language, and consider Thebes as the metropolis of Egypt. Vestiges of its magnitude still exist, which extend 80 stadia (about nine miles) in length. There are a great number of temples, many of which Cambyses mutilated. The spot is at present occupied by villages. One part of it, in which is the city, lies in Arabia; another is in the country on the other side of the river, where is the Memnonium. Here are two colossal figures near one another, each consisting of a single stone. One is entire; the upper parts of the other, from the chair, are fallen down, the effect, it is said, of an earthquake. It is believed that once a day a noise as of a slight blow issues from the part of the statue which remains in the seat and on its base. When I was at those places with Ælius Gallus, and numerous friends and soldiers about him, I heard a noise at the first hour (of the day), but whether proceeding from the base or from the colossus, or produced on purpose by some of those standing around the base, I cannot confidently assert. For from the uncertainty of the cause, I am disposed to believe anything rather than that stones disposed in that manner could send forth sound. Above the Memnonium are tombs of kings in caves, and hewn out of the stone, about forty in number; they are executed with singular skill, and are worthy of notice. Among the tombs are obelisks with inscriptions, denoting the wealth of the kings of that time, and the extent of their empire, as reaching to the Scythians, Bactrians, Indians, and the present Ionia; the amount of tribute also, and the number of soldiers, which composed an army of about a million of men. The priests there are said to be, for the most part, astronomers and philosophers. The former compute the days, not by the moon, but by the sun, introducing into the twelve months, of thirty days each, five days every year. But in order to complete the whole year, because there is (annually) an excess of a part of a day, they form a period THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR. The shaded portions in the temple represent the amount of excavation which has been done during the winter of 1892-3. from out of whole days and whole years, the supernumerary portions of which in that period, when collected together, amount to a day.* They ascribe to Mercury (Thoth) all knowledge of this kind. To Jupiter, whom they worship above all other deities, a virgin of the greatest beauty and of the most illustrious family (such persons the Greeks call pallades) is dedicated” (Bk. XVII, chap. 1, sec. 46, translated by Falconer.) The principal objects of interest on the east or right bank of the river are: I. The Temple of Luxor. Compared with Karnak the temple of Luxor is not of any great interest. Until very recently a large portion of the buildings, connected in ancient days with the temple, was quite buried by the accumulated rubbish and earth upon which a large number of houses stood. During the last few years excavations have been made by the Egyptian Government, and some interesting results have been obtained. Among the antiquities thus brought to light may be mentioned a fine granite statue of Rameses II., the existence of which was never imagined. The temple of Luxor was built on an irregular plan caused by following the course of the river, out of the waters of which its walls, on one side, rose; it was founded by Amenophis III., about B.C. 1500. About forty years after, Heru-em-heb added the great colonnade, and as the name of Seti I., B.C. 1366, occurs in places, it is probable that he executed some repairs to the temple. His son Rameses II., B.C. 1333, set up two obelisks together with the colossi and the large pylon; the large court, nearly 200 feet square, behind the pylon, was surrounded by a double row of columns. The Obelisk now standing there records the names, titles, etc., of Rameses II., and stands about 82 feet high; it is one of the finest specimens of sculpture * See page 71. known. Its fellow obelisk stands in the Place de la Concorde, Paris. After the burning and sacking of this temple by the Persians, some slight repairs, and rebuilding of certain chambers, were carried out by some of the Ptolemies, the name of one of whom (Philopator) is found inscribed on the temple. Certain parts of the temple appear to have been used by the Copts as a church, for the ancient sculptures have been plastered over and painted with figures of saints, etc. II. The Temple at Karnak. The ruins of the buildings at Karnak are perhaps the most wonderful of any in Egypt, and they merit many visits from the traveller. It is probable that this spot was "holy ground" from a very early to a very late period, and we know that a number of kings from Thothmes III. to Euergetes II. lavished much wealth to make splendid the famous shrine of Amen in the Åpts, and other temples situated there. The temples of Luxor and Karnak were united by an avenue about 6,500 feet long and 80 feet wide, on each side of which was arranged a row of sphinxes; from the fact that these monuments are without names, M. Mariette thought that the avenue was constructed at the expense of the priests or the wealthy inhabitants of the town, just as in later days the pronaos of the temple at Denderah was built by the people of that town. At the end of this avenue, to the right, is a road which leads to the so-called Temple of Mut, which was also approached by an avenue of sphinxes. Within the enclosure there stood originally two temples, both of which were dedicated to Åmen, built during the reign of Amenophis III.; Rameses II. erected two obelisks in front of the larger temple. To the north-west of these a smaller temple was built in Ptolemaic times, and the ruins on one side of it show that the small temples which stood there were either founded or restored by Rameses II., Osorkon, |