Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/381

 known by the erroneous name of Abu-Simbel. They are both hewn out of the red ferruginous sandstone composing the mountains which rise on the left bank of the river. Between the two rocks gushes forth a cataract of yellow sand, borne thither by the wind from the Libyan desert, and forming an ever-increasing mound before each temple, which, on various occasions, it has been found necessary to clear away from the entrances and statues.

The southern or great temple, built in honour of Ammon-Ra, the sun-god, is entirely hewn out of the living rock. Before the gate sit four colossi, over 60

feet in height, of noble and placid countenance, supposed to represent Ramses II.; but of one of these gigantic statues, decapitated by an English traveller, the lower part is all that remains.

All the colossi are covered with inscriptions, Greek and Phœnician being even found in the midst of the hieroglyphics. In the interior of the rock follow in succession three large halls and twelve of a smaller size, whose walls are embellished with hieroglyphic paintings and sculptures, whose colours are still brilliant. One of these compositions, which comprises no less than eleven hundred figures, represents the battle of Kadesh, the principal event of the Egyptian Iliad. Nearly