiopia.[87]Strabo mentions that Coptos was the entrepôt, not only of the merchandise of Ethiopia, but also of India and Arabia.[88]Isaiah (xlv. 14.) also mentions the “merchandise of Ethiopia.”[89]Euterpe, 110.[90]Plin. lib. vi. cap. xxix.[91]Destruction of the library at Alexandria.[92]No. CVI. p. 350.[93]Euterpe, xv.[94]This is no new doctrine of my own: Champollion, Rosellini, Heeren, and many other first-rate authorities have the same idea. I had expressed no opinion on the subject before going into the country; and, therefore, without prejudice, examined the evidence afforded by the monuments. At the same time that I deeply regret, that many learned travellers and geographers differ with me on this important point, I have not feared to express my own opinion; and I trust it will be candidly allowed, that in my topographical description I have not omitted any observation that might militate against my argument. I have stated, that in the latitude of Shendy it occasionally rains, (but Cailliaud is mistaken in supposing that it rains there three months in the year,) and that such rain would have a certain effect even on the solid mass of a pyramid. I have mentioned, also, that the stones are smaller, and often of a softer material, than the sandstone of Egypt; but we must consider that the pyramids are also smaller, that they have no rooms in the interior, and that the material of the least durable is harder than that of many of the pyramids of Memphis. Mr. Waddington did not reach the wonderful cemetery of the metropolis of Meroe, but the result of his comparison of the other pyramids of Ethiopia with those of Egypt agrees with mine, that is to say, as regards their relative antiquity; but from the discoveries in hieroglyphics, Mr. W. is found to be wrong in the dates he assigns to the monuments of Memphis and Thebes. But I cannot conclude this subject better than with an extract from his work.He says (Journal of a Visit to some Parts of Ethiopia, p. 184), “Now, the utter destruction and shapelessness of many of the pyramids at Birkel and El Bellal (Nouri), attest their antiquity; while those of Egypt do not appear to have been erected above eleven or twelve hundred years before Christ, when that country had been frequently overrun by the Ethiopians;”—alluding to the statement of Herodotus, that eighteen of the kings of Egypt were Ethiopians; but Manethon and the monuments do not confirm this account, and, therefore, I have not mentioned it before. “The pyramids are of a later date than the ruins of Thebes. Thebes, which is known to have been founded by a colony of Ethiopians[a], was called Ammon No, Diospolis, or the city of Ammon. It follows, then, I think, very clearly, from the concurrence of these observations on the antiquities of Ethiopia, with the conclusions derived from historical evidence, that the origin of the Egyptian divinities, as well as that of their temples and their tombs, and of the sculptures, figures, and symbols, may be traced to Ethiopia. In the magnitude of their edifices, the imitators have, indeed, surpassed their masters; but, as far as we could judge from the granite and other sculptures at Argo and Gibel el Birkel, that art seems to have been as well understood, and carried to as high perfection, as it was afterwards by their scholars at Thebes and at Memphis.[a]Bruce’s Travels, vol. i. p. 380. The words of Bruce are,—“We know that Thebes was a colony of Ethiopians, and probably from Meroe; but whether directly or not we are not certain.” There is, I believe, no passage distinctly stating this; but Bruce very correctly inferred it from the statements of Diodorus and Herodotus.[95]Ludolf, lib. iii. chap. 2.

STONE ARCH AT THEBES.

STONE ARCH AT THEBES.

STONE ARCH AT THEBES.

The tomb in which the elliptical arch (seeVignette) exists, is near the valley of the Sepulchre of the Queens, at Thebes. It is almost filled up to the ceiling with mummies, which occasioned great difficulty to get at the spring of the arch. It is a painted tomb, and the roof is plastered; and over the plaster, along the centre, is a line of hieroglyphics, containing the name of Amunoph I.; proving the existence of the knowledge of the arch in Egypt, about fifteen centuries and a half before the Christian era. It is also very remarkable, that this arch is not a segment of a circle, but elliptical. A part of the ceiling being broken, discovered the space between the ceiling and the rock.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

On the road from the Memnonium to the valley of the Hassaseef, a little elevated on a rock, is a very small painted tomb, which is also vaulted. Thevignetterepresents the arch of the roof resting on the rock, and the inner arch of a recess at the end. This recess, as likewise the whole tomb, is covered with a coating of plaster; and on one of the jambs of the recess are the titles and prænomen of Thothmes III., “Sun, Establisher of the World,” fifthking of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned about fifteen centuries before the Christian era. The present access to this tomb is through a hole in the ceiling, from the floor of another tomb. This fracture discovers satisfactorily the construction of the arch. The sections, therefore, of the pointed arch at Gibel el Birkel (seePlate XXVIII.), of the circular one at the site of the metropolis ofEthiopia (seePlate VII.), and this elliptical and circular arch at Thebes, will, I think, satisfy the most sceptical, that the Romans were not the first who were acquainted with the power and principle of the arch. We have here, undoubtedly, the geometrical forms; and in answer to thecui bonoof the learned author of the able article in the last Quarterly Review[92], I must state that the Ethiopian arches were obviously invented to resist the rains; as the peasants of Sennaar have conical roofs to their cottages for the same purpose. The brick arches at Thebes, I conceive to have been erected not merely as ornaments, but, as regards the one of the time of Amunoph III., for the purpose of protecting it from the partial decomposition of the calcareous rock, which happens to be there less solid, while the tomb of the time of Thothmes III., being immediately beneath another, suggested the utility, if not necessity, of strengthening the roof with an arch.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

BRICK ARCH IN A TOMB AT THEBES.

The Ethiopian sculpture has the same defects as the Egyptian, as to the manner of representing the profile of the face, but the bodies have a roundness which distinguishes them entirely from the Egyptian. The latter is more graceful and pleasing to the eye, when the traveller is accustomed to that peculiarity of style, but I do conceive the Ethiopian to be, in some respects, more true to nature.

It may be asked why, advanced as the Ethiopians were in the arts, they did not draw the human figure better, and more in accordance with nature. It is difficult, and, I must confess, almost impossible, to explain quite satisfactorily this circumstance. The Egyptians, as I have said, had a style still more unnatural, yet few can doubt their high degree of civilisation. The general form of the figures gives one the idea of their being very early efforts of art. It seems to me very possible, that the invention of the sculptor and painter may have been first exercised on the walls of some celebrated temple; and this defective representation may,from the sacredness of the place, have become the conventional style of the country. The bigotted veneration which the people would naturally feel for those forms under which their divinities were first represented, may have made them consider it lawful, indeed, to improve the delineation, but criminal to attempt to change it entirely.

The Egyptians and the Ethiopians were equally ignorant of perspective. When Egypt was under the dominion of the Greeks and Romans, we perceive that policy and respect for the prejudices of the people prevented those nations from making any innovations in the national style. The differences between the sculpture, at those periods, and during the eighteenth dynasty, cannot be called so much changes, as marks of the great decline of the pure Egyptian art. No figures, on the walls of the temples, are sculptured or painted in the pure Greek or Roman style. Those rulers of Egypt, though of course acquainted with the latter, continued to follow the Egyptian style in all the edifices that they erected. The only instances in which they seem to have deviated at all from this rule, are in some few portraits found on Greek mummies. This renders it probable that there existed a strong religious prejudice on the subject, and that the Ethiopians and Egyptians were as tenacious of the forms and costumes of their divinities, as religious sects, in more recent times, have shown themselves about the dress and appearance of their ministers.

There is, therefore, no reason to suppose, that the Ethiopians were unable to draw figures correctly, because, from reverence to the antiquity of their religion, and the superstition of the people, they did not improve the forms of their divinities. Faulty, however, as that style is, both in design and colour, it has still its attractions, though, in saying so, I may be accused of being an admirer of deformity. Their formality is not inappropriate to sacred edifices. Travellers daily become reconciled to its defects, and at last admire what at first appeared to them so strange.No one can have visited the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, without an enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful and rich harmony of the colouring, the taste displayed in the ornaments, the spirited execution of the animals and hieroglyphics, and the magical effect of the decorations. We see, in the fragments which still exist, that the Ethiopians drew animals, and also ornaments, very beautifully. We may therefore consider it almost certain, that they could have drawn the human figure better had they been permitted.

There are few traces of colour remaining on any Ethiopian edifice, yet I found sufficient in one of the porticoes of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel, to enable me to ascertain the important fact, that the colouring was similar to the Egyptian. That of the human body is of the same red tint; and is it not singular that man is represented of the same complexion in Ethiopia as in every part of Egypt? Such a coincidence could only arise from the circumstance of the one people having derived their knowledge of the arts from the other. The colouring of the Ethiopians and Egyptians was of course, like the form of the figure, conventional. Now, I ask the reader, Where is it most probable that this colour was first established? Was it in a country where the inhabitants must have been nearly of that dark tint represented in these sculptures, or was it in one, 1700 miles farther north, where the people must have been, as they are now, yellow, or, comparatively speaking, white. The first colonies which introduced the arts into Egypt would naturally represent their divinities under the same appearance as in the mother country, and the first kings, and other persons making offerings, would of course be the colonists. Impressed with reverence for the first models presented to them, the Egyptians would continue to use this colour, tacitly acknowledging, by this circumstance, that they derived the knowledge of the arts from Ethiopia. There are several representations in Egypt of black men and black queens, but these almost invariablybear the negro features. Even if they were intended to represent Ethiopians, that colour could only be a mark of distinction, afterwards introduced, as of a blacker nation than themselves; for we find the Ethiopians, on their own edifices, represented as exactly of the same tint as the Egyptians of Thebes and Memphis.

If the artist were to paint them of one of the six colours with which they were acquainted,—white, red, green, blue, yellow, or black, the one approaching nearest to what was probably the real Ethiopian complexion, would certainly be the red. We shall be confirmed in this conclusion, if we consider the latitude and the colour of the present cultivators of the soil. Though they speak the Arabic language, they are most probably (and the tradition I heard at Dongolah confirms the supposition) descended from the race of the true Ethiopians, obliged, by force, to adopt the language and religion of their conquerors. That people, from their climate, could not have been white, and, had they been black, they would have so represented themselves. The Copts, the descendants of the Egyptians, are fairer than the Fellaheen, yet the latter look white in Ethiopia, contrasted with the present inhabitants of that country. It must also be considered that the Arab conquerors, being from the southern part of their country, and therefore darkened by the climate and the desert life they led, would, to a certain extent, give a darker tint to the Ethiopians; nevertheless, I have given views of some Berbers whose complexions are decidedly lighter than they are represented on the walls. (SeePlate XVI.) We must recollect also that it has ever been a custom of the Orientals to represent themselves and their mistresses as beautifully fair. The present Ethiopians esteem nothing more than a light complexion. Before they were accustomed to Europeans, they looked with horror on what they considered their unnatural whiteness; but if an Ethiopian is celebrating in a song the charms of his mistress, he dwells with the greatest rapture on her fair skin. The petty kings seek wives of equal rank with themselves,chiefly on account of their fair complexion, which the daughters of the meleks acquire by being generally confined to the house; particularly as all mixture with the negro blood is carefully shunned. The colour most approaching to nature, if this conventional one had originated in Egypt, would certainly have been the white, or rather light yellow. Such must have been the colour of the Egyptians; and we cannot suppose that they would pay themselves so bad a compliment as to represent their complexion so many shades darker than it must really have been. Here then we have another great proof that civilisation and art descended the river. I have mentioned, in my topographical description, the passages of Diodorus which state shortly, but explicitly, that the Ethiopians stated the Egyptians to have derived all their knowledge from them. The inquiries of that intelligent traveller penetrated through the veil which the pride of the Egyptians, jealous, and anxious to magnify their antiquity, had thrown over the origin of their institutions; and when to this national propensity we add the obstinate wars, which would naturally eradicate every attachment to their parent land, and induce them to conceal their obligations to Ethiopia, it appears surprising how that intelligent traveller should have been able to ascertain the fact, that civilisation descended from Meroe. Diodorus had no object in inventing that account; and if the Ethiopians gave it to him in Egypt, he had there the means of ascertaining the truth from the priests and other learned men, who, no doubt, were acquainted with the fact; and would have contradicted it if he had not believed it. Herodotus apparently heard a similar account. He visited Egypt during the time of the Persian dynasty, while Diodorus was in that country little more than half a century (sixty years) before Christ, when the philosophy of the Greeks may have penetrated through the pride and false pretensions of the Egyptian priests. Herodotus states that the Egyptians believed themselves to befrom where the race of man first existed (ἐξ οὗ ἄνθρωπον γένος ἐγένετο). He mentions that the Thebaid was Egypt before the formation of the Delta[93]: the increase of population forced them to spread themselves down the valleys, emigrating from the Thebaid to the Delta, in the same way, no doubt, as they originally emigrated from Meroe. There is one question connected with this subject, which, I must confess, is an important one; namely, by what language the hieroglyphics of both countries are to be interpreted. Is it by a common one, as emanating from the same origin, or by a different one in the two countries? I shall not now commit myself by a discussion and hasty opinion on a subject which I hope to be better able to treat, as I extend my acquaintance with hieroglyphics, and with the Coptic and the Ethiopian languages. It seems to me, however, that if the Egyptians derived their knowledge of hieroglyphics from Ethiopia, they would, of course, receive from the same source the language by which they were explained.

