74. In the construction of the pyramids it is manifest they would serve as their own

scaffolds. The oldest monuments of Egypt of which we below give a view, and a section of that of the largest, called of Cheops (fig. 45.), are the pyramids at Gizeh, to the north of Memphis. Mr. Wilkinson supposes them to have been erected by Suphis and Jeusuphis his brother, 2120 years B. C., that is, previous by nearly 400 years to the entrance of Joseph into Egypt; but the same author admits that, previous to the reign of Osirtasen, 1740 B. C., there is nothing to guide any one with certainty as to dates. The edifices (fig. 46.), however, more commonly known by the names of Cheops, Cephrenes, and Mycerinus, are extraordinary for their size and the consequent labour bestowed upon them; but as works of the art they are of no further importance

than being a link in the chain of
its history. They are constructed
of stone from the neighbouring
mountains, and are in steps, of
which in the largest there are two
hundred and eight, varying in
height from 2 ft. (French) to 4
ft., decreasing in height as they
rise towards the summit. Their
width diminishes in the same pro-
portion, so that a line drawn from
the base to the summit touches the
edge of each step.
So great a

difference in the measures by different authors appears, that we here subjoin those of the pyramid of Cheops:

Upon the top thereof is a platform 32 ft. square, consisting of nine large stones, each about a ton in weight, though inferior in that respect to others in the edifice, which vary from 5 ft. to 30 ft. in length, and from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in height. From this platform Dr. Clarke saw the pyramids of Saccara to the south, and on the east of them smaller monuments of the same kind nearer to the Nile. He remarked, moreover, an appearance of ruins which might be traced the whole way from the pyramids of Gizeh to those of Saccara, as if the whole had once constituted one great city. The stones of the platform are soft limestone, a little harder and more compact than what in England is called clunch. The pyra

mids are built with common mortar externally, but no appearance of mortar can be discerned in the more perfect parts of the masonry. The faces of the pyramid are directed to the four cardinal points. The entrance is in the north front, and the passage to the central chamber is shown on the preceding section. That in the pyramid of Cephrenes (fig. 47.) is thus described by Belzoni :-The first passage is built of granite, the rest are cut out of the natural sandstone rock which rises above the level of the basis of the pyramid. This passage is 104 ft. long, 4 ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in. wide; descending at an angle of 26 degrees: at the bottom is a portcullis, beyond which is a horizontal passage

D

of the same height as the first, and at the distance of 22 ft. it descends in a different direction, leading to some passages below. Hence it re-ascends towards the centre of the pyramid by a gallery 84 ft. long, 6 ft. high, and 3 ft. 6 in. wide, leading to a chamber also cut out of the solid rock. The chamber is 46 ft. in length, 16 feet wide, and 23 ft. 6. in. in height, and contained a sarcophagus of granite 8 ft. long, 3 ft. 6. in. wide, and 2 ft. 3 in. deep in the inside. Returning from the chamber to the bottom of the gallery a passage descends at an angle of 26 degrees to the extent of 48 ft. 6 in., when it takes a horizontal direction for a length of 55 ft.; it then again ascends at the same angle and proceeds to the base of the pyramid, where another entrance is formed from the outside. About the middle of the horizontal passage there is a descent into another chamber, which is 32 ft. long, 10 ft. wide, and 8 ft. 6 in. high. The dimensions of this pyramid, as given by Denon, are a base of 655 ft. and a height of 398 ft. Those of the pyramid of Mycerinus are a base of 280 ft., and a height of 162 ft. The pyramids of Saccara, which are as many as twenty in number, vary in form, dimensions, and construction. They extend five miles to the north and south of the village of Saccara. Some of them are rounded at the top, and resemble hillocks cased with stone. One is constructed with steps like that of Cheops. They are six in number, each 25 ft. high, and 11 ft. wide The height of one in the group is 150 ft. Another, built also in steps, is supposed to be as high as that of Cheops. The stones whereof they are composed are much decayed, and more crumbling than those of Gizeh; hence they are considered older. One of them is formed of unburnt bricks, containing shells, gravel, and chopped straw, and is in a very mouldering state. About 300 paces from the

