DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0290
M2 A THOUSAND MILES VP THE NILE.
accept the sacrifice. In the second hall we see, as usual,
the procession of the sacred bark. Ptah, Khem and Bast,
gorgeous in many-colored garments, gleam dimly, like fig-
ures in faded tapestry, from the walls of the. transverse
corridor.
But the wonder of Abou Simbel is the huge subject on
the north side of the great hall. This is a monster battle-
piece which covers an area of fifty-seven feet seven inches
in length, by twenty-five feet four inches in height,
and contains over eleven hundred figures. Even the her-
aldic cornice of cartouches and asps which runs round the
rest of the ceiling is omitted on this side, so that the wall
is literally filled with the picture from top to bottom.
Fully to describe this huge design would take many
pages. It is a picture-gallery in itself. It represents not
a single action, but a whole campaign. It sets before us,
with Homeric simplicity, the pomp and circumstance of
war, the incidents of camp life and the accidents of the
open field. We see the enemy's city, with its battlemented
towers and triple moat; the besigers' camp and the pavil-
ion of the king; the march of infantry : the shock of
chariots; the hand-to-hand melee; the flight of the van-
quished; the triumph of the Pharaoh; the bringing in of
the prisoners; the counting of the hands of the slain. A
great river winds through the picture from end to end and
almost surrounds the invested city. The king in his chariot
pursues a crowd of fugitives along the bank. Some are
crushed under his wheels; some plunge into the water and
are drowned.* Behind him, a moving wall of shields and
spears, advances with rhythmic step the serried phalanx;
while yonder, where the fight is thickest, we see chariots
overturned, men dead and dying, and riderless horses mak-
ing for the open. Meanwhile, the besieged send out
mounted scouts and the country folk drive their cattle to
the hills.
A grand frieze of chariots charging at full gallop divides
the subject lengthwise and separates the Egyptian camp
from the field of battle. The camp is square and inclosed,
apparently, in a palisade of shields. It occupies less than
one-sixth part of the picture and contains about a hundred
figures. Within this narrow space the artist has brought
*See cliap. viii, p. 12G, also chap. xxi.
accept the sacrifice. In the second hall we see, as usual,
the procession of the sacred bark. Ptah, Khem and Bast,
gorgeous in many-colored garments, gleam dimly, like fig-
ures in faded tapestry, from the walls of the. transverse
corridor.
But the wonder of Abou Simbel is the huge subject on
the north side of the great hall. This is a monster battle-
piece which covers an area of fifty-seven feet seven inches
in length, by twenty-five feet four inches in height,
and contains over eleven hundred figures. Even the her-
aldic cornice of cartouches and asps which runs round the
rest of the ceiling is omitted on this side, so that the wall
is literally filled with the picture from top to bottom.
Fully to describe this huge design would take many
pages. It is a picture-gallery in itself. It represents not
a single action, but a whole campaign. It sets before us,
with Homeric simplicity, the pomp and circumstance of
war, the incidents of camp life and the accidents of the
open field. We see the enemy's city, with its battlemented
towers and triple moat; the besigers' camp and the pavil-
ion of the king; the march of infantry : the shock of
chariots; the hand-to-hand melee; the flight of the van-
quished; the triumph of the Pharaoh; the bringing in of
the prisoners; the counting of the hands of the slain. A
great river winds through the picture from end to end and
almost surrounds the invested city. The king in his chariot
pursues a crowd of fugitives along the bank. Some are
crushed under his wheels; some plunge into the water and
are drowned.* Behind him, a moving wall of shields and
spears, advances with rhythmic step the serried phalanx;
while yonder, where the fight is thickest, we see chariots
overturned, men dead and dying, and riderless horses mak-
ing for the open. Meanwhile, the besieged send out
mounted scouts and the country folk drive their cattle to
the hills.
A grand frieze of chariots charging at full gallop divides
the subject lengthwise and separates the Egyptian camp
from the field of battle. The camp is square and inclosed,
apparently, in a palisade of shields. It occupies less than
one-sixth part of the picture and contains about a hundred
figures. Within this narrow space the artist has brought
*See cliap. viii, p. 12G, also chap. xxi.