With regard to the early literature and science of the Ethiopians, we know them only by the monuments; but we may rest satisfied, that they could not have been neglected in a country where, as Diodorus says, the language of hieroglyphics was generally understood. The existence of these on the walls of the porticoes of the pyramids, is a proof that some at least were acquainted with them. It is a very remarkable circumstance, which, even at the hazard of repetition, I must impress upon the reader, that notwithstanding the little sculpture and the few monuments that remain, there is sufficient to corroborate the very words of Diodorus. The reader who has examined my drawings will agree with him, that the Ethiopians buried their dead with as much pomp as the Egyptians; the processions were the same; and although there is some little difference in the style of the sculpture and hieroglyphics,it certainly is my conviction, that the Egyptian style had, as he very correctly expresses himself, its origin in Ethiopia.[94]

History affords no example, at least that I know, of a people being so advanced in the fine arts, without at the same time having applied themselves to the cultivation of the sciences, of history and philosophy. Their religion, as I may show on another occasion, evinces their acquaintance with metaphysics, not being a gross mythology, but the worship, under different forms, of the one great Divinity, whose attributes are manifested in the wonders of the creation. A people who had evidently so much taste for the arts, must have been sensible to the charms of study. Those who had the means would naturally wish to distinguish themselves, or at least their children, by various literary acquirements. Individuals seeking to elevate themselves above the common level would rise together, and what was at first an extraordinary attainment would become necessary to secure admittance into society.

The remarks which I have hitherto made on the arts of Ethiopia are chiefly applicable to their earliest period. In my narrative I have mentioned, that there are still the remains and traces of 80 pyramids at Meroe, 42 at Nouri, and 17 at Gibel el Birkel. In the few which are now nearly entire, the porticoes are decorated with figures sculptured in the round and bulky Ethiopian style. It is impossible now to determine positively whether these are representations of private individuals, of kings, or of members of different royal families. They represent in several instances, two persons,—a king and his wife, and there is one instance of a queen only. The tombs which we can ascertain, from the hieroglyphics, to be those of kings and queens, being not of superior, or even equal magnitude with many of the others, I think it not unreasonable to conclude, that every one of them was erectedfor a sovereign or some members of a royal family. If they were each of a king or queen who had reigned alone, the immense number which can even now be traced, independent of the many which the desert has swallowed up, would carry us back to an earlier era than can be admitted, for it is evident, from the style of the sculpture, and other appearances of the monuments, that they were erected long previous to the time of Tirhaka, (730 years B.C.)

That Ethiopian king, who reigned over Egypt, constructed a magnificent temple at Gibel el Birkel, which city, if not the place of his birth, and at one time the seat of his empire, was at all events peculiarly favoured by him; for we do not see his name on any Ethiopian edifice, except on an altar in the great temple, and on the walls and columns of the temple of Athor at Birkel.

Part of the temple of Tirhaka is excavated out of the rock, either in imitation of those he had seen in Egypt, or it may perhaps be a more ancient temple, added to and decorated by that king. The style of sculpture at that time was tolerably good, very like the Egyptian, but by no means equal to the best at Thebes. The architecture, however, seems to have then very much declined. The columns of Athor and the deformed Pthah in the temple built by Tirhaka, are very inferior to the fragment we have at Abou Naga, and the great temple at Gibel el Birkel, built, perhaps, by Pionchei, probably a much more ancient king. That edifice, for magnificence, may be compared to any in the valley of the Nile. I may here also remark, that, notwithstanding the great pecuniary resources which Tirhaka must have possessed, as king of two such rich and powerful countries as Egypt and Ethiopia, still the temple erected by him is not to be compared to the splendid edifice of his predecessor.

It is singular, that, with the exception of the remains of this large temple, and some other less important vestiges of smaller edifices there, the colossal statues of Argo, the Ethiopian temple of Amarah, the fragment of an Ethiopian ruin at Naga, on theNile, and the Ethiopian temples at Mecaurat or Naga, in the desert (see Cailliaud), there are no remains of any sacred edifice of an earlier period than Tirhaka, or indeed of a later, except the ruins at Wady el Owataib. The sepulchres of the kings only are standing. The temples which remain in the best state of preservation above the second cataract are those of Semneh, built by Thothmes III., an Egyptian king, and the magnificent temple of Solib, built by Amunoph III., also an Egyptian monarch. Petronius, in his hatred for every thing that was Ethiopian, probably destroyed all the edifices which had escaped from the ravages of previous wars.

If Gibel el Birkel was Napata (as it is considered by many), the temples might have been destroyed by Petronius, but I have before stated, that I cannot conceive it to be that town. We must therefore attribute its destruction to an earlier era, or to the Christians or Arabs. The great temple of Gibel el Birkel must have required great labour to demolish it so utterly. The immense and massive columns and thick walls would have lasted for ages, had they not been destroyed by violence. As no attempts have apparently been made to restore these edifices, the place was perhaps deserted, and the name erased from among the list of cities. My drawings, plans, &c. of the temples of Semneh, Solib, and the small temple at Gibel el Birkel, will show that they are exceedingly ruined, yet not with the same dreadful destruction as the large temple at the latter place, and others, of which scarcely a vestige remains.

Some of the pyramids of Gibel el Birkel and Meroe bear evidence of the greatest violence having been employed to destroy them, whereas others seem injured only by time. The demolition of the former, may, I conceive, be entirely attributed to the avarice of the Mahometans. The very nature of the construction of the pyramids would certainly present greater difficulties in destroying them, but this could not have been the motive in forbearingfrom the attempt; for all events it would have been easy for the levellers of whole rows of immense and lofty columns to demolish entirely every portico. That respect for the sepulchres of the dead, which has existed in every age, among civilised and uncivilised nations, prevented probably the devastators from violating the pyramids of Meroe and Nouri, whilst, at both those places, every trace of the temples has been obliterated. Religious bigotry must have been the cause of this violence. The invaders, while they respected the habitations of the dead, the sepulchres of ancient kings, might consider the destruction of the sanctuaries to be the surest mode of eradicating every trace of the idolatrous worship of Ammon.

The monuments of Ethiopia present unfortunately no regular series of edifices by which we might trace the progressive rise and subsequent decline of the arts. There is as wide a difference between the most ancient sculpture and architecture of Meroe and that of the time of Tirhaka, as between the latter and the far more modern edifice, the ruins of which are now called Wady el Owataib. In my description of the latter, (see narrative,Chapter VIII.) I have stated my belief that it was erected during the last stage of the arts. The confused and extremely defective plan, and the wretched style of the sculpture, are proofs that it must have been built very long after the reign of Tirhaka. I have mentioned also that, from the design, and from a certain affectation of Greek ornaments, particularly in the fluting of the columns, I conceive it not improbable, that this, and also, perhaps, the Greek edifice at Mecaurat, were erected by the Ethiopian king Ergamenes, who had a Greek education, and was contemporary with Ptolemy Philadelphus.

It will be remarked, that there is a vast difference between these monuments in Ethiopia, and the magnificent architectural edifices erected at that period in Egypt; but we must recollect, that the dynasty of the Ptolemies infused fresh vigour into every pursuit connected with the prosperity of the country. The first kings ofthat dynasty occupied themselves almost exclusively in promoting the commerce and encouraging the literature and arts of the country. The sculpture indeed was then very inferior to the pure Egyptian; but their temples, notwithstanding this inferiority, may rank among the most splendid edifices which ornament the banks of the Nile, or even any part of the world. But Meroe did not enjoy the same advantage. The extended commerce of her rival would of course diminish more and more her own prosperity. Her territory declining continually in richness and affluence, and her commerce impaired, her kings, instead of occupying themselves in encouraging the arts, would require all the resources of the state to save them from becoming the prey of their more powerful neighbour.

The next and only additional edifice which I have now to notice, as marking the last epoch in the history of the arts of Meroe, is the Christian church opposite Gibel el Birkel. As we have no certain ground to suppose that Christianity was much spread in Ethiopia before the year 330[95], a later date cannot be assigned to that structure. I conceive it to be one of the earliest Christian edifices erected in that country, as I have remarked, in my description of it, that it is ornamented with the Ethiopian cornice and beading. This is the most modern architectural construction that now remains in Ethiopia.

The Arabs at their invasion do not seem to have brought with them the talent and means to erect any of those splendid mosques which they have reared in honour of their prophet in other climes. I have elsewhere described the dwellings of the present inhabitants. They are miserable mud and straw huts, some of the latter having conical roofs, a remnant of the knowledge of the arch. The fortified castles of the chiefs are superior to these, but necessity only has taught them to build towers and thick walls for their protection: nothing can be more barbarous and rude than theirinternal structure. For the man who has made himself independent, or is ignorant, of the luxuries, elegancies, and comforts of life, they are perhaps sufficient, since they afford shelter against the summer heat, the occasional showers of rain, and the winter cold; but it is impossible to have a more striking evidence of the effects of civilisation, than the contrast between the wretched abodes of the present inhabitants of Ethiopia, and the magnificent sepulchres of her departed kings.

Some writers even of ability affect to doubt the civilisation and great power of the Ethiopians and Egyptians, particularly the latter. They reason on the present condition of the country, without reflecting on the great changes it has undergone. I may add, that they display little knowledge of Egyptian subjects, and even of the history of the arts in general. They would otherwise be aware of the time necessary for a nation to acquire the degree of taste, knowledge, and affluence, necessary for the construction of such edifices as those still existing in the valley of the Nile. Setting aside altogether the authority of historians, let us only compare the present inhabitants, who are almost destitute of any ideas or information, incapable even of rearing for themselves a suitable abode, with a nation whose architectural proficiency has never been surpassed, and whose advancement in so many branches of science and civilisation is established by the indisputable evidence of lapidary inscriptions. It were vain to expect to find at the present day in this part of Ethiopia, an individual capable of constructing such edifices as we have seen existing at Meroe. I do not hesitate to say, that were it possible to transport one of the pyramids of Meroe entire to London, it would be considered one of the most chaste and beautiful ornaments of our metropolis. Though constructed more perhaps than three thousand years ago, it might, even now, be studied with advantage by our artists and architects.

When such observations are applied to Egypt, the answer isstill more easily made. Where in Europe is there an edifice like the great temple at Karnak, one hall of which contains 140 columns, 36 feet in circumference, dimensions rarely to be found in Europe, and every portion of that splendid court covered with carefully finished and painted sculptures? Having, however, trespassed so long on the reader’s patience, I must not now allow myself to enter on the subject of Egyptian art. I will only say, in conclusion, that the materials used in the pyramids of Memphis are sufficient to construct a city, and that no palaces of Europe are comparable in splendour to the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes.

THE END.

London:Printed by A.Spottiswoode.New-Street-Square.

London:Printed by A.Spottiswoode.New-Street-Square.