second pyramid stands the extraordinary gigantic statue of the Sphinx (fig. 48.), whose length from the fore-part to the tail has been found to be 125 ft. Belzoni cleared away the sand, and found a temple held between the legs and another in one of its paws. According to Denon, the antiquity of the Egyptian temples may be comparatively determined from their size; the larger ones being posterior to the smaller. Since, however, the wonderful insight we have obtained into the meaning of the hieroglyphics, more accurate information than we before possessed may be gained on that point by reference to Mr. (now Sir Gardiner) Wilkinson's works on Egypt and Thebes. A spirit of simplicity, grandeur, and solidity reigns through the whole of them, and every precaution seems to have been taken to render them eternal. The walls by which they are enclosed are found sometimes 26 ft. in thickness, and those of the entrance gate of a temple at Thebes are as much as 53 ft. thick at their base, and are composed of blocks of enormous size. The masonry employed is that called by the Greeks emplectum (EMTλEKTOV), all filling in of an inferior or rubble work being discarded. They are masses of nicely squared and fitted stones, and are built externally with a slope like the walls of a modern fortification. The columns are absolutely necessary for the support of the ceilings, which consist of large blocks of stone, and are therefore of few diameters in height. Sometimes they are in a single piece, as at Thebes and Tentyris. The stones of which the ceilings are composed are usually, according to Pococke, 14 ft. long, and 5 ft. in breadth, but some run much larger.

Fig. 48.

THE SPHINX.

75. Before adverting to the form and disposition of the Egyptian temple, we think it here necessary to notice the recent discovery of an arch in a tomb at Saccara, said to be of the time of Psammeticus II., and of one also at Thebes in the remains of a crude brick pyramid. (See Wilkinson's Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 263. 321.) That exhibited in the tomb of Saccara, from the vignette given, is clearly nothing but a lining of the rock, and is, if truly represented in the plate, incapable of bearing weight, which is the office of an arch. That, however, at Thebes, to which Mr. W. assigns the date of 1500 B.C., with every respect for his great information on the subject, and with much deference to his judgment, not having ourselves seen it, we cannot easily believe to be of such antiquity. Its appearance is so truly Roman, that we must be permitted to doubt the truth of his conjecture. We are, moreover, fortified in the opinion we entertain by the principles on which the style of Egyptian architecture is founded, which are totally at variance with the use of the arch. We have ventured to transfer this (fig. 49.) to our pages, that the reader may form a judgment on the subject, as well as ourselves. We will only add, that the reasons assigned by Mr. W. for the Egyptians not preferring such a mode of construction as the arch, because of the difficulty of repairing it when injured, and the consequences attending the decay of a single block, are not of any weight with us, because, practically, there is an easy mode of accomplishing such repair. And, again, the argument that the superincumbent weight applied to an arch in such a case as that before

L

us will not hold good, inasmuch as the balance on the back of each course would almost pre

serve the opening without any arch at all.

76. THE FORM AND DISPOSITION of the Egyptian temple seem to have been founded on immutable rules. The only points wherein they differ from one another are in the number of their subdivisions and their extent, as the city for which they served was more or less rich. Unlike the temples of the Greeks and Romans, whose parts were governed by the adoption of one of the orders, and whose whole, taken in at a single glance, could be measured from any one of its parts: those of Egypt were an assemblage of porticoes, courts, vestibules, galleries, apartments, communicating with each other, and surrounded with walls. Strabo, in his 17th book, thus describes the temples in question. "At the entrance of the consecrated spot the ground is paved to the width of 100 ft. (TAE0pov) or less, and in length three or four times its width, and in some places even more. This is called the court (Spopos, course); thus Callimachus uses the words

Fig. 49.

ARCH AT THEBES.

Ο δρομος ἱερος ούτος Ανουβιδος.

