granite, now prostrate and shattered, still "measures from the shoulder to the elbow twelve feet ten inches; twenty-two feet four inches across the shoulders; and fourteen feet four inches from the neck to the elbow."" This enormous mass is nearly three times as large as the solid contents of the largest obelisk. How it could ever have been transported from Upper Egypt and erected here, is a problem which modern science cannot solve; nor is there much less difficulty in accounting for the manner of its destruction.

The Tombs of the Kings are situated among the barren mountains, which skirt Thebes upon the west; in a narrow valley where desolation sits enthroned. Not a tree nor shrub is to be seen; not a blade of grass or herbage; not even a trace of moss upon the rocks; but all is naked and shattered, as if it had been the sport of thunders and lightnings and earthquakes ever since the creation. The tombs are entered by narrow portals in the sides of this valley, from which a corridor usually leads by a slight descent to halls and apartments on either side, all decorated with paintings in vivid colours, representing scenes drawn from the life of the deceased monarch, and from Egyptian mythology, or sometimes also from the occupations of common life. In this respect these tombs afford the finest illustrations of the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians. In the chief apartment is usually a large sarcophagus. Here "the kings of the nations, all of them, lay in glory, every one in his own house;" but "they have been cast out as an abominable branch." The tombs of the priests and

1) Wilkinson's Thebes, etc. p. 10.

2) Isa. xiv. 18, 19. From these or similar tombs is drawn apparently the imagery of the Hebrew prophet, Ezek. viii. 8-10: "Then said he unto me, Son of Man, dig

now in the wall: and, when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable

private persons are found in the sides of the hills adjacent to the city. They are on a smaller scale; but are often decorated with equal skill and beauty, with scenes drawn from common life.1

The walls of all the temples at Thebes are covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics, representing in general the deeds of the kings who founded or enlarged those structures. Many of these afford happy illustrations of Egyptian history. To me the most interesting was the scene which records the exploits of Sheshonk, the Shishak of the Scriptures, who made a successful expedition against Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, B. C. 971.2 These sculptures are on the exterior of the S. W. wall of the great temple of Karnak. They represent a colossal figure of this monarch advancing, and holding in his hand ten cords, which are attached to as many rows of captives, one above another, behind him. These he presents to the deity of the temple. The upper rows, behind the middle of his back, contain each twelve or fourteen captives; the lower ones extend under his feet, and have more. The heads and shoulders of the captives are complete; while the bodies have merely the form of a cartouch with hieroglyphics, containing perhaps the name or character of the individual. In front of the high cap of the monarch, is a cartouch

beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the walls round about." There is however no direct evidence that Egyptian sepulchres were made the seat of idolatrous rites or mysteries.

1) See Note IV, end of the vol. 2) 1 Kings xiv. 25, seq. 2 Chron. xii. 2-9.

3) In one of these cartouches Champollion and Rosellini profess to read the words Yuda Hamelk, 'King of Judah;' and they consider this captive as the personification of the conquered kingdom of Judah.

But Wilkinson has doubts. Indeed it is hardly probable, that all these individuals should represent different nations or tribes, as the same theory assumes. They are too numerous. To me most of them seemed to have Jewish features, with short, peaked beards. Champollion also reads the names Beth-horon and Mahanaim. See Champollion's Grammaire Egyptienne, p. 160. Rosellini Monumenti Storici, II. p. 79, seq. Wilkinson's Manners and Cust. of the Anc. Egyptians, I. p. 136.

with his name; and behind him, above the rows of captives, the wall is covered with hieroglyphics.

The period in which Thebes enjoyed the highest prosperity, was probably coeval with the reigns of David and Solomon, the earliest Jewish kings. From the language of the prophet Nahum already quoted, who lived, according to Josephus, under King Jotham about B. C. 750, and perhaps for some time later, we learn that the city had already, in or before his day, been sacked, apparently by a foreign conqueror.1 This event may not improbably stand in connection with the expedition of Tartan alluded to by the cotemporary prophet Isaiah.2 Profane history is silent in respect to it, and speaks only of the capture of the city by Cambyses, 525 B. C., and of its final destruction by Ptolemy Lathyrus, after a siege of three years, 81 B. C. From this overthrow it never recovered; and in the time of Strabo, as at present, its site was occupied by several villages. The preservation of its magnificent remains, so far as this is not dependent on the purity and uniformity of the atmosphere, must be ascribed, not to any respect or veneration on the part of the people of the land; but solely to the circumstance, that no other city has arisen in the vicinity, to abstract and absorb in its own buildings the materials of the Theban structures.