FOOTNOTES:[1]I possess numerous notes and drawings of the antiquities in the lower valley of the Nile, selections from which I had some intention of publishing, as intimated several times in my journal. But I doubt much now if I shall enter on a field in which there are already so many competitors. Signor Rosellini’s magnificent work is already well known to the literary world. That of Champollion will, I believe, soon appear. Mr. Wilkinson’s invaluable work, “Thebes, and General View of Egypt,” with his most accurate map of that interesting city, are already before the public. The same author has promised us an account of the private life of the Egyptians; and such a subject could not be in more learned hands. I trust the result of Mr. Burton’s residence of above twelve years in that country will soon appear. Mr. Hay’s portfolio is the most magnificent which has ever been brought from that country. It comprises plans, sections, and detailed drawings, by eminent architects; also delineations of sculpture from the tombs and temples, by himself and able artists, whom he employed; with a complete series of picturesque views, entirely by his own pencil. Mr. Lane, Dr. Hogg, and others, are on the eve of publishing. In mentioning the interesting works which I hope will soon appear, I cannot refrain from expressing my regret, that the valuable labours and researches of the above English travellers in that classic soil have not been combined for the formation of a great national work,—an imperishable monument of public utility and individual enterprise.I refer the reader, with great pleasure, to the fifth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, in which there is a very interesting description of the peninsula of Sennaar, communicated by Sir John Barrow, from the memoranda of Lord Prudhoe. Had it been published before this volume was completed, I should have availed myself of the information which it contains; but I am glad to find that in many respects it confirms my statement.[2]Lord Prudhoe and Major Felix are the only Englishmen who have seen the antiquities of the island of Meroe; and it is deeply to be regretted that they have not published their observations.[3]In a work on Egypt, for which I have ample notes, and 400 drawings to select from, I may give a more detailed description of these places.[4]The temples I mention in this volume, below the second cataract, I may perhaps describe at a future opportunity.[5]It somewhat resembled, also, what Festus says of the Salian dancers: the præsaltor advanced “et amptruabat,” then all the rest came “et redamptruabant,” or danced and sang as he had done.—Sir Wm. Gell, T. R. vol. ii. p. 385.[6]Part I. Canto II.[7]The reader will have observed that my estimate of the pace of the camel differs from those of many travellers, and particularly from that of Mr. Burnes, the author of the justly celebrated work “Travels into Bokhara” (see vol. ii. p. 149.); but he must recollect that my camels were of the Bishareen race. My servants were all mounted; and the animals, even at starting, were not heavily laden with a stock of water, which diminished daily. There being only one well containing water, and that bad, in a distance of 250 miles, it was their interest to urge on their camels, which they did by singing in the manner I have described. I took great pains to ascertain the pace of these animals, observing not only theirs, but also that of the drivers walking by their side, dismounting repeatedly myself for that purpose. I had the gratification to find, on arriving at the Nile, that my calculations agreed, within two or three miles, with the observations of latitude. I have made many long journeys on camels, and I certainly think that animal, when well taken care of, and not overloaded, fully capable of marching ten or eleven hours per day, at the average rate of two miles and a half an hour in valleys or over rough roads, and three miles on plains, without beingat alldistressed. On the banks of rivers, and in districts where water and forage are plentiful, except urged on, the men are always inclined to move more slowly, and make a shorter day’s journey, not so much to save their camels as to lessen the fatigue to themselves: a few days more or lessen routebeing generally a matter of indifference to them.[8]Burckhardt calls them angareyg, and says the peculiar smell of the leather some of them are made of keeps them free from vermin. I conceive it to be rather the excessive heat of the climate that preserves the inhabitants of these latitudes from the plagues of Egypt.[9]These flies also annoy the cattle; but neither here nor on the Mugrum (the Astaboras) have they the effect described by Bruce.[10]The specimens which I brought to England have confirmed the accuracy of the description of them in Cailliaud’s work—“Cette coquille, bien reconnue aujourd-hui comme devant appartenir au genre éthérie, est remarquable par son talon, qui souvent semble s’accroître et présenter nombre de compartimens. J’avais conservé de ces valves d’éthéries qui avaient jusqu’à huit ou dix poules de longueur: la forme en est alongée et variée, la nacre blanche et feuilletée. Les deux attaches musculaires semblent être le seul motif qui jusqu’à present a fait placer ces éthéries avec les cames plutôt qu’avec les huîtres, dont elles ont du reste tout le caractère.”—Vol. ii. p. 222.[11]“Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.”[12]Pliny.[13]Lib. ii. c. 29.[14]See the Chapters on theCommerceandArtsof Meroe.[15]SeeHistorical Appendix,andAccount of the Ruinsof Gebel el Berkel, for further remarks on the arch.[16]The first Egyptian edifice recorded is the pyramid built by Venephes, at Cochon; according to Eusebius from Manetho, the fourth king of the first dynasty. Africanus calls the town Cochomen. That valuable remark shows the great antiquity of this description of tomb.[17]Virg. Georg. iv. 291.[18]In theAppendixon the arts of Meroe I have mentioned many other reasons for this opinion.[19]Assour, on the north side, I did not see.[20]The Sheakhs and Meleks generally profess to be very religious, and observant of the laws of the Koran; but when they want another wife, and have already four, they divorce one of their old ones.[21]They have some few wells, but generally send for water from the river.[22]Agatharchides of Gnidos (Diod. lib. i.), and others in the time of the Ptolemies, seem to have divined the cause; and Homer (vide Odyssey, book iv. ver. 581.), when he describes the Nile as descending from heaven, apparently alludes to the rain in Ethiopia; but at the time of Herodotus it is certain that the Egyptians were not acquainted with the true cause; and Moses, in describing the promised land (Deut. ch. xi. ver. 10.), “not as the land of Egypt, but as a land of hills and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of heaven,” that is, owed its fertility to the rain that fell from the clouds, would not have used those expressions, had he been exhorting a people aware that the rain in Ethiopia was the cause of the rising of the Nile; the source of the productiveness of the two countries being the same, although in the one more immediate, and therefore more apparent.[23]As a boat would sail, following all the windings of the river and the islands, the distance from Shendy to Rosetta can scarcely be less than 1800 miles.[24]In crossing this desert, to save anxiety, I gave each person his own provision of water to take care of, warning him, if that fell short, it was his own fault. This plan succeeded, each individual taking such care of his skins that none of them ran out.[25]In calling it not very ancient, I, of course, mean, in comparison to some of the edifices in Ethiopia and Egypt. Tirhaka began to reign in the latter country about 700 years A.C.[26]See PlatesLIII.andLIV.[27]The generality of the pyramids face a little to the south of south-east. I regret to state, that, from an error of the engraver’s, which I did not discover until all the copies were printed off, their direction is not correctly marked in theGeneral Plan;but, as their position is accurately shown in the abovevignette,I have considered it unnecessary to incur the expense of having the plate reprinted.[28]I have not considered it necessary to publish a separate drawing which I made of this group.[29]The Ethiopians are represented by Herodotus (vii. 69.) as carrying bows not less than four cubits in length.[30]The arch at North Der is formed by approaching stones.[31]I shall make some further remarks on this important subject in myAppendixon the arts of Meroe.[32]Lib. xvi. p. 770.[33]The okre consists of 2¾ rotles, or pounds of 12 ounces; and 150 rotles, or pounds, make a cantar.[34]This Plate contains also an Ababde of the Desert, in the short drawers they sometimes wear.[35]The bearings of the course of the river, and numerous other villages and islands, whose names I obtained, are marked in themap.[36]About fifteen miles from the second cataract.[37]The rotle consists of 12 ounces.[38]He fell ill in Kordofan, but did not die until he arrived at Wady Modeen, on the Bahr el Azruk, where I believe he is buried.[39]As regards the title of “melek,” this is the name given in Hebrew to the different chiefs: but it is invariably translated, in our version, “kings.”[40]I have heard a song that describes this battle. The Arabs adopt very generally this method of preserving the recollection of any important event. There is a curious one about the Deftar Dar Bey, when he avenged the death of Ismael Pasha on the Shendyans. He is represented as coming as swift as the ostrich; “burning the fakeers,” and “killing the sheakhs.”[41]The Ababde girl, in relating this tale, sang this part very sweetly, and several who were standing by joined in the chorus.[42]The Ababde girl sang this.[43]This man gave me the description of the customs, &c., which I have given, having found them to agree with other accounts. When I asked him whether I could be of any service to him in Cairo, he begged, as a favour, that I would send him a blank book, as he was anxious to make a copy of the Koran.[44]“Le 17 Avril nous eûmes occasion de voir à Beit el Fakih un exemple du sangfroid et de la fermeté des Arabes. Le feu prit à une maison à l’extrémité méridionale, et, comme le vent soufflait du sud avec violence, en peu de tems la plus grande partie de la ville fut dévorée par les flammes: cependant les habitants restaient tranquilles: on n’entendait dans les rues ni cris, ni lamentations; et quand on plaignait leur sort, ils répliquaient, C’est la volonté de Dieu. Nous occupions une maison de pierre dans un quartier que les flammes épargnèrent: montés sur notre toit nous vîmes les toits des autres maisons, remplis de spectateurs, qui regardaient tranquillement l’incendie. Un savant pauvre, qui nous rendait souvent des visites, vint à nous voir après avoir mis en sûreté ses effets, et nous indiqua d’un air indifférent le moment où sa maison s’embrasa.”[45]The title which all travellers, who remain any time in Egypt, generally take, is that of Effende. There are two great advantages in assuming a Turkish name:—it affords greater facility to the natives in recollecting it, and it likewise prevents your being called Howwajee, merchant, or, rather, pedler; and as that class of persons are, in this country, rarely respectable, either from their morals or station, an Englishman submitting to such a title, of course, lowers himself, both in the eyes of the Turks and natives. The Arabs, among themselves, often have other names for Europeans. I was called Abou Toweel, Father of the tall. Rosellini had a name in reference to his beard (Abou Dagan); Champollion (Abou Galeed), from his corpulency; and a noble traveller, who has surpassed us all in the extent of his journey up the Nile, was called, I am told, Abou Dagegah, or Father of the Minutes, from the report having spread that he had a dollar every minute. The Turks and Arabs of these provinces, where travellers are more rare, sometimes honour me with the title of Bey Zadé, or, Son of a Governor.[46]My servant having broken my thermometer at Gibel el Birkel, I have, unfortunately, been unable to ascertain the heat here: I can only remark, that the temperature for these last three months has increased perceptibly every week. Some travellers have stated that the extreme heat in Nubia is in April. Such an observation, if not entirely an error, can only be applicable to that part where heavy tropical rains fall. On the 11th of March (seep. 97.) we had 110° in the shade; but although that was the commencement of the extreme heat, and for that reason more difficult to support, I did not experience so great an inconvenience from it as at present. The natives did not then complain as they do now, nor did my servants from Cairo and Thebes suffer so much. They were all ill at El Ourde, and I thought my Greek servant Ibrahim would have died.[47]Mr. Waddington’s Travels in Ethiopia contain a view and plan of this temple, and also some views of Gibel el Birkel. I have avoided, as much as possible, the disagreeable task of swelling my text with criticisms on the observations and plates of Monsieur Cailliaud. It would, however, be unjust and ungenerous to make any observation on the views of Mr. Waddington, as he states candidly that he was no draughtsman; yet, as no other views had been published, he was, of course, justified in giving such as he possessed.[48]The names of these two kings occurring together at Semneh, where Thothmes is represented worshipping his ancestor Osirtisen as a god, is confirmatory of the accuracy of the supposition that these are the names in the tomb at Doshe.[49]See Bruce’s account of the reverence and adoration of the Agous at the source of the Nile.[50]Inscription No. 1. is from the same portico, and opposite to a large figure, similar to the one inPlate X.,Sculpture, Meroe. No. 2. is before a figure presenting offerings. No. 4. before a figure of Anubis. No. 5. before a figure of Horus. The tablet, No. 3. is in the same portico, over a figure kneeling before a funeral boat, very much defaced, at the end of the portico. As will be seen by theplate,these inscriptions are very much injured; but, although the least perfect of any that I possess, I publish them, because they are the most important, being from the pyramids of Meroe. No. 6. is an inscription which was above the sculpture on one side of the first chamber excavated out of the rock of the Temple of Tirhaka, Gibel el Birkel. No 7. is another portion of this apparently dedicatory inscription, going round the whole of the room. The hieroglyphics are large, well executed, and very legible, except some which were quite defaced, and others almost covered with dirt. No. 8. are fragments from the large granite altar in the western corner of the great Temple, Gibel el Birkel. The first line is on the south-east side, the second on the north-east; the remainder of the hieroglyphics on this altar I have not been able to publish.Plate LIII.shows the two subjects on the altar in the sanctuary of the same temple. (SeePlate XXIV.) I have alluded to them in my description of the ruins.[51]His name is also found in the tomb near Solib, and on the rocks at Toumbos.[52]Since I wrote the above, I have seen the two beautiful granite lions which were brought from Gibel el Birkel, and presented to the British Museum, by Lord Prudhoe. The sculpture is most beautiful. They appear to be of the same period, as their attitude is similar; otherwise, their forms are different. The one which is the most defaced, and has been apparently the most symmetrical, bears the name of Amunoph III., in deep intaglio. As the name of this king does not exist on any edifice at Gibel el Birkel, I think the circumstance of the lion bearing his name being found there, no decisive proof of his having penetrated so far south. The sculpture is too good to be Ethiopian, and the granite is not of a description I met with near there. Gibel el Birkel, whatever might be its ancient name, was evidently the capital and favoured city of Tirhaka, who might, on his abdication of the throne of Egypt, have brought away these splendid specimens of Egyptian art. The nomen and prænomen on the other are not Egyptian, but seem to be of a king called Amnasre, or Amun Asre.[53]Lib. ii. cap. 110.[54]Odys. Δ′. 184.[55]Odys. Λ′. 522.[56]Pausanias correctly states the vocal statue of Memnon at Thebes was by the natives called Phamenoph (that is, Amunoph III.), the name it actually bears; and it certainly is curious, that this is the very king whose name we find in Ethiopia at Solib, and on the lion, as I have stated, brought from Gibel el Birkel. That king may possibly have been master of a portion of Ethiopia, and styled himself, as was often the custom, king of the Upper and Lower Countries; but he could not have been the Ethiopian Memnon, who marched to the succour of Troy: for the king who reigned in Egypt at the time of the Trojan war was Osirei, or Menephtah II.; and Amunoph III. died more than a century and a half before that event. As no edifices remain bearing the name of this king south of Solib, which is not a hundred miles above the second cataract, I see no just reason, as I have said before, for supposing that he carried his arms to Gibel el Birkel, much less to Meroe.[57]2 Chronicles, xii. 2, 3.[58]2 Chronicles, xvi. 8.[59]2 Chronicles, chap. xiv. l. 8-11.[60]2 Chronicles, xiv. 12, 13.[61]Lib. ii. 137.[62]Lib. ii. 139.[63]Major Felix’s account of the Egyptian dynasties was the first that showed us the great utility of the lapidary inscriptions. Although brief, it is so admirably arranged, the information it contains so valuable, and, notwithstanding the recent progress in the study of hieroglyphics, generally so correct, that it is very much to be regretted that the papers he lithographed at Cairo have not been more widely circulated by a reprint in England.[64]2 Kings, chap. xviii.[65]Rosellini, i Monumenti dell’ Egitto e della Nubia, lib. ii. chap. 7.[66]Isaiah, xxxvii. 36-38.[67]Lib. ii. 137.[68]Page 1007.[69][Hieroglyphs]Meroe. (SeePlate X.) There is a fragment of a figure of a god, with the hieroglyphics before it; this is evidently the god Sebek, which, with the Greek termination, makes the Sevechus of Eusebius; but, although the name in the list and that of Eusebius and Africanus are made thus to agree with the name in the Bible, I have some doubts if Signor Rosellini is correct in the connection he supposes between the name of these hieroglyphics and the god Sevek; for the Ethiopians apparently wrote the name of that deity in the same manner as the Egyptians, and yet not one of the hieroglyphics used in writing the name of the god is employed in that of the king.[70]Herodotus, lib. ii. 30. Diodorus states the number to have been more than 200,000; and assigns as the reason of their emigration, that in the expedition into Syria the post of honour was given to foreigners.—Lib. iii. vol. i. p. 175.[71]Herodotus, lib. iii. 17. 20.[72]Heliodorus, in his history of Ethiopia, or, rather, novel of Theagenes and Cariclia, relates the war of Hydaspes, king of the East and West Ethiopians, with the Egyptians, or rather the Persians, then in possession of Egypt, for the island of Philæ and the emerald mines. He gives also an account of the siege of Syene; and mentions the prisoners being bound with chains of gold, so that one of them, Theagenes, the hero of the tale, laughed, and said, that he was more richly decorated in prison than out.[73]Heeren’s Afrikanische Völker, vol. i. ch. 3.[74]Lib. iii. 102.[75]The following description, extracted from the journal of my first voyage up the Nile, may amuse the reader:—“April 8. 1832.—Our pilot afforded us a curious exhibition, although not, I believe, uncommon; but to us it was new. He pretended or believed that his saint, to whom he had been addressing his evening devotions, had entered his body, and he immediately fell into the most violent paroxysms, throwing his arms about, rolling his head, and twisting his body in a very outrageous manner: sometimes he held up his hands, and shook, as in the most dreadful convulsions, groaning most piteously, and gabbling forth all sorts of gibberish. The sailors made a circle round him, and continued making low obeisances, calling on Mahomet to assist him, for nearly two hours; they believe that, unless they did this, the saint would never leave him, and he would have probably died. The man, in his madness, seemed to have a great jealousy for his honour; one of the mariners was sleeping on board the boat, while the others were on the banks praying for them; on a sudden he darted into the boat, and, had he not been detained, would have roughly used the drowsy mariner. After all the Mahometans near him had joined the circle to pray for his recovery, he returned, by degrees, to his senses: when the fit was over, he lay for some time apparently quite exhausted. The man is remarkable at other times for the mildness of his manner, and is one of the finest looking Nubians I have seen, being above six feet high, with uncommonly handsome features. The people consider those who are thus possessed as peculiarly favoured, not one in a thousand being so fortunate. After death they are generally considered as saints, and have tombs erected to them by the government, which does this, no doubt, to gain popularity, or conciliate the people: but it is generally believed that the saint has appeared to the Pasha, ordering him to erect it.”[76]Lib. xvii. p. 820.[77]Lib. vi. chap. 29.[78]See Letronne’s note on Strabo, l. xvii. vol. v. p. 435.[79]See Acts, chap. vi. vii. 33.[80]Lib. iii. c. 2.[81]Except Rameses II., who certainly penetrated as far as Gibel el Birkel; but there is no other Egyptian name on any rocks or edifices south of Solib and Toumbos.[82]Herodotus (Thalia, 114.) describes Ethiopia as the last of the inhabited regions of the earth, and possessed by men of very great stature, beautiful, and of very long life; adding, that it produces much gold, and very large elephants, with long teeth, wild trees of every description, and ebony.[83]Diodorus (lib. iii. p. 105.) says, that near the confines of Egypt and the adjacent Ethiopia and Arabia, there is a place which abounds in rich gold mines, whence, at a great expense and toil of a great multitude of criminals, gold is dug. He speaks also of the manner they pounded the gold; and also mentions veins of white marble. It is a singular coincidence, that at the mines in the great Nubian desert, there are actually remaining mortars exactly such as he describes; and, with one exception, the only place I found white marble during this journey was in that desert, not far from the mines. The marble, however, may perhaps be the white quartz the gold is found in.[84]On the road to Abou Hashim, in the kingdom of Berber, and other places, I found rocks of sandstone, much charged with iron, and beyond Sennaar, they say that there are iron mines.[85]I regret that in some few of the impressions the caps were printed black. The reader must be aware, that the management of such engravings as these is excessively difficult. Four colours are impressed from separate stones—red, blue, black, and the ground. The others were put in by hand. I took great pains in superintending the mixing of the colours, to give the reader as exact a representation of an Egyptian painting as was in my power. I am indebted to Mr. Bonomi for having drawn for me on the stones these and the other plates of sculpture.[86]The past and present condition of Ethiopia are so admirably described in the first two verses, chap. xviii. of Isaiah, and the prophecy so admirably fulfilled, that I cannot refrain from repeating them:—“Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!” Can the expression “shadowing with wings” allude to the winged globe on all the edifices in Egypt and Ethiopia? Vessels of bulrushes are highly characteristic of a wild tribe in the interior, almost similar ones being used at the present day; but the “nation, terrible from the beginning, meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled,” can only be Ethiopia.[87]Strabo mentions that Coptos was the entrepôt, not only of the merchandise of Ethiopia, but also of India and Arabia.[88]Isaiah (xlv. 14.) also mentions the “merchandise of Ethiopia.”[89]Euterpe, 110.[90]Plin. lib. vi. cap. xxix.[91]Destruction of the library at Alexandria.[92]No. CVI. p. 350.[93]Euterpe, xv.[94]This is no new doctrine of my own: Champollion, Rosellini, Heeren, and many other first-rate authorities have the same idea. I had expressed no opinion on the subject before going into the country; and, therefore, without prejudice, examined the evidence afforded by the monuments. At the same time that I deeply regret, that many learned travellers and geographers differ with me on this important point, I have not feared to express my own opinion; and I trust it will be candidly allowed, that in my topographical description I have not omitted any observation that might militate against my argument. I have stated, that in the latitude of Shendy it occasionally rains, (but Cailliaud is mistaken in supposing that it rains there three months in the year,) and that such rain would have a certain effect even on the solid mass of a pyramid. I have mentioned, also, that the stones are smaller, and often of a softer material, than the sandstone of Egypt; but we must consider that the pyramids are also smaller, that they have no rooms in the interior, and that the material of the least durable is harder than that of many of the pyramids of Memphis. Mr. Waddington did not reach the wonderful cemetery of the metropolis of Meroe, but the result of his comparison of the other pyramids of Ethiopia with those of Egypt agrees with mine, that is to say, as regards their relative antiquity; but from the discoveries in hieroglyphics, Mr. W. is found to be wrong in the dates he assigns to the monuments of Memphis and Thebes. But I cannot conclude this subject better than with an extract from his work.He says (Journal of a Visit to some Parts of Ethiopia, p. 184), “Now, the utter destruction and shapelessness of many of the pyramids at Birkel and El Bellal (Nouri), attest their antiquity; while those of Egypt do not appear to have been erected above eleven or twelve hundred years before Christ, when that country had been frequently overrun by the Ethiopians;”—alluding to the statement of Herodotus, that eighteen of the kings of Egypt were Ethiopians; but Manethon and the monuments do not confirm this account, and, therefore, I have not mentioned it before. “The pyramids are of a later date than the ruins of Thebes. Thebes, which is known to have been founded by a colony of Ethiopians[a], was called Ammon No, Diospolis, or the city of Ammon. It follows, then, I think, very clearly, from the concurrence of these observations on the antiquities of Ethiopia, with the conclusions derived from historical evidence, that the origin of the Egyptian divinities, as well as that of their temples and their tombs, and of the sculptures, figures, and symbols, may be traced to Ethiopia. In the magnitude of their edifices, the imitators have, indeed, surpassed their masters; but, as far as we could judge from the granite and other sculptures at Argo and Gibel el Birkel, that art seems to have been as well understood, and carried to as high perfection, as it was afterwards by their scholars at Thebes and at Memphis.[a]Bruce’s Travels, vol. i. p. 380. The words of Bruce are,—“We know that Thebes was a colony of Ethiopians, and probably from Meroe; but whether directly or not we are not certain.” There is, I believe, no passage distinctly stating this; but Bruce very correctly inferred it from the statements of Diodorus and Herodotus.[95]Ludolf, lib. iii. chap. 2.

