DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18825#0017
lect. i.j ■ history of art. f
The antiquities of Egypt, its pyramids, sphinxes,
obelisks, temples, still remain, though the names
of their authors, and the times of their erection, are
long since forgotten. They were ancient in the
days of Herodotus, the father of European his-
torians, who could gain no intelligence whereby to
date the foundation of most of them : the inscrip-
tions they bear are thought to be prior to the dis-
covery and use of letters; and though, could we.
now decypher those inscriptions, it is probable thev
might contribute little addition to the present stock
of knowledge ; vet their information might gratify
that curiosity which is very prevalent in minds de-
voted to science.
Whether Egypt was the fruitful parent of all the
sciences, is a question not now to be entered upon,
certainly it contains extremely ancient exertions
of human skill, in respect to those Arts whose his-
tory forms our present subject.
To the introduction and progress of the Arts in
Egypt many circumstances seem to have contributed i
such as—its being a monarchical government,-—the
fertility of the country ; and—the nature of its reli-
gion. Egypt seems to have been, if not the original
seat of idolatry, yet more addicted to its supersti-
tions than any nation of whose manners we have
heard. The numerous edifices still existing in that
country, formerly devoted to the worship of hero-
deities, of sacred animals, and not only of animals,
but of sacred vegetables also, are explicit evidences
of the fact. Might not that idolatry which over-
spread the land be one cause why the arts were more
2 speedily
The antiquities of Egypt, its pyramids, sphinxes,
obelisks, temples, still remain, though the names
of their authors, and the times of their erection, are
long since forgotten. They were ancient in the
days of Herodotus, the father of European his-
torians, who could gain no intelligence whereby to
date the foundation of most of them : the inscrip-
tions they bear are thought to be prior to the dis-
covery and use of letters; and though, could we.
now decypher those inscriptions, it is probable thev
might contribute little addition to the present stock
of knowledge ; vet their information might gratify
that curiosity which is very prevalent in minds de-
voted to science.
Whether Egypt was the fruitful parent of all the
sciences, is a question not now to be entered upon,
certainly it contains extremely ancient exertions
of human skill, in respect to those Arts whose his-
tory forms our present subject.
To the introduction and progress of the Arts in
Egypt many circumstances seem to have contributed i
such as—its being a monarchical government,-—the
fertility of the country ; and—the nature of its reli-
gion. Egypt seems to have been, if not the original
seat of idolatry, yet more addicted to its supersti-
tions than any nation of whose manners we have
heard. The numerous edifices still existing in that
country, formerly devoted to the worship of hero-
deities, of sacred animals, and not only of animals,
but of sacred vegetables also, are explicit evidences
of the fact. Might not that idolatry which over-
spread the land be one cause why the arts were more
2 speedily