Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/799

775 UPPER EGYPT.] EGYPT 775 cultivable land. The grottoes are almost in a line near the summit of the mountain, and at no great height above the river. The two northernmost are remarkable for hav ing porticoes, each supported by two polygonal columns of an order which is believed to be the prototype of the Doric. Most of the grottoes are adorned with sculptures and paintings, which portray with eminent truthfulness and character the manners of the Egyptians of the remote period at which they were executed, for they are tombs of nomarchs and other governors of Dynasty XII. They generally consist of a chapel of large dimensions, having sometimes a portico before it, and a niche with seated figures of the chief persons buried in the tomb at the extremity, and have pits leading to sepulchral chambers. The principal apartment is sometimes supported by pillars cut out of the rock, and vaulted. Its walls bear representations of the diversions of the occupant during his lifetime, and of his varied occupa tions, in scenes depicting hunting, fishing, games, feasts, the processes of agriculture, and the like. The figures of beasts and birds, more especially the latter, are characterized by a remarkable fidelity and beauty, and there can be no doubt that Egyptian art had attained a greater excellence at this time than it possessed under Dynasty IV. A little to the south of these grottoes, in a ravine, is the Speos Artemidos, a small rock-temple of Sekhet or Pakht, the Egyptian Diana, and some sepulchres of little interest. A few miles to the south of the Speos Artemidos are two sites, one on either side of the river, which were marked, in the present century, by most important monuments, which have since been destroyed by the Turks. That on the western side, near the large village of El- Ashmooneyn, the ancient Hermopolis Magna, was part of a magnificent portico, bearing the names of Philip Aridseus, Alexander -5Cgus, and Ptolemy I., all that stood of the temple of Thoth ; and on the opposite side of the river were considerable remains of the edifices of the town of Antinoopolis founded by Hadrian. While we regret the destruction of such interesting records, we must not charge either the Turks or the native Egyptians with all the mis chief of this kind which is perpetrated, and our sorrow is increased by the reflection that to European travellers, principally Englishmen and Americans, must be assigned no small share in the destruction or mutilation of the monuments, which in the case of educated men is nothing less than a crime. A short distance south of Antinoopolis is the town of Mel- lawee, on the western bank, and a little farther, on the other side of the river, the promontory called Gebel-esh-Sheykh Sa eed, which is honeycombed with grottoes, some of which are shown by their sculptures to be very ancient, but are so ill preserved as to require but a short examination. A little beyond, however, in the district of Tell-El- Amarineh, or the Mound of El- Amarineh, a small fertile tract where the eastern mountains recede, noted, like Benee-Hasan, for the turbulent and thievish propensities of its inhabitants, are most curious remains of a very ancient town. It was the capital of Khu-n-aten, the sun-worshipper of Dynasty XVIII., and was no doubt destroyed by Horns, and not subsequently rebuilt. In the mountain behind it are very interesting sepulchral grottoes, in which were buried the courtiers of this king, and from them we obtain much information respecting his religion, a very pure form of sun-worship. The representations are chiefly of the king, his queen, and their children, distributing presents to the soldiers and others, of acts of worship to the sun, and of the temple of the sun as well as gardens and villas. On the western bank of the Nile, a little to the south of Tell-el- Amarineh, is the small town of Deroot-esh-Shereef, supposed to be on the site of the Thebaica Phylace, which guarded the northern boundary of the Thebais. About 20 miles to the south is the town of Manfaloot, on the same side of the river, which has a decayed appearance from the manner in which the stream has encroached upon and washed away part of it. Opposite to Manfaloot in the eastern range are extensive crocodile-mummy catacombs. There is nothing of note during the next 25 miles of the river s course, which is very winding, until we reach the village of El-Ham ra, the port of Asyoot. This town, the capital of Upper Egypt, or the Sa eed, that is, of the whole country above Cairo, lies inland, about two miles from El- Hamra, in a richly cultivated plain. Asyoot, with its beautiful mosques, two of which, one of the Memlook style, and the other of the Turkish, are not unworthy of comparison with those of the metropolis, and its Con- stantinopolitan palace, surrounded on three sides by ver dant fields, and having behind it a fine rounded spur of the western chain, which here, for the first time, is near the river, presents a picturesque aspect as the traveller approaches it. On entering Asyoot he is not disappointed, for the excellence of the goods and provisions sold in the well-built chief market, and the solid look of the houses, indicate activity and prosperity. And it is not a little remarkable that this was an important town some 4000 years ago, and has thus outlived Thebes and Memphis, Tanis and Pelusium. The ancient Egyptian name was Ssut, or probably Ssiut, but the Greeks called it Lycopolis, on account of the worship of the wolf- or jackal-headed divinity of the place, a form of Anubis. In the mountain behind Asyoot are some ancient grottoes, one of which is of great size, but their sculptures have unfortunately suffered much. The view of the valley and the town beneath is an ample reward for the ascent. Thirty miles farther by the river, on the eastern bank, is the village of Kaw-el-Kebeereh, where was anciently Antaeopolis. The interesting remains of the temple of Antaeus, which stood here early in the present century, have entirely disappeared through the encroachment of the river, and also, it is believed, from having been used as a quarry by the Turks. A few miles beyond, the lofty part of the eastern range called the Gebel-esh-Sheykh-El-Hareedee from a famous Muslim saint, hems in the river on one side for a short distance. It soon, however, retires again, and the valley on that side becomes broader than usual. Here, a short way from the river, stands the small town of Akhmeem, the ancient Chemmis, or Panopolis. No remains of importance mark thia site. About 22 miles farther by the course of the river, on the western bank, is the important town of Girga, which was, until a compara tively recent period, the capital of the Sa eed. The rise of Asyoot, however, and the agency of the river which ia gradually washing it away, have contributed to its decline, and it wears a dilapidated aspect. The city of Abydos was a few miles from Girga, in a south-westerly direction on the border of the desert, here separated from the Nile by a broad cultivated tract. Close to it was Thinis or This, the town of Menes. Two interest ing edifices render Abydos worthy of a visit. They are both dedicated to Osiris, the chief divinity of the place. The southernmost of these is a temple of Osiris, in which we find the names of Ramses II. and his father Setee I. The other structure is smaller, and in a worse state of preser vation than the other temple, and among its sculptures are the same names, those of Setee I. and Ramses II. Hence was taken the famous list of Pharaohs known as the Tablet of Abydos, which is now one of the most valuable objects in the British Museum, and M. Mariette his since dis covered a corresponding tablet in the other temple, happily complete. In the desert near by are many sepulchres, remarkable en account of the interesting antiquities which have bean discovered by clearing them out. The sanctity