[1]I possess numerous notes and drawings of the antiquities in the lower valley of the Nile, selections from which I had some intention of publishing, as intimated several times in my journal. But I doubt much now if I shall enter on a field in which there are already so many competitors. Signor Rosellini’s magnificent work is already well known to the literary world. That of Champollion will, I believe, soon appear. Mr. Wilkinson’s invaluable work, “Thebes, and General View of Egypt,” with his most accurate map of that interesting city, are already before the public. The same author has promised us an account of the private life of the Egyptians; and such a subject could not be in more learned hands. I trust the result of Mr. Burton’s residence of above twelve years in that country will soon appear. Mr. Hay’s portfolio is the most magnificent which has ever been brought from that country. It comprises plans, sections, and detailed drawings, by eminent architects; also delineations of sculpture from the tombs and temples, by himself and able artists, whom he employed; with a complete series of picturesque views, entirely by his own pencil. Mr. Lane, Dr. Hogg, and others, are on the eve of publishing. In mentioning the interesting works which I hope will soon appear, I cannot refrain from expressing my regret, that the valuable labours and researches of the above English travellers in that classic soil have not been combined for the formation of a great national work,—an imperishable monument of public utility and individual enterprise.I refer the reader, with great pleasure, to the fifth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, in which there is a very interesting description of the peninsula of Sennaar, communicated by Sir John Barrow, from the memoranda of Lord Prudhoe. Had it been published before this volume was completed, I should have availed myself of the information which it contains; but I am glad to find that in many respects it confirms my statement.

