DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3989#0063
FACADE OF THE GREAT TEMPLE AT ABOU SIMBEL,
>
FROM THE EAST.
)HE subterraneous works of the ancient Egyptians, such as the rock temples of Nubia and
the tombs of Thebes and of Lower Egypt, are quite as wonderful as the most celebrated
of their structures, not excepting even the temples of Luxor and Philse.
The great rock temple of Abou Simbel, the facade of which is represented in the
Photograph, is situated about forty miles to the north of the Second Cataract, and is the most
southerly of the ancient monuments of Egypt usually visited by Europeans; but they are to
be found extending as far south as Dongola, 1300 miles from the mouth of the Nile.
I am sure that to have stood—even thus far towards Central Africa—and to have gazed by the intense
light of a Nubian sun upon the facade of this glorious temple, the broad river flowing at its base, the palm
groves beyond, and the deep yellow desert hills which close the distance, must have enriched the mind of
every one who has beheld the scene, and is possessed of a spark of imagination, with images of mingled
beauty, and grandeur, and romance, which will occasionally haunt through life his happiest and most
contemplative moments. The stillness and desolation of the very desert from which these noble evidences
of a populous antiquity are but half disentombed, will have heightened the mysterious sublimity of their effect
upon the mind; and perhaps the traveller will often refer to the features of the figures of the facade as the
only perfect combination of colossal size with ideal beauty which he ever beheld.
The temple is sculptured in the face of a sandstone rock, which runs sheer down to the river; and here
the traveller who arrives "in season" usually finds a long line of " dahibiehs," showing an abundance of
gaudy flags and pennants, and occasionally saluting with the customary "complement" of gunpowder the
arrival or departure of a comrade.
The new arrival, with the help of his opera-glass, observes Brown, Jones, and Robinson, with a party of
ladies (they have all been married since their continental tour), toiling through the deep sand to the entrance
of the temple; also Lord Henry------, and two other gentlemen, whom he remembers to have seen on the
shady side of Pall Mall, looking much cooler than they do at present; and, as he watches their movements,
a great horror seizes him (in spite of his antiquarian enthusiasm) at the idea of exchanging his luxurious
cushions for the heavy climb up the steep evasive sand-slope, with the thermometer at 130°. However, the
effort must be made; he goes ashore, and arriving at the temple, reduces himself to a sedentary position,
and—emboldened by the example of the ladies—executes a glissade through the narrow entrance, excavated
by Belzoni, Irby, and Mangles, in the year 1817, into the great hall of the temple, where the scanty glim-
mering of day-light, added to that of his candle, reveals to him the eight colossal Osiridse figures, with
arms folded upon their breasts, and the beautiful sculptures which adorn the walls.- "The Osiridaa figures," says
Sir G. Wilkinson, "are 17 feet 8 inches high, without the cap and pedestal." To this grand hall succeeds
a second, with four square pillars supporting its roof; a corridor and an "adytum," with two side chambers.'
Eight other rooms open on the grand hall. The total depth of the excavation is about 200 feet. The temple
is of the time of Rameses II. (about 1400 years B.C.), of whom the colossal figures of the facade are probably
portraits. There were originally four of these, but the one on the left of the entrance has fallen away from
the face of the rock, and the uppermost on the right is buried to the chin in the drifted sand. These
figures are about 60 feet high; the ears measure 3 feet 5 inches. The principal sculptures of the interior are
historical subjects relating to the conquests of its founder, and extend from the first to the thirty-fifth year
of his reign.
>
FROM THE EAST.
)HE subterraneous works of the ancient Egyptians, such as the rock temples of Nubia and
the tombs of Thebes and of Lower Egypt, are quite as wonderful as the most celebrated
of their structures, not excepting even the temples of Luxor and Philse.
The great rock temple of Abou Simbel, the facade of which is represented in the
Photograph, is situated about forty miles to the north of the Second Cataract, and is the most
southerly of the ancient monuments of Egypt usually visited by Europeans; but they are to
be found extending as far south as Dongola, 1300 miles from the mouth of the Nile.
I am sure that to have stood—even thus far towards Central Africa—and to have gazed by the intense
light of a Nubian sun upon the facade of this glorious temple, the broad river flowing at its base, the palm
groves beyond, and the deep yellow desert hills which close the distance, must have enriched the mind of
every one who has beheld the scene, and is possessed of a spark of imagination, with images of mingled
beauty, and grandeur, and romance, which will occasionally haunt through life his happiest and most
contemplative moments. The stillness and desolation of the very desert from which these noble evidences
of a populous antiquity are but half disentombed, will have heightened the mysterious sublimity of their effect
upon the mind; and perhaps the traveller will often refer to the features of the figures of the facade as the
only perfect combination of colossal size with ideal beauty which he ever beheld.
The temple is sculptured in the face of a sandstone rock, which runs sheer down to the river; and here
the traveller who arrives "in season" usually finds a long line of " dahibiehs," showing an abundance of
gaudy flags and pennants, and occasionally saluting with the customary "complement" of gunpowder the
arrival or departure of a comrade.
The new arrival, with the help of his opera-glass, observes Brown, Jones, and Robinson, with a party of
ladies (they have all been married since their continental tour), toiling through the deep sand to the entrance
of the temple; also Lord Henry------, and two other gentlemen, whom he remembers to have seen on the
shady side of Pall Mall, looking much cooler than they do at present; and, as he watches their movements,
a great horror seizes him (in spite of his antiquarian enthusiasm) at the idea of exchanging his luxurious
cushions for the heavy climb up the steep evasive sand-slope, with the thermometer at 130°. However, the
effort must be made; he goes ashore, and arriving at the temple, reduces himself to a sedentary position,
and—emboldened by the example of the ladies—executes a glissade through the narrow entrance, excavated
by Belzoni, Irby, and Mangles, in the year 1817, into the great hall of the temple, where the scanty glim-
mering of day-light, added to that of his candle, reveals to him the eight colossal Osiridse figures, with
arms folded upon their breasts, and the beautiful sculptures which adorn the walls.- "The Osiridaa figures," says
Sir G. Wilkinson, "are 17 feet 8 inches high, without the cap and pedestal." To this grand hall succeeds
a second, with four square pillars supporting its roof; a corridor and an "adytum," with two side chambers.'
Eight other rooms open on the grand hall. The total depth of the excavation is about 200 feet. The temple
is of the time of Rameses II. (about 1400 years B.C.), of whom the colossal figures of the facade are probably
portraits. There were originally four of these, but the one on the left of the entrance has fallen away from
the face of the rock, and the uppermost on the right is buried to the chin in the drifted sand. These
figures are about 60 feet high; the ears measure 3 feet 5 inches. The principal sculptures of the interior are
historical subjects relating to the conquests of its founder, and extend from the first to the thirty-fifth year
of his reign.