DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0170
154
sand; with it, she has been, and may again become, the granary
of the world.
In one of these ranges of mountains, which are called Gib-
bel-Abou, are situated the tombs of the kings, or, as they are
now called, lhban-el-Moluk, the gates of the kings. The road
to them lay along the bed of a torrent, as is evident from the
peculiar striated appearance of the surface of the soil, and from
the large rocks that have been rolled along, when after a cessation
of rain for fifteen or twenty years the whole country around is at
once deluged. This phenomenon, when it does take place, is as
abundant as it is rare. After travelling about one mile and a
half among the mountains AVest of the village of El-Ebck, the
gorge or road terminates in an irregular area, where the rock is
perpendicular on all sides. In this bason, or dell, arc excavated
in a hard calcareous stone, which in some places has taken a
very fine polish, the tombs of the kings of Thebes ; a situation
exactly corresponding to that given them by Strabo, who places
them behind the Memnonion. At the time that this geographer
visited Egypt, it was commonly reported that there had been
forty of these monuments, though the Thcban priests gave an
account of forty-seven. Only eighteen, however, were then visi-
ble, the rest having been destroyed : at present there are not
above ten which are accessible; but the site of several others
is very easily determined ; nor is there any reason to discredit
the account which enumerates above forty of them. The space
was amply sufficient; and it is plain that the entrances have been
choked up by the loose stones that have fallen down in the course
of time from the slopes of the mountain, and which have brought
with them the chips and fragments of stones which had been
thrown up at the time of the excavations. There is, however,
one consola'tion arising from this circumstance; that if, by the
exertions
sand; with it, she has been, and may again become, the granary
of the world.
In one of these ranges of mountains, which are called Gib-
bel-Abou, are situated the tombs of the kings, or, as they are
now called, lhban-el-Moluk, the gates of the kings. The road
to them lay along the bed of a torrent, as is evident from the
peculiar striated appearance of the surface of the soil, and from
the large rocks that have been rolled along, when after a cessation
of rain for fifteen or twenty years the whole country around is at
once deluged. This phenomenon, when it does take place, is as
abundant as it is rare. After travelling about one mile and a
half among the mountains AVest of the village of El-Ebck, the
gorge or road terminates in an irregular area, where the rock is
perpendicular on all sides. In this bason, or dell, arc excavated
in a hard calcareous stone, which in some places has taken a
very fine polish, the tombs of the kings of Thebes ; a situation
exactly corresponding to that given them by Strabo, who places
them behind the Memnonion. At the time that this geographer
visited Egypt, it was commonly reported that there had been
forty of these monuments, though the Thcban priests gave an
account of forty-seven. Only eighteen, however, were then visi-
ble, the rest having been destroyed : at present there are not
above ten which are accessible; but the site of several others
is very easily determined ; nor is there any reason to discredit
the account which enumerates above forty of them. The space
was amply sufficient; and it is plain that the entrances have been
choked up by the loose stones that have fallen down in the course
of time from the slopes of the mountain, and which have brought
with them the chips and fragments of stones which had been
thrown up at the time of the excavations. There is, however,
one consola'tion arising from this circumstance; that if, by the
exertions