DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0204
186 A THOUSAND MILES UP TEE NILE.
teenth-century pistols, such as would have become the
holsters of Prince Rupert. This elaborate warrior repre-
sented the guard of the caravan. The hunting-leopard
and the wildcat were for Prince Hassan, the third son of
the viceroy. The ivory was for exportation. Anything
more picturesque than this procession, with the dust driv-
ing before it in clouds and the children following it out of
the village, it would be difficult to conceive. One longed
for Gerome to paint it on the spot.
The rocks on either side of the ancient river-bed are
profusely hieroglyphed. These inscriptions, together with
others found in the adjacent quarries, range over a period
of between three and four thousand years, beginning witli
the early reigns of the ancient empire and ending with
the Ptolemies and Caesars. Some are mere autographs.
Others run to a considerable length. Many are headed
with figures of gods and worshipers. These, however, are
for the most part mere graffiti, ill-drawn and carelessly
sculptured. The records they illustrate are chiefly votive.
The passer-by adores the gods of the cataract; implores
their protection ; registers his name and states the object
of his journey. The votaries are of various ranks, periods,
and nationalities; but the formula in most instances is
pretty much the same. Now it is a citizen of Thebes per-
forming the pilgrimage to Philaj; or a general at the head
of his troops returning from a foray in Ethiopia ; or a
tributary prince doing homage to Rameses the Great, and
associating his suzerain with the divinities of the place.
Occasionally we come upon a royal cartouche and a pomp-
ous catalogue of titles, setting forth how the Pharaoh him-
self, the Golden Hawk, the >Son of Ra, the Mighty, the
Invincible, the Godlike, passed that way.
It is curious to see how royalty, so many thousand years
ago, set the fashion in names, just as it does to this day.
]\'ine-tenths of the ancient travelers who left their signa-
tures upon these rocks were called Rameses or Thothmes or
Usertasen. Others, still more ambitious, took the names
of gods. Ampere, who hunted diligently for inscriptions
both hero and among the islands, found the autographs of
no end of merely mortal Aniens and Hathors.*
* For copies and translations of a largo number of the graffiti of
Assiian, see Lepsius' "Denkmiiler;" also, for the most recent and
the fullest collection of the rock-cut inscriptions of Assiian and its
teenth-century pistols, such as would have become the
holsters of Prince Rupert. This elaborate warrior repre-
sented the guard of the caravan. The hunting-leopard
and the wildcat were for Prince Hassan, the third son of
the viceroy. The ivory was for exportation. Anything
more picturesque than this procession, with the dust driv-
ing before it in clouds and the children following it out of
the village, it would be difficult to conceive. One longed
for Gerome to paint it on the spot.
The rocks on either side of the ancient river-bed are
profusely hieroglyphed. These inscriptions, together with
others found in the adjacent quarries, range over a period
of between three and four thousand years, beginning witli
the early reigns of the ancient empire and ending with
the Ptolemies and Caesars. Some are mere autographs.
Others run to a considerable length. Many are headed
with figures of gods and worshipers. These, however, are
for the most part mere graffiti, ill-drawn and carelessly
sculptured. The records they illustrate are chiefly votive.
The passer-by adores the gods of the cataract; implores
their protection ; registers his name and states the object
of his journey. The votaries are of various ranks, periods,
and nationalities; but the formula in most instances is
pretty much the same. Now it is a citizen of Thebes per-
forming the pilgrimage to Philaj; or a general at the head
of his troops returning from a foray in Ethiopia ; or a
tributary prince doing homage to Rameses the Great, and
associating his suzerain with the divinities of the place.
Occasionally we come upon a royal cartouche and a pomp-
ous catalogue of titles, setting forth how the Pharaoh him-
self, the Golden Hawk, the >Son of Ra, the Mighty, the
Invincible, the Godlike, passed that way.
It is curious to see how royalty, so many thousand years
ago, set the fashion in names, just as it does to this day.
]\'ine-tenths of the ancient travelers who left their signa-
tures upon these rocks were called Rameses or Thothmes or
Usertasen. Others, still more ambitious, took the names
of gods. Ampere, who hunted diligently for inscriptions
both hero and among the islands, found the autographs of
no end of merely mortal Aniens and Hathors.*
* For copies and translations of a largo number of the graffiti of
Assiian, see Lepsius' "Denkmiiler;" also, for the most recent and
the fullest collection of the rock-cut inscriptions of Assiian and its