[1]I possess numerous notes and drawings of the antiquities in the lower valley of the Nile, selections from which I had some intention of publishing, as intimated several times in my journal. But I doubt much now if I shall enter on a field in which there are already so many competitors. Signor Rosellini’s magnificent work is already well known to the literary world. That of Champollion will, I believe, soon appear. Mr. Wilkinson’s invaluable work, “Thebes, and General View of Egypt,” with his most accurate map of that interesting city, are already before the public. The same author has promised us an account of the private life of the Egyptians; and such a subject could not be in more learned hands. I trust the result of Mr. Burton’s residence of above twelve years in that country will soon appear. Mr. Hay’s portfolio is the most magnificent which has ever been brought from that country. It comprises plans, sections, and detailed drawings, by eminent architects; also delineations of sculpture from the tombs and temples, by himself and able artists, whom he employed; with a complete series of picturesque views, entirely by his own pencil. Mr. Lane, Dr. Hogg, and others, are on the eve of publishing. In mentioning the interesting works which I hope will soon appear, I cannot refrain from expressing my regret, that the valuable labours and researches of the above English travellers in that classic soil have not been combined for the formation of a great national work,—an imperishable monument of public utility and individual enterprise.

I refer the reader, with great pleasure, to the fifth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, in which there is a very interesting description of the peninsula of Sennaar, communicated by Sir John Barrow, from the memoranda of Lord Prudhoe. Had it been published before this volume was completed, I should have availed myself of the information which it contains; but I am glad to find that in many respects it confirms my statement.

[2]Lord Prudhoe and Major Felix are the only Englishmen who have seen the antiquities of the island of Meroe; and it is deeply to be regretted that they have not published their observations.

[2]Lord Prudhoe and Major Felix are the only Englishmen who have seen the antiquities of the island of Meroe; and it is deeply to be regretted that they have not published their observations.

[3]In a work on Egypt, for which I have ample notes, and 400 drawings to select from, I may give a more detailed description of these places.

[3]In a work on Egypt, for which I have ample notes, and 400 drawings to select from, I may give a more detailed description of these places.

[4]The temples I mention in this volume, below the second cataract, I may perhaps describe at a future opportunity.

[4]The temples I mention in this volume, below the second cataract, I may perhaps describe at a future opportunity.

[5]It somewhat resembled, also, what Festus says of the Salian dancers: the præsaltor advanced “et amptruabat,” then all the rest came “et redamptruabant,” or danced and sang as he had done.—Sir Wm. Gell, T. R. vol. ii. p. 385.

[5]It somewhat resembled, also, what Festus says of the Salian dancers: the præsaltor advanced “et amptruabat,” then all the rest came “et redamptruabant,” or danced and sang as he had done.—Sir Wm. Gell, T. R. vol. ii. p. 385.

[6]Part I. Canto II.

[6]Part I. Canto II.

[7]The reader will have observed that my estimate of the pace of the camel differs from those of many travellers, and particularly from that of Mr. Burnes, the author of the justly celebrated work “Travels into Bokhara” (see vol. ii. p. 149.); but he must recollect that my camels were of the Bishareen race. My servants were all mounted; and the animals, even at starting, were not heavily laden with a stock of water, which diminished daily. There being only one well containing water, and that bad, in a distance of 250 miles, it was their interest to urge on their camels, which they did by singing in the manner I have described. I took great pains to ascertain the pace of these animals, observing not only theirs, but also that of the drivers walking by their side, dismounting repeatedly myself for that purpose. I had the gratification to find, on arriving at the Nile, that my calculations agreed, within two or three miles, with the observations of latitude. I have made many long journeys on camels, and I certainly think that animal, when well taken care of, and not overloaded, fully capable of marching ten or eleven hours per day, at the average rate of two miles and a half an hour in valleys or over rough roads, and three miles on plains, without beingat alldistressed. On the banks of rivers, and in districts where water and forage are plentiful, except urged on, the men are always inclined to move more slowly, and make a shorter day’s journey, not so much to save their camels as to lessen the fatigue to themselves: a few days more or lessen routebeing generally a matter of indifference to them.

[7]The reader will have observed that my estimate of the pace of the camel differs from those of many travellers, and particularly from that of Mr. Burnes, the author of the justly celebrated work “Travels into Bokhara” (see vol. ii. p. 149.); but he must recollect that my camels were of the Bishareen race. My servants were all mounted; and the animals, even at starting, were not heavily laden with a stock of water, which diminished daily. There being only one well containing water, and that bad, in a distance of 250 miles, it was their interest to urge on their camels, which they did by singing in the manner I have described. I took great pains to ascertain the pace of these animals, observing not only theirs, but also that of the drivers walking by their side, dismounting repeatedly myself for that purpose. I had the gratification to find, on arriving at the Nile, that my calculations agreed, within two or three miles, with the observations of latitude. I have made many long journeys on camels, and I certainly think that animal, when well taken care of, and not overloaded, fully capable of marching ten or eleven hours per day, at the average rate of two miles and a half an hour in valleys or over rough roads, and three miles on plains, without beingat alldistressed. On the banks of rivers, and in districts where water and forage are plentiful, except urged on, the men are always inclined to move more slowly, and make a shorter day’s journey, not so much to save their camels as to lessen the fatigue to themselves: a few days more or lessen routebeing generally a matter of indifference to them.

[8]Burckhardt calls them angareyg, and says the peculiar smell of the leather some of them are made of keeps them free from vermin. I conceive it to be rather the excessive heat of the climate that preserves the inhabitants of these latitudes from the plagues of Egypt.

[8]Burckhardt calls them angareyg, and says the peculiar smell of the leather some of them are made of keeps them free from vermin. I conceive it to be rather the excessive heat of the climate that preserves the inhabitants of these latitudes from the plagues of Egypt.

[9]These flies also annoy the cattle; but neither here nor on the Mugrum (the Astaboras) have they the effect described by Bruce.

[9]These flies also annoy the cattle; but neither here nor on the Mugrum (the Astaboras) have they the effect described by Bruce.

[10]The specimens which I brought to England have confirmed the accuracy of the description of them in Cailliaud’s work—“Cette coquille, bien reconnue aujourd-hui comme devant appartenir au genre éthérie, est remarquable par son talon, qui souvent semble s’accroître et présenter nombre de compartimens. J’avais conservé de ces valves d’éthéries qui avaient jusqu’à huit ou dix poules de longueur: la forme en est alongée et variée, la nacre blanche et feuilletée. Les deux attaches musculaires semblent être le seul motif qui jusqu’à present a fait placer ces éthéries avec les cames plutôt qu’avec les huîtres, dont elles ont du reste tout le caractère.”—Vol. ii. p. 222.

[10]The specimens which I brought to England have confirmed the accuracy of the description of them in Cailliaud’s work—“Cette coquille, bien reconnue aujourd-hui comme devant appartenir au genre éthérie, est remarquable par son talon, qui souvent semble s’accroître et présenter nombre de compartimens. J’avais conservé de ces valves d’éthéries qui avaient jusqu’à huit ou dix poules de longueur: la forme en est alongée et variée, la nacre blanche et feuilletée. Les deux attaches musculaires semblent être le seul motif qui jusqu’à present a fait placer ces éthéries avec les cames plutôt qu’avec les huîtres, dont elles ont du reste tout le caractère.”—Vol. ii. p. 222.

[11]“Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.”

[11]“Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.”

[12]Pliny.

[12]Pliny.

[13]Lib. ii. c. 29.

[13]Lib. ii. c. 29.

[14]See the Chapters on theCommerceandArtsof Meroe.

[14]See the Chapters on theCommerceandArtsof Meroe.

[15]SeeHistorical Appendix,andAccount of the Ruinsof Gebel el Berkel, for further remarks on the arch.

[15]SeeHistorical Appendix,andAccount of the Ruinsof Gebel el Berkel, for further remarks on the arch.

[16]The first Egyptian edifice recorded is the pyramid built by Venephes, at Cochon; according to Eusebius from Manetho, the fourth king of the first dynasty. Africanus calls the town Cochomen. That valuable remark shows the great antiquity of this description of tomb.

[16]The first Egyptian edifice recorded is the pyramid built by Venephes, at Cochon; according to Eusebius from Manetho, the fourth king of the first dynasty. Africanus calls the town Cochomen. That valuable remark shows the great antiquity of this description of tomb.

[17]Virg. Georg. iv. 291.

[17]Virg. Georg. iv. 291.

[18]In theAppendixon the arts of Meroe I have mentioned many other reasons for this opinion.

[18]In theAppendixon the arts of Meroe I have mentioned many other reasons for this opinion.

[19]Assour, on the north side, I did not see.

[19]Assour, on the north side, I did not see.

[20]The Sheakhs and Meleks generally profess to be very religious, and observant of the laws of the Koran; but when they want another wife, and have already four, they divorce one of their old ones.

[20]The Sheakhs and Meleks generally profess to be very religious, and observant of the laws of the Koran; but when they want another wife, and have already four, they divorce one of their old ones.

[21]They have some few wells, but generally send for water from the river.

[21]They have some few wells, but generally send for water from the river.

[22]Agatharchides of Gnidos (Diod. lib. i.), and others in the time of the Ptolemies, seem to have divined the cause; and Homer (vide Odyssey, book iv. ver. 581.), when he describes the Nile as descending from heaven, apparently alludes to the rain in Ethiopia; but at the time of Herodotus it is certain that the Egyptians were not acquainted with the true cause; and Moses, in describing the promised land (Deut. ch. xi. ver. 10.), “not as the land of Egypt, but as a land of hills and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of heaven,” that is, owed its fertility to the rain that fell from the clouds, would not have used those expressions, had he been exhorting a people aware that the rain in Ethiopia was the cause of the rising of the Nile; the source of the productiveness of the two countries being the same, although in the one more immediate, and therefore more apparent.

[22]Agatharchides of Gnidos (Diod. lib. i.), and others in the time of the Ptolemies, seem to have divined the cause; and Homer (vide Odyssey, book iv. ver. 581.), when he describes the Nile as descending from heaven, apparently alludes to the rain in Ethiopia; but at the time of Herodotus it is certain that the Egyptians were not acquainted with the true cause; and Moses, in describing the promised land (Deut. ch. xi. ver. 10.), “not as the land of Egypt, but as a land of hills and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of heaven,” that is, owed its fertility to the rain that fell from the clouds, would not have used those expressions, had he been exhorting a people aware that the rain in Ethiopia was the cause of the rising of the Nile; the source of the productiveness of the two countries being the same, although in the one more immediate, and therefore more apparent.

[23]As a boat would sail, following all the windings of the river and the islands, the distance from Shendy to Rosetta can scarcely be less than 1800 miles.

[23]As a boat would sail, following all the windings of the river and the islands, the distance from Shendy to Rosetta can scarcely be less than 1800 miles.

