Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/465

 OMBOS— EDFU. 877 whole mountain hod been disposed in regular blocks, just as tho skilful joiner cute into planks the stem of some valuable tree. On the west side the cliffs have been less encroached upon ; but they are richer in sculptures and inscriptions. Amongst the bas-reliefs of a rock temple is an image of the goddess Isis suckling Ilorus^-one of the noblest and most charming pictures left us by ancient Egyption art.* Two colossal pylons announce to the traveller from afar the approach to the city of Eilfn, the Teb of the ancients, the Apollinopolis Magna of the Greeks and Romans. Of all the temples of Egypt that of Edfu has been the best preserved in all its parts, and although dating only from the epoch of the Ptolemies, it presents a purity of lines and a harmony of proportions justifying a comparison with the monuments of the most flourishing periods of Egyptian art ; nowhere else had the traditions of the native builders been better preserved. This marvel- lous structure has been protected from the ravages of time chiefly through the sands of the desert. After removing the ninety-two hovels scattered over the mound and sweeping away the heaps of accumulated sand, J^fariette found the edifice in almost as perfect a state as on the day of its dedication. Nothing is missings except perhaps a few stones of the gateways and roof ; even the outer enclosure, which concealed the temple from profane eyes, has been preserved intact. From the entrance of the court we see the perspective of colonnades and chambers stretching for a distance of nearly 430 feet, and throughout this vast space there is not a single recess whose ornaments and inscriptions, all in a state of perfect repair, do not clearly explain its purpose. Each chamber bears a separate name ; thus one is the " house of books " or library, and the catalogue of the contents is here engraved on the walls. The whole structure is itself a vast library, containing not only prayers and acts of thanksgiving in honour of the holy trinity, Harhut, Hathor, and Har- pokhrot, but also religious scenes of every description, astronomic tables, histories of campaigns, representations of sieges and battles. The temple thus presents an encyclopcedia of Egyptian records and mythology. But the chief interest of the Edfu monument lies in its seven-and-twenty geographical lists of Egypt and Nubia, enumerating all the provinces, with their products, their cities, and tutelar divinities. Thanks mainly to these nomenclatures, supplemented by fifteen other more or less complete lists found on various monuments along the banks of the Nile, Brugsch has been able to restore the ancient geography of Egypt, t From one of the pylons, which commands the entrance to the temple from a height of 125 feet, a pros|>ect is afforded of the present town laid out like a chess-board in little cubic blocks of yellow earth, with the cupola and minaret rising in the centre — modest buildings at best compared with the great temple of the Eg}'ptian gods. " It may be asserted without any exaggeration that if the priests of Edfu could rise from their graves with all their sacred paraphernalia, once more to do honour to the supplanted gods of the Nile Valley, they would here find ever)' chamber, • Alariette, " Itin6raire de la Haute- Egypte." t " Geographie des altcn ^gypten."