DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0337
D1SG0 VERIES AT ABOU SIMBEL. 319
no trace of any altar—no fragment of stone dais or sculpt-
ured image—no granite shrine, as at Phila?—no sacred
recess, as at Denderah. The standard of Horns Aroeris,
engraved on page 311, occupies the center place upon the
wall facing the entrance, and occupies it, not as a tutelary
divinity, but as a decorative device to separate the two largo
subjects already described. Again, the gods represented in
these subjects are Ka and Amen-lla, the tutelary gods of the
great temple; but if we turn to the dedicatory inscription on
Page 313 we find that Thoth, whose image never occurs at all
upon the walls* (unless as one of the little gods in the cor-
nice), is really the presiding deity of the place. It is he who
welcomes Barneses and his offerings; who acknowledges the
'glory" given to him by his beloved son; and who, in
return for the great and good monuments erected in his
honor, promises the king that he shall be given "an ever-
lasting sovereignty over the two countries."
_ Now Thoth was,par excellence, the God of Letters. He
is styled the Lord of Divine Words; the Lord of the
Sacred Writings; the Spouse of Truth. He personifies
the Divine Intelligence. He is the patron of art and
science; and he is credited with the invention of the
alphabet. In one of the most interesting of Champollion's
letters from Thebes,f he relates how, in the fragmentary
ruins of the western extremity of the Bamesseum, he found
a doorway adorned with the figures of Thoth and Safek;
-thoth as the God of Literature, and Safek inscribed with
the title of Lady President of the Hall of Books. At
endorah there is a chamber especially set apart for the
sacred writings, and its walls are sculptured all over with
a catalogue raisonnee of the manuscript treasures of the
temple. AtEdfu, a kind of closet built up between two
°t the pillars of the hall of assembly was reserved for the
same purpose. Every temple, in short, had its library;
and as the Egyptian books—being written on papyrus or
Gather, rolled up, and stored in coffers—occupied but
'ttle space, the rooms appropriated to this purpose were
generally small.
J-t was Dr. Birch's opinion that our little monument
„„ ,ma>"- however, be represented on the north wall, where it is
covered by the sand-heap.
\ Letter xiV) p. 235. .. Xouvelle Ed.," Paris, 1868.
no trace of any altar—no fragment of stone dais or sculpt-
ured image—no granite shrine, as at Phila?—no sacred
recess, as at Denderah. The standard of Horns Aroeris,
engraved on page 311, occupies the center place upon the
wall facing the entrance, and occupies it, not as a tutelary
divinity, but as a decorative device to separate the two largo
subjects already described. Again, the gods represented in
these subjects are Ka and Amen-lla, the tutelary gods of the
great temple; but if we turn to the dedicatory inscription on
Page 313 we find that Thoth, whose image never occurs at all
upon the walls* (unless as one of the little gods in the cor-
nice), is really the presiding deity of the place. It is he who
welcomes Barneses and his offerings; who acknowledges the
'glory" given to him by his beloved son; and who, in
return for the great and good monuments erected in his
honor, promises the king that he shall be given "an ever-
lasting sovereignty over the two countries."
_ Now Thoth was,par excellence, the God of Letters. He
is styled the Lord of Divine Words; the Lord of the
Sacred Writings; the Spouse of Truth. He personifies
the Divine Intelligence. He is the patron of art and
science; and he is credited with the invention of the
alphabet. In one of the most interesting of Champollion's
letters from Thebes,f he relates how, in the fragmentary
ruins of the western extremity of the Bamesseum, he found
a doorway adorned with the figures of Thoth and Safek;
-thoth as the God of Literature, and Safek inscribed with
the title of Lady President of the Hall of Books. At
endorah there is a chamber especially set apart for the
sacred writings, and its walls are sculptured all over with
a catalogue raisonnee of the manuscript treasures of the
temple. AtEdfu, a kind of closet built up between two
°t the pillars of the hall of assembly was reserved for the
same purpose. Every temple, in short, had its library;
and as the Egyptian books—being written on papyrus or
Gather, rolled up, and stored in coffers—occupied but
'ttle space, the rooms appropriated to this purpose were
generally small.
J-t was Dr. Birch's opinion that our little monument
„„ ,ma>"- however, be represented on the north wall, where it is
covered by the sand-heap.
\ Letter xiV) p. 235. .. Xouvelle Ed.," Paris, 1868.