[24]In crossing this desert, to save anxiety, I gave each person his own provision of water to take care of, warning him, if that fell short, it was his own fault. This plan succeeded, each individual taking such care of his skins that none of them ran out.

[24]In crossing this desert, to save anxiety, I gave each person his own provision of water to take care of, warning him, if that fell short, it was his own fault. This plan succeeded, each individual taking such care of his skins that none of them ran out.

[25]In calling it not very ancient, I, of course, mean, in comparison to some of the edifices in Ethiopia and Egypt. Tirhaka began to reign in the latter country about 700 years A.C.

[25]In calling it not very ancient, I, of course, mean, in comparison to some of the edifices in Ethiopia and Egypt. Tirhaka began to reign in the latter country about 700 years A.C.

[26]See PlatesLIII.andLIV.

[26]See PlatesLIII.andLIV.

[27]The generality of the pyramids face a little to the south of south-east. I regret to state, that, from an error of the engraver’s, which I did not discover until all the copies were printed off, their direction is not correctly marked in theGeneral Plan;but, as their position is accurately shown in the abovevignette,I have considered it unnecessary to incur the expense of having the plate reprinted.

[27]The generality of the pyramids face a little to the south of south-east. I regret to state, that, from an error of the engraver’s, which I did not discover until all the copies were printed off, their direction is not correctly marked in theGeneral Plan;but, as their position is accurately shown in the abovevignette,I have considered it unnecessary to incur the expense of having the plate reprinted.

[28]I have not considered it necessary to publish a separate drawing which I made of this group.

[28]I have not considered it necessary to publish a separate drawing which I made of this group.

[29]The Ethiopians are represented by Herodotus (vii. 69.) as carrying bows not less than four cubits in length.

[29]The Ethiopians are represented by Herodotus (vii. 69.) as carrying bows not less than four cubits in length.

[30]The arch at North Der is formed by approaching stones.

[30]The arch at North Der is formed by approaching stones.

[31]I shall make some further remarks on this important subject in myAppendixon the arts of Meroe.

[31]I shall make some further remarks on this important subject in myAppendixon the arts of Meroe.

[32]Lib. xvi. p. 770.

[32]Lib. xvi. p. 770.

[33]The okre consists of 2¾ rotles, or pounds of 12 ounces; and 150 rotles, or pounds, make a cantar.

[33]The okre consists of 2¾ rotles, or pounds of 12 ounces; and 150 rotles, or pounds, make a cantar.

[34]This Plate contains also an Ababde of the Desert, in the short drawers they sometimes wear.

[34]This Plate contains also an Ababde of the Desert, in the short drawers they sometimes wear.

[35]The bearings of the course of the river, and numerous other villages and islands, whose names I obtained, are marked in themap.

[35]The bearings of the course of the river, and numerous other villages and islands, whose names I obtained, are marked in themap.

[36]About fifteen miles from the second cataract.

[36]About fifteen miles from the second cataract.

[37]The rotle consists of 12 ounces.

[37]The rotle consists of 12 ounces.

[38]He fell ill in Kordofan, but did not die until he arrived at Wady Modeen, on the Bahr el Azruk, where I believe he is buried.

[38]He fell ill in Kordofan, but did not die until he arrived at Wady Modeen, on the Bahr el Azruk, where I believe he is buried.

[39]As regards the title of “melek,” this is the name given in Hebrew to the different chiefs: but it is invariably translated, in our version, “kings.”

[39]As regards the title of “melek,” this is the name given in Hebrew to the different chiefs: but it is invariably translated, in our version, “kings.”

[40]I have heard a song that describes this battle. The Arabs adopt very generally this method of preserving the recollection of any important event. There is a curious one about the Deftar Dar Bey, when he avenged the death of Ismael Pasha on the Shendyans. He is represented as coming as swift as the ostrich; “burning the fakeers,” and “killing the sheakhs.”

[40]I have heard a song that describes this battle. The Arabs adopt very generally this method of preserving the recollection of any important event. There is a curious one about the Deftar Dar Bey, when he avenged the death of Ismael Pasha on the Shendyans. He is represented as coming as swift as the ostrich; “burning the fakeers,” and “killing the sheakhs.”

[41]The Ababde girl, in relating this tale, sang this part very sweetly, and several who were standing by joined in the chorus.

[41]The Ababde girl, in relating this tale, sang this part very sweetly, and several who were standing by joined in the chorus.

[42]The Ababde girl sang this.

[42]The Ababde girl sang this.

[43]This man gave me the description of the customs, &c., which I have given, having found them to agree with other accounts. When I asked him whether I could be of any service to him in Cairo, he begged, as a favour, that I would send him a blank book, as he was anxious to make a copy of the Koran.

[43]This man gave me the description of the customs, &c., which I have given, having found them to agree with other accounts. When I asked him whether I could be of any service to him in Cairo, he begged, as a favour, that I would send him a blank book, as he was anxious to make a copy of the Koran.

[44]“Le 17 Avril nous eûmes occasion de voir à Beit el Fakih un exemple du sangfroid et de la fermeté des Arabes. Le feu prit à une maison à l’extrémité méridionale, et, comme le vent soufflait du sud avec violence, en peu de tems la plus grande partie de la ville fut dévorée par les flammes: cependant les habitants restaient tranquilles: on n’entendait dans les rues ni cris, ni lamentations; et quand on plaignait leur sort, ils répliquaient, C’est la volonté de Dieu. Nous occupions une maison de pierre dans un quartier que les flammes épargnèrent: montés sur notre toit nous vîmes les toits des autres maisons, remplis de spectateurs, qui regardaient tranquillement l’incendie. Un savant pauvre, qui nous rendait souvent des visites, vint à nous voir après avoir mis en sûreté ses effets, et nous indiqua d’un air indifférent le moment où sa maison s’embrasa.”

[44]“Le 17 Avril nous eûmes occasion de voir à Beit el Fakih un exemple du sangfroid et de la fermeté des Arabes. Le feu prit à une maison à l’extrémité méridionale, et, comme le vent soufflait du sud avec violence, en peu de tems la plus grande partie de la ville fut dévorée par les flammes: cependant les habitants restaient tranquilles: on n’entendait dans les rues ni cris, ni lamentations; et quand on plaignait leur sort, ils répliquaient, C’est la volonté de Dieu. Nous occupions une maison de pierre dans un quartier que les flammes épargnèrent: montés sur notre toit nous vîmes les toits des autres maisons, remplis de spectateurs, qui regardaient tranquillement l’incendie. Un savant pauvre, qui nous rendait souvent des visites, vint à nous voir après avoir mis en sûreté ses effets, et nous indiqua d’un air indifférent le moment où sa maison s’embrasa.”

[45]The title which all travellers, who remain any time in Egypt, generally take, is that of Effende. There are two great advantages in assuming a Turkish name:—it affords greater facility to the natives in recollecting it, and it likewise prevents your being called Howwajee, merchant, or, rather, pedler; and as that class of persons are, in this country, rarely respectable, either from their morals or station, an Englishman submitting to such a title, of course, lowers himself, both in the eyes of the Turks and natives. The Arabs, among themselves, often have other names for Europeans. I was called Abou Toweel, Father of the tall. Rosellini had a name in reference to his beard (Abou Dagan); Champollion (Abou Galeed), from his corpulency; and a noble traveller, who has surpassed us all in the extent of his journey up the Nile, was called, I am told, Abou Dagegah, or Father of the Minutes, from the report having spread that he had a dollar every minute. The Turks and Arabs of these provinces, where travellers are more rare, sometimes honour me with the title of Bey Zadé, or, Son of a Governor.

[45]The title which all travellers, who remain any time in Egypt, generally take, is that of Effende. There are two great advantages in assuming a Turkish name:—it affords greater facility to the natives in recollecting it, and it likewise prevents your being called Howwajee, merchant, or, rather, pedler; and as that class of persons are, in this country, rarely respectable, either from their morals or station, an Englishman submitting to such a title, of course, lowers himself, both in the eyes of the Turks and natives. The Arabs, among themselves, often have other names for Europeans. I was called Abou Toweel, Father of the tall. Rosellini had a name in reference to his beard (Abou Dagan); Champollion (Abou Galeed), from his corpulency; and a noble traveller, who has surpassed us all in the extent of his journey up the Nile, was called, I am told, Abou Dagegah, or Father of the Minutes, from the report having spread that he had a dollar every minute. The Turks and Arabs of these provinces, where travellers are more rare, sometimes honour me with the title of Bey Zadé, or, Son of a Governor.

[46]My servant having broken my thermometer at Gibel el Birkel, I have, unfortunately, been unable to ascertain the heat here: I can only remark, that the temperature for these last three months has increased perceptibly every week. Some travellers have stated that the extreme heat in Nubia is in April. Such an observation, if not entirely an error, can only be applicable to that part where heavy tropical rains fall. On the 11th of March (seep. 97.) we had 110° in the shade; but although that was the commencement of the extreme heat, and for that reason more difficult to support, I did not experience so great an inconvenience from it as at present. The natives did not then complain as they do now, nor did my servants from Cairo and Thebes suffer so much. They were all ill at El Ourde, and I thought my Greek servant Ibrahim would have died.

[46]My servant having broken my thermometer at Gibel el Birkel, I have, unfortunately, been unable to ascertain the heat here: I can only remark, that the temperature for these last three months has increased perceptibly every week. Some travellers have stated that the extreme heat in Nubia is in April. Such an observation, if not entirely an error, can only be applicable to that part where heavy tropical rains fall. On the 11th of March (seep. 97.) we had 110° in the shade; but although that was the commencement of the extreme heat, and for that reason more difficult to support, I did not experience so great an inconvenience from it as at present. The natives did not then complain as they do now, nor did my servants from Cairo and Thebes suffer so much. They were all ill at El Ourde, and I thought my Greek servant Ibrahim would have died.

[47]Mr. Waddington’s Travels in Ethiopia contain a view and plan of this temple, and also some views of Gibel el Birkel. I have avoided, as much as possible, the disagreeable task of swelling my text with criticisms on the observations and plates of Monsieur Cailliaud. It would, however, be unjust and ungenerous to make any observation on the views of Mr. Waddington, as he states candidly that he was no draughtsman; yet, as no other views had been published, he was, of course, justified in giving such as he possessed.

[47]Mr. Waddington’s Travels in Ethiopia contain a view and plan of this temple, and also some views of Gibel el Birkel. I have avoided, as much as possible, the disagreeable task of swelling my text with criticisms on the observations and plates of Monsieur Cailliaud. It would, however, be unjust and ungenerous to make any observation on the views of Mr. Waddington, as he states candidly that he was no draughtsman; yet, as no other views had been published, he was, of course, justified in giving such as he possessed.

[48]The names of these two kings occurring together at Semneh, where Thothmes is represented worshipping his ancestor Osirtisen as a god, is confirmatory of the accuracy of the supposition that these are the names in the tomb at Doshe.

[48]The names of these two kings occurring together at Semneh, where Thothmes is represented worshipping his ancestor Osirtisen as a god, is confirmatory of the accuracy of the supposition that these are the names in the tomb at Doshe.

[49]See Bruce’s account of the reverence and adoration of the Agous at the source of the Nile.

[49]See Bruce’s account of the reverence and adoration of the Agous at the source of the Nile.

[50]Inscription No. 1. is from the same portico, and opposite to a large figure, similar to the one inPlate X.,Sculpture, Meroe. No. 2. is before a figure presenting offerings. No. 4. before a figure of Anubis. No. 5. before a figure of Horus. The tablet, No. 3. is in the same portico, over a figure kneeling before a funeral boat, very much defaced, at the end of the portico. As will be seen by theplate,these inscriptions are very much injured; but, although the least perfect of any that I possess, I publish them, because they are the most important, being from the pyramids of Meroe. No. 6. is an inscription which was above the sculpture on one side of the first chamber excavated out of the rock of the Temple of Tirhaka, Gibel el Birkel. No 7. is another portion of this apparently dedicatory inscription, going round the whole of the room. The hieroglyphics are large, well executed, and very legible, except some which were quite defaced, and others almost covered with dirt. No. 8. are fragments from the large granite altar in the western corner of the great Temple, Gibel el Birkel. The first line is on the south-east side, the second on the north-east; the remainder of the hieroglyphics on this altar I have not been able to publish.Plate LIII.shows the two subjects on the altar in the sanctuary of the same temple. (SeePlate XXIV.) I have alluded to them in my description of the ruins.

