The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI)

a of Sinai, the shores of the Red Sea opposite Thebes, and Semne in Nubia were the extreme limits in the times of the kings who built the pyramids, of

d victory had now passed over Egypt (1650-1250), the victorious arms of the Pharaohs had been carried to Nubia and Dongola, to the Negroes, to Libya and Syria in repeated campaigns; more than once the Euphrates had seen the Egyptian armies. In these centuries Egypt was the first kingd

vellous appearance when the works of the Tuthmosis and Amenophis, of Sethos, of Ramses II. and III. stood erect and rose up from the earth solid and massive as rocks on either bank of the Nile, while the multitude of obelisks and colossi towered up like a forest of stone. Fancy might imagine that she looked up

yptian architecture, is 320 feet long, and over 160 feet broad; the roof rests on 134 pillars, which on each side towards the north and south form seven naves, each of nine pillars. The central space, supported on either side by six pillars of 12 feet in diameter and 68 feet in height, rises higher than the naves at the side. On the external wall of this hall are display

emple, a little further to the west, and immediately at the foot of the Libyan range, he built a large temple. A massive gateway rises on a slightly elevated terrace, leading to a rectangular court. This is surrounded by a double row of pillars supporting the portico, of which two only are now standing. On this follows a second court, of which the portico is supported on the right and left by double pillars, on the front transverse side by single pilasters, and on the back by double pilasters, against the first row of which lean colossal images of Osiris. At the entrance from the first into the second court, on the left, was the greatest of all the detached colossi in Egypt, the seated statue of Ramses, hewn out of a block of red granite from Syene. Sixty feet in height, this statue once overlooked both courts; now it

e king of the gods, who will bestow upon thee length of days, to rule over the world and reign upon the throne of Horus." Mentu leads the king to Ammon, over whose figure we read, "Ammon-Ra, king of the gods, who dwells in Ramses' house at Thebes, speaks thus: Beloved son of my race, Ramses, lord of the world, my heart is glad in that I behold thy good works; thou hast built me this house; I grant thee a pure life to live upon the throne of Seb" (p. 55). In the hall Ammon is holding the crook from his throne towards the king, and says, "I certify that thy building shall continue as the heavens." The goddess Bast (p. 49) lifts her right hand to the head of the king, and says, "I have prepared for thee the diadem of the sun, that this helmet should remain upon thy brow, where I have placed it." On another sketch in this hall Ammon is giving to Ramses the scythe, the whip, and the crook (the symbols of dominion), and says, "Take the scythe of battle to subdue the nations without, and to smite off the head of the unclean; take the whip and the crook to rule over Chemi (Egypt)." On the exterior of the wings of the gateway are represented the wars which in the fifth year of his reign Ramses carried on against the Cheta, and in the eighth year against Maram, Dapur, and Salam (p. 152). In one of the side chambers of the hall Ramses and his

llous even than the first, in which various sculptures represent the war against the Bactrians. This nation had revolted from the king, but with 400,000 foot and 20,000 horse he marched out against them, divided his army into four parts, and put each under the command of one of his four sons. On the first wall we see the king fighting at the head of his army against a fortress surrounded by a river; a lion is seen at his side assisting him (as a fact in the picture of the great battle against the Cheta on the gateway a lion is found beside the chariot of the king.) On the second wall the prisoners are brought forward: they are without their hands and members, in order to indicate that they fought without spirit. The third wall contains reliefs of various kinds and sketches representing the king's sacrifice of bulls, and his triumphant return. In the middle of the court stands an altar of marvellous size and workmanship. Before the fourth wall are two seated colossi 27 cubits high, and beside these three entrances lead into a colonnade, of which the sides measure 200 feet. In this hall are a number of statues of wood representing men in expectation of the decision of their law-suits, and looking towards the judges. These, thirty in number, are engraved on one of the walls; in their midst is the chief judge, on whose neck hangs a picture of truth with closed