Throughout the whole length beyond this on each side of the width, are placed sphinxes of stone, 20 cubits or more distant from one another, one row being on the right, and the other on the left. Beyond the sphinxes is a great vestibule (Tрonvλov), then a further one, and beyond this another. The number, however, of the sphinxes, as of the vestibules, is not always the same, but varies according to the length and breadth of the course. Beyond

100ft

the vestibules (TроTUλaia) is the temple (vews), having a very large porch (povaos), which is worthy to be recorded. The chapel (onkos) is small, and without a statue; or, if there be one, it is not of human form, but that of some beast. The porch on each side has a wing (Tepa); these consist of two walls as high as the temple itself, distant from each other at the bottom a little more than the width of the foundations of the temple, then they incline towards each other, rising to the height of 50 or 60 cubits. These walls are sculptured with large figures, similar to those which are to be seen in the works of the Etruscans and ancient Greeks." This account is not at all exaggerated, as we shall immediately show by the introduction in this place of the plan, section, and elevation of the celebrated temple at Apollonopolis Magna, between Thebes and the first cataract, which, though, as we learn from the deciphering in these days, the hieroglyphics upon it are not of the time of the Pharaohs, seems admirably calculated to give the reader almost all the information necessary for understanding the subject. This will, moreover, so much more fully explain it than words, that we shall not need to do more than afterwards come to some recital of the details.

77. This edifice, seated near Edfou, about twenty miles south of Thebes, is one of the largest in Egypt, and is comparatively in good preservation. Its form is rectangular, and its general dimensions 450 ft. by 140 ft. (fig. 50.) In the centre of one of the short sides is the entrance, which consists of two buildings, each 100 ft. long, and 32 ft. in width; both pyramidal in form, and Fig. 50. PLAN OF TEMPLE AT APOLLONOPOLIS MAGNA. lying in the same direction, but separated by a passage 20 ft. in width, with a doorway at each extremity. This passage conducts us to a quadrangle 140 ft. long, and 120 ft. wide, flanked by twelve columns on each side, and eight more on the entrance side, all standing a few feet within the walls, and thus forming a colonnade round three sides covered by a flat roof. A view of a portion of it is given in fig. 54. At the further end of the quadrangle (which rises by corded steps) opposite to the entrance, is a portico extending the whole breadth of the quadrangle, and 45 ft. in depth. It has three ranks of columns, containing six in each rank, is covered by a flat roof, is 45 ft. deep, and is enclosed by walls on three sides, the fourth, or that opposite the entrance,

being open. This is, however, closed breast high by a species of pedestals half inserted in the columns, and in the central intercolumniation a doorway is constructed with piers, over which are a lintel and cornice cut through. From this portico a doorway leads to an inner vestibule, in which are three ranks of four columns each, smaller than those first described, but distributed in the same way. Beyond this, in Cousin's plan, are sundry apartments, with staircases and passages, whereof the smaller central one was

Fig. 51.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF TEMPLE AT APOLLONOPOLIS.

doubtless the cell. Fig. 51. is a longitudinal section.

שחו

Fig. 52. is the elevation.

We

Fig. 52.

ELEVATION.

Fig. 53.

VIEW OF THE TEMPLE.

may here add, that there is so little difference between the earlier and later specimens of Egyptian architecture, that though, as we have hinted, this is of the latter, it

will convey a pretty correct know-
ledge of all. The general appear-
ance of the temple is given in fig.
53., and a view of the interior in
fig. 54.
The plan of the Egyptian
temple is always uniform, symme-
trical, and rectangular. Its most
brilliant feature is the great num-
ber of columns employed, in which
is displayed a prodigality unap-
proached by any other nation. This,
however, was induced by the ne-
cessity for employing blocks of stone
for the ceilings or roofs. The
greatest irregularity occurring in any
of the plans known, is in that at the
island of Philæ (see fig. 55.), and it

