Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/490

 400 NOETH-EAST AFRICA. these two groups archeDologists may expect to come upon the royal tombs of the sixth to the eleventh dynasty inclusive. Thus would be filled up the " great gap " indicated by Mariette in the sequence of the historical monuments of ancient Egypt. Memphis. At the foot of the slopes crowned by the pyramids of Saqqarah, the inequalities of the soil conceal all that now remains of Memphis. The little village of Badresheiii occupies the southern extremity, that of Mit-Rahineh, the central point of this region of ruins, a large portion of which is now overgrown with a forest of palms. The city, whose foundation is attributed to Menes, must have covered a vast space, judging at least from the remains of embankments here skirting the river, and the heaps of refuse strewn over the plain. But this great metropolis, while escaping the destroying hand of the conqueror, fell a surer prey to the inevitable vicissitudes of time. The foimdation of Alexandria, followed by the rise of Cairo, " the victorious," on the right bank of the river, possessing geo- graphical advantages fully equal to those of Memphis, rendered the existence of this place unnecessary. Its marbles and its granites were floated down to Alexandria ; its less valuable materials were utilised by the builders of the neighbouring towns ; what remained was distributed among the surrounding villages of the fellahin. Nothing survives but the name, perpetuated in that of the Tell Movf, or " Hill of Memphis," and two colossal statues of Ramses II. in the immediate vicinity. The vast necropolis of Memphis^ which covered an area of over a hundred square miles, has been a receptacle for many millions of human and animal mummies. Many monuments doubtless lie buried beneath the sands borne by the west winds from the Libyan desert. Mariette, observing in the year 1850 the head of a granite sphinx, which had been exposed by a current of air, conceived the idea that here perhaps lay concealed the avenue of the Serapeum, described by Strabo. He accordingly at once set to work, and had the satisfaction of finding his anticipa- tions verified. By sinking shafts to a depth of 65 feet at uniform distances over a space of about 220 yards, he came upon an avenue where one hundred and forty- one sphinxes were still in situ, and terminating with a semicircular row of statues representing the great men of Greece. Then to the left he reached an Egj'ptian temple built by Nectanebo, and farther on he discovered to the right the entrance of the vast underground chambers forming the tomb of Apis. Thus was con- firmed the fact, anticipated by science but hitherto unproven, that the god Serapis, or Osor-Apis, was the bull Apis after his death, that is to say, the incarnation of Osiris. The works of excavation were not unattended by difficulties and even dangers, for even in the pursuit of knowledge the savant has sometimes to contend with jealous rivals ; but the results were of vast importance. , The clearing out of the Serapeum brought to light no less than seven thousand monuments, the most valuable of which are now preserved in the Louvre and Bulaq Museum. A series of chronological inscriptions was also discovered, by