During our stay at Thebes, and during our whole voyage up and down the river, the weather was uncommonly fine and uniform, and of a temperature like the month of June in the milder parts of Europe and America. The thermometer ranged at sunrise from 40° to 60°; and at 3 P. M. from 68° to 82° Farenheit. The atmosphere was sometimes hazy, and the sky cloudy; but we experienced no frost; although this

1) Jos. Ant. IX. 11. 3. 2) Ch. xx. 3) Strabo XVII. 1. 46. VOL. I.

5

sometimes occurs. The common report that rain never falls in Upper Egypt, is incorrect. One evening as we lay at Kineh, Feb. 4th, there was a slight shower; the thermometer standing at the time at 77° F. with a strong south wind. The valleys too, in the mountains around Thebes, bear evident traces of occasional and violent rain.1

We arrived at Thebes in the afternoon of Feb. 7th; and left it again on our return on the morning of Feb. 11th. The downward voyage was slow and tedious; our boat being unfortunately too large to be propelled rapidly with oars, or even to float with the current against a strong head-wind. We stopped for a day at the temple of Dendera; and visited the dilapidated tombs in the mountains back of Siout, where we also enjoyed the noble prospect from the summit. Another day was given to the very remarkable tombs of Beni Hassan, which are among the most ancient in Egypt. We finally reached Cairo on the morning of Feb. 28th; where I had the satisfaction of meeting my future companion, Mr. Smith, who had arrived three days before. Here, in the hospitable dwelling of Mr. Lieder and the welcome society of valued friends, I soon forgot the discomforts of the voyage; and was able to survey, under better auspices than formerly, the city and its interesting environs.

Cairo is one of the best built cities of the East; the houses are of stone, large, lofty, and solid. The streets are narrow and often crooked; and the houses sometimes jut over them upon each side, so as almost to meet above. Its original name in Arabic was el

1) On this point there can be no better authority than Wilkinson. "Showers," he says, "fall annually at Thebes; perhaps on an average four or five in the year; and every eight or ten years heavy

rains fill the torrent-beds of the mountains, which run to the banks of the Nile. A storm of this kind did much damage to Belzoni's tomb some years ago." Thebes, etc. p. 75.

Kâhirah; but it is now universally called Musr, as were the former capitals of Egypt. The population is estimated at about 250,000 souls. In 1835 the plague made fearful ravages in Cairo, sweeping off not less than 80,000 of its inhabitants; but at the time of our visit, the population was supposed to have again reached its usual number. Here, as in Alexandria, donkies with Arab boys take the place of cabs and fiacres. A full and most perfect description of the city and its inhabitants is given in the admirable work of Mr. Lane.1

During the twelve days that we now remained at Cairo, we were of course much occupied with the preparations for our future journey in the desert. Yet we took time, and made several excursions from the city to places in the neighbourhood. One was to the Island of Roda just below Musr el-Atîkeh or Old Cairo, on which Ibrahim Pasha has caused pretty gardens to be laid out, partly in the Italian and partly in the English style. On the south end of this island is the famous Nilometer, now half in ruins, dating back at least as far as A. D. 860, and exhibiting pointed arches even at that early period. Although of no utility at present, it is carefully guarded; and we found difficulty in obtaining admission, not having procured the ordinary permit in Cairo. At Musr el-Atîkeh are the remains of a Roman fortress, marking the site of the Egyptian Babylon, on which was afterwards built the city of Fostât, the former Arab capital of Egypt.2 Passing eastward over the immense field of rubbish on which Fostât once stood, we entered the broad valley or desert plain, which skirts the western base of Jebel Mukattem, to the southward of Cairo. In

1) See Note V, at the end of the volume.

2) Wilkinson's Thebes, etc. p.

309. Edrisi says expressly, that it was called Babylon by the Greeks; p. 302 ed. Jaubert.