Fig. 54. is very evident that the cause was the shape of the ground on which it is placed. The in

tercolumniations were very small, rarely exceeding a diameter, or one diameter and a half of the column. We know of no specimens of peripteral temples similar to those of Greece, that is, those in which the cell is surrounded by columns. In the elevations of those of Egypt, the spirit and character of their architecture is more particularly

developed. But they are monotonous. The repetition of the same forms is carried to the utmost pitch of tolerance. The pyramidal form prevails in all the combinations, whether in walls, doors, general masses, or details. In considering the principal parts of the elevations, the first feature that presents itself is the column, which we will notice without its attendant base and capital. If it were possible to establish a system relative to their invention and subsequent perfection, we might easily arrange them in distinct classes, principally as respects their decoration; but as far as regards general form, the Egyptian column may be reduced to two varieties, the circular and polygonal. The first are of two sorts. Some are found quite plain or smooth, but ornamented with hieroglyphics (see fig. 56.). Some

are-composed with ranges of horizontal circles, and look like an assemblage of bundles of rods tied together at intervals. The only difference among those columns which are circular and plain is in their having hieroglyphics, or not. Of the second sort there are many varieties, of which we here present three specimens (fig. 57.). They have the appearance of being bound together by hoops, like barrels. These are usually in three rows with four or five divisions in each; but these arrangements seem to have been subject to no certain laws. The species of columns in question is certainly curious, and appears based upon the imitation of stems of trees bound together, so as out of a number to form one strong post. It seems scarcely possible that they could have had their origin in mere whim or caprice. Many polygonal columns are to be found in Egypt. Some square specimens are to be seen in the grottos at Thebes cut out of the rock itself. Similar examples occur at the entrance of the sanctuary of a temple in the same city. Hexa

Fig. 56,

COLUMNI

gonal ones are described by Norden, and Pocock mentions one of a form triangular on the plan. We do not at present remember any fluted specimen, except in the tombs of Beni-Hassan, of which a representation will be given in the section on Grecian architecture. Their character is shortness and thickness. They vary from three to eleven feet in diameter, the last dimension being the largest diameter that Pocock observed, as in height the tallest was forty feet. Such were some of those he measured at Carnac and Luxor, but this he gives only as an approximation from the circumstance of so much of them being buried in the earth.

78. Pilasters, properly so called, are not found in Egyptian architecture. The base of the column, when it appears, is extremely simple in its form. Among the representations in Denon's work is one in which the base is in the shape of an inverted ogee. It belongs to a column of one of the buildings at Tentyris.

79. In their capitals, the Egyptians exhibited great variety of form. They may, however, be reduced to three species, the square, the vase-formed, and the swelled. The first (fig. 58.) is nothing more than a simple abacus, merely placed on the top of the shaft of the column, to which it is not joined by the intervention of any moulding. This abacus is, however, sometimes high enough to admit of a head being sculptured thereon, as in the annexed block. It does not appear, as in Grecian architecture, that in that of Egypt differently proportioned and formed columns had different capitals assigned to them. The notion of imparting expression to architecture by a choice of forms of different nature, and more or less complicated according to the character of an order, was unknown in Egypt. It was an architectural language which the people knew not. The vase-shaped capital (fig. 59.) Fig. 58. CAPITAL is variously modified: sometimes it occurs quite plain; in other cases it is differently decorated, of which we here give two examples. It certainly has all the appear慈]

Fig. 59.

VASE AND OTHER SHAPED CAPITALS.

ance of having afforded the first hint for the

bell of the Corinthian capital. The third

or swelled capital is also found in many varieties; but if the form be not founded

on that of the bud of a tree, we scarcely

know wherein its original type is to be

sought. Two examples of it are here appended.

80. The entablature, for such (however unlike it be to the same thing in the architecture

of Greece) we suppose we must call the massive loading placed on the walls and columns of ancient Egypt, is very little subdivided. The upper part of it, which we may call the cornice, projects considerably, having a large concave member, in some cases consisting of ornaments representing a series of reeds parallel to each other from top to bottom; in other cases in groups of three or six in a group, the intervals between them being sculptured with winged globes, as on the portico of the temple at Tentyris, given in fig. 60. Sculptures of animals, winged globes, and scarabæi, are the almost constant decorations placed on what may be called the architrave of the Egyptian temple. Of the winged globe, usually found on the centre of it, as also of the great concave cornice, fig. 61. is a representation.

Fig. 60.

INTABLATURE.

We close our observations on the cornices of the Egyptian temple by requesting the reader, if he have the smallest doubt on the common origin of the archi