[50]Inscription No. 1. is from the same portico, and opposite to a large figure, similar to the one inPlate X.,Sculpture, Meroe. No. 2. is before a figure presenting offerings. No. 4. before a figure of Anubis. No. 5. before a figure of Horus. The tablet, No. 3. is in the same portico, over a figure kneeling before a funeral boat, very much defaced, at the end of the portico. As will be seen by theplate,these inscriptions are very much injured; but, although the least perfect of any that I possess, I publish them, because they are the most important, being from the pyramids of Meroe. No. 6. is an inscription which was above the sculpture on one side of the first chamber excavated out of the rock of the Temple of Tirhaka, Gibel el Birkel. No 7. is another portion of this apparently dedicatory inscription, going round the whole of the room. The hieroglyphics are large, well executed, and very legible, except some which were quite defaced, and others almost covered with dirt. No. 8. are fragments from the large granite altar in the western corner of the great Temple, Gibel el Birkel. The first line is on the south-east side, the second on the north-east; the remainder of the hieroglyphics on this altar I have not been able to publish.Plate LIII.shows the two subjects on the altar in the sanctuary of the same temple. (SeePlate XXIV.) I have alluded to them in my description of the ruins.

[51]His name is also found in the tomb near Solib, and on the rocks at Toumbos.

[51]His name is also found in the tomb near Solib, and on the rocks at Toumbos.

[52]Since I wrote the above, I have seen the two beautiful granite lions which were brought from Gibel el Birkel, and presented to the British Museum, by Lord Prudhoe. The sculpture is most beautiful. They appear to be of the same period, as their attitude is similar; otherwise, their forms are different. The one which is the most defaced, and has been apparently the most symmetrical, bears the name of Amunoph III., in deep intaglio. As the name of this king does not exist on any edifice at Gibel el Birkel, I think the circumstance of the lion bearing his name being found there, no decisive proof of his having penetrated so far south. The sculpture is too good to be Ethiopian, and the granite is not of a description I met with near there. Gibel el Birkel, whatever might be its ancient name, was evidently the capital and favoured city of Tirhaka, who might, on his abdication of the throne of Egypt, have brought away these splendid specimens of Egyptian art. The nomen and prænomen on the other are not Egyptian, but seem to be of a king called Amnasre, or Amun Asre.

[52]Since I wrote the above, I have seen the two beautiful granite lions which were brought from Gibel el Birkel, and presented to the British Museum, by Lord Prudhoe. The sculpture is most beautiful. They appear to be of the same period, as their attitude is similar; otherwise, their forms are different. The one which is the most defaced, and has been apparently the most symmetrical, bears the name of Amunoph III., in deep intaglio. As the name of this king does not exist on any edifice at Gibel el Birkel, I think the circumstance of the lion bearing his name being found there, no decisive proof of his having penetrated so far south. The sculpture is too good to be Ethiopian, and the granite is not of a description I met with near there. Gibel el Birkel, whatever might be its ancient name, was evidently the capital and favoured city of Tirhaka, who might, on his abdication of the throne of Egypt, have brought away these splendid specimens of Egyptian art. The nomen and prænomen on the other are not Egyptian, but seem to be of a king called Amnasre, or Amun Asre.

[53]Lib. ii. cap. 110.

[53]Lib. ii. cap. 110.

[54]Odys. Δ′. 184.

[54]Odys. Δ′. 184.

[55]Odys. Λ′. 522.

[55]Odys. Λ′. 522.

[56]Pausanias correctly states the vocal statue of Memnon at Thebes was by the natives called Phamenoph (that is, Amunoph III.), the name it actually bears; and it certainly is curious, that this is the very king whose name we find in Ethiopia at Solib, and on the lion, as I have stated, brought from Gibel el Birkel. That king may possibly have been master of a portion of Ethiopia, and styled himself, as was often the custom, king of the Upper and Lower Countries; but he could not have been the Ethiopian Memnon, who marched to the succour of Troy: for the king who reigned in Egypt at the time of the Trojan war was Osirei, or Menephtah II.; and Amunoph III. died more than a century and a half before that event. As no edifices remain bearing the name of this king south of Solib, which is not a hundred miles above the second cataract, I see no just reason, as I have said before, for supposing that he carried his arms to Gibel el Birkel, much less to Meroe.

[56]Pausanias correctly states the vocal statue of Memnon at Thebes was by the natives called Phamenoph (that is, Amunoph III.), the name it actually bears; and it certainly is curious, that this is the very king whose name we find in Ethiopia at Solib, and on the lion, as I have stated, brought from Gibel el Birkel. That king may possibly have been master of a portion of Ethiopia, and styled himself, as was often the custom, king of the Upper and Lower Countries; but he could not have been the Ethiopian Memnon, who marched to the succour of Troy: for the king who reigned in Egypt at the time of the Trojan war was Osirei, or Menephtah II.; and Amunoph III. died more than a century and a half before that event. As no edifices remain bearing the name of this king south of Solib, which is not a hundred miles above the second cataract, I see no just reason, as I have said before, for supposing that he carried his arms to Gibel el Birkel, much less to Meroe.

[57]2 Chronicles, xii. 2, 3.

[57]2 Chronicles, xii. 2, 3.

[58]2 Chronicles, xvi. 8.

[58]2 Chronicles, xvi. 8.

[59]2 Chronicles, chap. xiv. l. 8-11.

[59]2 Chronicles, chap. xiv. l. 8-11.

[60]2 Chronicles, xiv. 12, 13.

[60]2 Chronicles, xiv. 12, 13.

[61]Lib. ii. 137.

[61]Lib. ii. 137.

[62]Lib. ii. 139.

[62]Lib. ii. 139.

[63]Major Felix’s account of the Egyptian dynasties was the first that showed us the great utility of the lapidary inscriptions. Although brief, it is so admirably arranged, the information it contains so valuable, and, notwithstanding the recent progress in the study of hieroglyphics, generally so correct, that it is very much to be regretted that the papers he lithographed at Cairo have not been more widely circulated by a reprint in England.

[63]Major Felix’s account of the Egyptian dynasties was the first that showed us the great utility of the lapidary inscriptions. Although brief, it is so admirably arranged, the information it contains so valuable, and, notwithstanding the recent progress in the study of hieroglyphics, generally so correct, that it is very much to be regretted that the papers he lithographed at Cairo have not been more widely circulated by a reprint in England.

[64]2 Kings, chap. xviii.

[64]2 Kings, chap. xviii.

[65]Rosellini, i Monumenti dell’ Egitto e della Nubia, lib. ii. chap. 7.

[65]Rosellini, i Monumenti dell’ Egitto e della Nubia, lib. ii. chap. 7.

[66]Isaiah, xxxvii. 36-38.

[66]Isaiah, xxxvii. 36-38.

[67]Lib. ii. 137.

[67]Lib. ii. 137.

[68]Page 1007.

[68]Page 1007.

[69][Hieroglyphs]Meroe. (SeePlate X.) There is a fragment of a figure of a god, with the hieroglyphics before it; this is evidently the god Sebek, which, with the Greek termination, makes the Sevechus of Eusebius; but, although the name in the list and that of Eusebius and Africanus are made thus to agree with the name in the Bible, I have some doubts if Signor Rosellini is correct in the connection he supposes between the name of these hieroglyphics and the god Sevek; for the Ethiopians apparently wrote the name of that deity in the same manner as the Egyptians, and yet not one of the hieroglyphics used in writing the name of the god is employed in that of the king.

[69]

[Hieroglyphs]

[Hieroglyphs]

[Hieroglyphs]

Meroe. (SeePlate X.) There is a fragment of a figure of a god, with the hieroglyphics before it; this is evidently the god Sebek, which, with the Greek termination, makes the Sevechus of Eusebius; but, although the name in the list and that of Eusebius and Africanus are made thus to agree with the name in the Bible, I have some doubts if Signor Rosellini is correct in the connection he supposes between the name of these hieroglyphics and the god Sevek; for the Ethiopians apparently wrote the name of that deity in the same manner as the Egyptians, and yet not one of the hieroglyphics used in writing the name of the god is employed in that of the king.

[70]Herodotus, lib. ii. 30. Diodorus states the number to have been more than 200,000; and assigns as the reason of their emigration, that in the expedition into Syria the post of honour was given to foreigners.—Lib. iii. vol. i. p. 175.

[70]Herodotus, lib. ii. 30. Diodorus states the number to have been more than 200,000; and assigns as the reason of their emigration, that in the expedition into Syria the post of honour was given to foreigners.—Lib. iii. vol. i. p. 175.

[71]Herodotus, lib. iii. 17. 20.

[71]Herodotus, lib. iii. 17. 20.

[72]Heliodorus, in his history of Ethiopia, or, rather, novel of Theagenes and Cariclia, relates the war of Hydaspes, king of the East and West Ethiopians, with the Egyptians, or rather the Persians, then in possession of Egypt, for the island of Philæ and the emerald mines. He gives also an account of the siege of Syene; and mentions the prisoners being bound with chains of gold, so that one of them, Theagenes, the hero of the tale, laughed, and said, that he was more richly decorated in prison than out.

[72]Heliodorus, in his history of Ethiopia, or, rather, novel of Theagenes and Cariclia, relates the war of Hydaspes, king of the East and West Ethiopians, with the Egyptians, or rather the Persians, then in possession of Egypt, for the island of Philæ and the emerald mines. He gives also an account of the siege of Syene; and mentions the prisoners being bound with chains of gold, so that one of them, Theagenes, the hero of the tale, laughed, and said, that he was more richly decorated in prison than out.

[73]Heeren’s Afrikanische Völker, vol. i. ch. 3.

[73]Heeren’s Afrikanische Völker, vol. i. ch. 3.

[74]Lib. iii. 102.

[74]Lib. iii. 102.

[75]The following description, extracted from the journal of my first voyage up the Nile, may amuse the reader:—“April 8. 1832.—Our pilot afforded us a curious exhibition, although not, I believe, uncommon; but to us it was new. He pretended or believed that his saint, to whom he had been addressing his evening devotions, had entered his body, and he immediately fell into the most violent paroxysms, throwing his arms about, rolling his head, and twisting his body in a very outrageous manner: sometimes he held up his hands, and shook, as in the most dreadful convulsions, groaning most piteously, and gabbling forth all sorts of gibberish. The sailors made a circle round him, and continued making low obeisances, calling on Mahomet to assist him, for nearly two hours; they believe that, unless they did this, the saint would never leave him, and he would have probably died. The man, in his madness, seemed to have a great jealousy for his honour; one of the mariners was sleeping on board the boat, while the others were on the banks praying for them; on a sudden he darted into the boat, and, had he not been detained, would have roughly used the drowsy mariner. After all the Mahometans near him had joined the circle to pray for his recovery, he returned, by degrees, to his senses: when the fit was over, he lay for some time apparently quite exhausted. The man is remarkable at other times for the mildness of his manner, and is one of the finest looking Nubians I have seen, being above six feet high, with uncommonly handsome features. The people consider those who are thus possessed as peculiarly favoured, not one in a thousand being so fortunate. After death they are generally considered as saints, and have tombs erected to them by the government, which does this, no doubt, to gain popularity, or conciliate the people: but it is generally believed that the saint has appeared to the Pasha, ordering him to erect it.”