he hips, hewn out of the natural rock. All are statues of Ramses, and in height are over sixty, or, counting the thrones, over seventy feet. The breadth across the shoulders is twenty-five feet; from the elbow to the tip of the finger measures fifteen feet. Seen from a distance, these statues are very impressive, owing to their severe and calm beauty, and the correctness of the proportions, notwithstanding the enormous scale. The entrance to the temple lies deep down between the thrones of the colossi. First we pass into a spacious portico, of which the roof is supported by eight pillars, against which lean as many standing colossi about 30 feet high, with arms crossed, the whip and the symbol of life in their hands. All are images of Osiris. From this portico, out of which doors open on either hand into side halls, we arrive through two chambers into the sanctuary of the g

are wanting, the head wears the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt; in the middle of the girdle are engraved the words Mi Amun Ramses, i. e. Ramses beloved of Ammon. From the knees upwards the fragment measures thirty-five feet; on this scale the total height must have reached forty-two or forty-three feet. At Tanis in the Delta, Ramses II. built or restored a great temple, and erected ob

oo heavy to support the blocks which form the roof of the portico. In this court we find the four pictures which represent the war of Ramses III. against the Libyans (p. 164). The ante-temple, to which the entrance lay between the Osiris pillars just mentioned, the inner temple, and the shrine, are in ruins; the bases only and the foundations can still be traced. In the ten reliefs mentioned above the external wall of the second court displays in the most brilliant colours the warlike achievements of Ramses III. against the Temhu and Zakkarj (p. 165). About 120 steps to the south-east of the first gateway are the ruins of another structure of this king, which appears to have been his palace. Two obliquely rising towers enclose

one over the other. In the lower rows, where the richer class are buried, the chambers are larger and more handsome; those in the upper rows are simpler, smaller, and meaner. Staircases, straight or winding, connect these stories and chambers with each other. Galleries, gangways, and perpendicular shafts break the rows of excavations, and give to this city of the dead the features of an inextricable labyrinth. These catacombs, with their

lead sometimes only fifty, sometimes 360 feet into the rock. The greater part of the tombs consist of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels for the offering of sacrifices to the dead; these are followed by the sepulchral chamber, where rests the sarcophagus, sometimes in a deep niche. The Pharaohs of Thebes appear to have carried on their work upon these burying-places in the same manner as the princes of the old kingdom proceeded with the building of their pyramids. They commenced with the entrance, the ante-chapel (a broad and not very long portico, generally supported on pillars), and a small chamber, the r

ster of the sky," while Neith says to the king, "I secure to thee the throne of Osiris, on which thou shalt sit for ever."[248] The grave of his successor, Sethos I., consists of a suite of galleries, chambers, and chapels. A corridor leads to a staircase, which ends in a chamber; from this a second staircase leads to a portico, on which abuts a great hall, the roof of which is supported by four pillars. A third staircase leads from this hall on the left into one similarly adorned, of which the pictures remain unfinished, and on the right into a broad vaulted portico sunk more than 300 feet deep into the rock. The roof of this portico is supported by six pillars. Here th

of Sethos I. in size and splendour of adornment. Galleries following one upon the other, on the side of which are small chambers, lead to a large portico in which rests the sarcophagus. The sculptures in these chambers exhibit scenes of court life, of agriculture, of the banquet, musicians, boats, and weapons; those of the galleries and the portico represent scenes of the under world and existence beyond the grave. The grave of Ramses IV., far smaller and incomplete, still contains the shattered sarcophagus of granite.[251] On the other hand, the tomb of R

TNO

1, 45; Str

6; Mariette, "Revue Arch." 186

s, loc. cit.

male aus ?gypten und Nubien," 1, 2, 7,

"Monum. Stor

," p. 263-283; Brugsch, "Hi

iod. 1,

, "Hist. d'Eg

riefe," s. 112-11

Apepa, it has been thought to be the statue of the shepherd king Apepi (p

Hist. d'Egypt

n graves. At the time of Ptolemy I. only seventeen were in existence (Diod. 1, 46), and of these, at the time when Diodorus travelled in Egypt

, "Reiseberic

ius, "Brie

, "Hist. d'Eg

," s. 266; Rosellini,

en, "?gypt

b on a Turin papyrus, cf. Lepsi