[75]The following description, extracted from the journal of my first voyage up the Nile, may amuse the reader:—

“April 8. 1832.—Our pilot afforded us a curious exhibition, although not, I believe, uncommon; but to us it was new. He pretended or believed that his saint, to whom he had been addressing his evening devotions, had entered his body, and he immediately fell into the most violent paroxysms, throwing his arms about, rolling his head, and twisting his body in a very outrageous manner: sometimes he held up his hands, and shook, as in the most dreadful convulsions, groaning most piteously, and gabbling forth all sorts of gibberish. The sailors made a circle round him, and continued making low obeisances, calling on Mahomet to assist him, for nearly two hours; they believe that, unless they did this, the saint would never leave him, and he would have probably died. The man, in his madness, seemed to have a great jealousy for his honour; one of the mariners was sleeping on board the boat, while the others were on the banks praying for them; on a sudden he darted into the boat, and, had he not been detained, would have roughly used the drowsy mariner. After all the Mahometans near him had joined the circle to pray for his recovery, he returned, by degrees, to his senses: when the fit was over, he lay for some time apparently quite exhausted. The man is remarkable at other times for the mildness of his manner, and is one of the finest looking Nubians I have seen, being above six feet high, with uncommonly handsome features. The people consider those who are thus possessed as peculiarly favoured, not one in a thousand being so fortunate. After death they are generally considered as saints, and have tombs erected to them by the government, which does this, no doubt, to gain popularity, or conciliate the people: but it is generally believed that the saint has appeared to the Pasha, ordering him to erect it.”

[76]Lib. xvii. p. 820.

[76]Lib. xvii. p. 820.

[77]Lib. vi. chap. 29.

[77]Lib. vi. chap. 29.

[78]See Letronne’s note on Strabo, l. xvii. vol. v. p. 435.

[78]See Letronne’s note on Strabo, l. xvii. vol. v. p. 435.

[79]See Acts, chap. vi. vii. 33.

[79]See Acts, chap. vi. vii. 33.

[80]Lib. iii. c. 2.

[80]Lib. iii. c. 2.

[81]Except Rameses II., who certainly penetrated as far as Gibel el Birkel; but there is no other Egyptian name on any rocks or edifices south of Solib and Toumbos.

[81]Except Rameses II., who certainly penetrated as far as Gibel el Birkel; but there is no other Egyptian name on any rocks or edifices south of Solib and Toumbos.

[82]Herodotus (Thalia, 114.) describes Ethiopia as the last of the inhabited regions of the earth, and possessed by men of very great stature, beautiful, and of very long life; adding, that it produces much gold, and very large elephants, with long teeth, wild trees of every description, and ebony.

[82]Herodotus (Thalia, 114.) describes Ethiopia as the last of the inhabited regions of the earth, and possessed by men of very great stature, beautiful, and of very long life; adding, that it produces much gold, and very large elephants, with long teeth, wild trees of every description, and ebony.

[83]Diodorus (lib. iii. p. 105.) says, that near the confines of Egypt and the adjacent Ethiopia and Arabia, there is a place which abounds in rich gold mines, whence, at a great expense and toil of a great multitude of criminals, gold is dug. He speaks also of the manner they pounded the gold; and also mentions veins of white marble. It is a singular coincidence, that at the mines in the great Nubian desert, there are actually remaining mortars exactly such as he describes; and, with one exception, the only place I found white marble during this journey was in that desert, not far from the mines. The marble, however, may perhaps be the white quartz the gold is found in.

[83]Diodorus (lib. iii. p. 105.) says, that near the confines of Egypt and the adjacent Ethiopia and Arabia, there is a place which abounds in rich gold mines, whence, at a great expense and toil of a great multitude of criminals, gold is dug. He speaks also of the manner they pounded the gold; and also mentions veins of white marble. It is a singular coincidence, that at the mines in the great Nubian desert, there are actually remaining mortars exactly such as he describes; and, with one exception, the only place I found white marble during this journey was in that desert, not far from the mines. The marble, however, may perhaps be the white quartz the gold is found in.

[84]On the road to Abou Hashim, in the kingdom of Berber, and other places, I found rocks of sandstone, much charged with iron, and beyond Sennaar, they say that there are iron mines.

[84]On the road to Abou Hashim, in the kingdom of Berber, and other places, I found rocks of sandstone, much charged with iron, and beyond Sennaar, they say that there are iron mines.

[85]I regret that in some few of the impressions the caps were printed black. The reader must be aware, that the management of such engravings as these is excessively difficult. Four colours are impressed from separate stones—red, blue, black, and the ground. The others were put in by hand. I took great pains in superintending the mixing of the colours, to give the reader as exact a representation of an Egyptian painting as was in my power. I am indebted to Mr. Bonomi for having drawn for me on the stones these and the other plates of sculpture.

[85]I regret that in some few of the impressions the caps were printed black. The reader must be aware, that the management of such engravings as these is excessively difficult. Four colours are impressed from separate stones—red, blue, black, and the ground. The others were put in by hand. I took great pains in superintending the mixing of the colours, to give the reader as exact a representation of an Egyptian painting as was in my power. I am indebted to Mr. Bonomi for having drawn for me on the stones these and the other plates of sculpture.

[86]The past and present condition of Ethiopia are so admirably described in the first two verses, chap. xviii. of Isaiah, and the prophecy so admirably fulfilled, that I cannot refrain from repeating them:—“Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!” Can the expression “shadowing with wings” allude to the winged globe on all the edifices in Egypt and Ethiopia? Vessels of bulrushes are highly characteristic of a wild tribe in the interior, almost similar ones being used at the present day; but the “nation, terrible from the beginning, meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled,” can only be Ethiopia.

[86]The past and present condition of Ethiopia are so admirably described in the first two verses, chap. xviii. of Isaiah, and the prophecy so admirably fulfilled, that I cannot refrain from repeating them:—“Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!” Can the expression “shadowing with wings” allude to the winged globe on all the edifices in Egypt and Ethiopia? Vessels of bulrushes are highly characteristic of a wild tribe in the interior, almost similar ones being used at the present day; but the “nation, terrible from the beginning, meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled,” can only be Ethiopia.

[87]Strabo mentions that Coptos was the entrepôt, not only of the merchandise of Ethiopia, but also of India and Arabia.

[87]Strabo mentions that Coptos was the entrepôt, not only of the merchandise of Ethiopia, but also of India and Arabia.

[88]Isaiah (xlv. 14.) also mentions the “merchandise of Ethiopia.”

[88]Isaiah (xlv. 14.) also mentions the “merchandise of Ethiopia.”

[89]Euterpe, 110.

[89]Euterpe, 110.

[90]Plin. lib. vi. cap. xxix.

[90]Plin. lib. vi. cap. xxix.

[91]Destruction of the library at Alexandria.

[91]Destruction of the library at Alexandria.

[92]No. CVI. p. 350.

[92]No. CVI. p. 350.

[93]Euterpe, xv.

[93]Euterpe, xv.

[94]This is no new doctrine of my own: Champollion, Rosellini, Heeren, and many other first-rate authorities have the same idea. I had expressed no opinion on the subject before going into the country; and, therefore, without prejudice, examined the evidence afforded by the monuments. At the same time that I deeply regret, that many learned travellers and geographers differ with me on this important point, I have not feared to express my own opinion; and I trust it will be candidly allowed, that in my topographical description I have not omitted any observation that might militate against my argument. I have stated, that in the latitude of Shendy it occasionally rains, (but Cailliaud is mistaken in supposing that it rains there three months in the year,) and that such rain would have a certain effect even on the solid mass of a pyramid. I have mentioned, also, that the stones are smaller, and often of a softer material, than the sandstone of Egypt; but we must consider that the pyramids are also smaller, that they have no rooms in the interior, and that the material of the least durable is harder than that of many of the pyramids of Memphis. Mr. Waddington did not reach the wonderful cemetery of the metropolis of Meroe, but the result of his comparison of the other pyramids of Ethiopia with those of Egypt agrees with mine, that is to say, as regards their relative antiquity; but from the discoveries in hieroglyphics, Mr. W. is found to be wrong in the dates he assigns to the monuments of Memphis and Thebes. But I cannot conclude this subject better than with an extract from his work.He says (Journal of a Visit to some Parts of Ethiopia, p. 184), “Now, the utter destruction and shapelessness of many of the pyramids at Birkel and El Bellal (Nouri), attest their antiquity; while those of Egypt do not appear to have been erected above eleven or twelve hundred years before Christ, when that country had been frequently overrun by the Ethiopians;”—alluding to the statement of Herodotus, that eighteen of the kings of Egypt were Ethiopians; but Manethon and the monuments do not confirm this account, and, therefore, I have not mentioned it before. “The pyramids are of a later date than the ruins of Thebes. Thebes, which is known to have been founded by a colony of Ethiopians[a], was called Ammon No, Diospolis, or the city of Ammon. It follows, then, I think, very clearly, from the concurrence of these observations on the antiquities of Ethiopia, with the conclusions derived from historical evidence, that the origin of the Egyptian divinities, as well as that of their temples and their tombs, and of the sculptures, figures, and symbols, may be traced to Ethiopia. In the magnitude of their edifices, the imitators have, indeed, surpassed their masters; but, as far as we could judge from the granite and other sculptures at Argo and Gibel el Birkel, that art seems to have been as well understood, and carried to as high perfection, as it was afterwards by their scholars at Thebes and at Memphis.

[94]This is no new doctrine of my own: Champollion, Rosellini, Heeren, and many other first-rate authorities have the same idea. I had expressed no opinion on the subject before going into the country; and, therefore, without prejudice, examined the evidence afforded by the monuments. At the same time that I deeply regret, that many learned travellers and geographers differ with me on this important point, I have not feared to express my own opinion; and I trust it will be candidly allowed, that in my topographical description I have not omitted any observation that might militate against my argument. I have stated, that in the latitude of Shendy it occasionally rains, (but Cailliaud is mistaken in supposing that it rains there three months in the year,) and that such rain would have a certain effect even on the solid mass of a pyramid. I have mentioned, also, that the stones are smaller, and often of a softer material, than the sandstone of Egypt; but we must consider that the pyramids are also smaller, that they have no rooms in the interior, and that the material of the least durable is harder than that of many of the pyramids of Memphis. Mr. Waddington did not reach the wonderful cemetery of the metropolis of Meroe, but the result of his comparison of the other pyramids of Ethiopia with those of Egypt agrees with mine, that is to say, as regards their relative antiquity; but from the discoveries in hieroglyphics, Mr. W. is found to be wrong in the dates he assigns to the monuments of Memphis and Thebes. But I cannot conclude this subject better than with an extract from his work.

He says (Journal of a Visit to some Parts of Ethiopia, p. 184), “Now, the utter destruction and shapelessness of many of the pyramids at Birkel and El Bellal (Nouri), attest their antiquity; while those of Egypt do not appear to have been erected above eleven or twelve hundred years before Christ, when that country had been frequently overrun by the Ethiopians;”—alluding to the statement of Herodotus, that eighteen of the kings of Egypt were Ethiopians; but Manethon and the monuments do not confirm this account, and, therefore, I have not mentioned it before. “The pyramids are of a later date than the ruins of Thebes. Thebes, which is known to have been founded by a colony of Ethiopians[a], was called Ammon No, Diospolis, or the city of Ammon. It follows, then, I think, very clearly, from the concurrence of these observations on the antiquities of Ethiopia, with the conclusions derived from historical evidence, that the origin of the Egyptian divinities, as well as that of their temples and their tombs, and of the sculptures, figures, and symbols, may be traced to Ethiopia. In the magnitude of their edifices, the imitators have, indeed, surpassed their masters; but, as far as we could judge from the granite and other sculptures at Argo and Gibel el Birkel, that art seems to have been as well understood, and carried to as high perfection, as it was afterwards by their scholars at Thebes and at Memphis.

[a]Bruce’s Travels, vol. i. p. 380. The words of Bruce are,—“We know that Thebes was a colony of Ethiopians, and probably from Meroe; but whether directly or not we are not certain.” There is, I believe, no passage distinctly stating this; but Bruce very correctly inferred it from the statements of Diodorus and Herodotus.

[a]Bruce’s Travels, vol. i. p. 380. The words of Bruce are,—“We know that Thebes was a colony of Ethiopians, and probably from Meroe; but whether directly or not we are not certain.” There is, I believe, no passage distinctly stating this; but Bruce very correctly inferred it from the statements of Diodorus and Herodotus.

[95]Ludolf, lib. iii. chap. 2.

[95]Ludolf, lib. iii. chap. 2.

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