DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0178
162
at the foot of the Djibbel-Abou, or in the sides of the mountain,
where they seemed to offer a convenient platform for entrances
into the single and detached ones, or for galleries in front of
those that are in regular rows. Those in the plain at the foot of
the mountain appear to be the largest, but an accumulation of
sand and stones has nearly blocked up the entrances; which we
the less regretted, as the walls of those we could get into pre-
sented nothing very remarkable. About the entrances of some of
those upon the mountain, which are detached from the rest, have
been built in after times mud cottages; and many of the tombs
have been converted into dwelling-places, for which, from their
size and freedom from damp, they were peculiarly convenient.
They have been long since deserted; and 1 should be inclined to
conclude that some of the habitations are of xery antient date,
anterior even to the excavation of the sepulchres, as in many in-
stances the broken walls are hidden under fragments and chips
of stone collected at the time of the construction of the tombs.
These spots, elevated as they are above the plain, had, besides their
other conveniences, the recommendation of placing their inhabi-
tants beyond the reach of the oppressive impositions of the suc-
cessive masters of the country; and, being difficult of access,
they ensured to their occupiers, when pursued, an impregnable
retreat among the mountains. We observed in the neighbour-
hood the ruins of a small Coptic convent.
The paintings which have adorned the cieling and the walls of
these sepulchres are many of them in a very high state of preserva-
tion. Jn general the figures as well as groups are merely painted,
without any marks of the knife or chisel; but in some they are
exceedingly well executed both in relief and in intaglio, previous
to their being coloured : many resembled those we had seen at
Eleithias, particularly the funeral processions and the feasts. In
one
at the foot of the Djibbel-Abou, or in the sides of the mountain,
where they seemed to offer a convenient platform for entrances
into the single and detached ones, or for galleries in front of
those that are in regular rows. Those in the plain at the foot of
the mountain appear to be the largest, but an accumulation of
sand and stones has nearly blocked up the entrances; which we
the less regretted, as the walls of those we could get into pre-
sented nothing very remarkable. About the entrances of some of
those upon the mountain, which are detached from the rest, have
been built in after times mud cottages; and many of the tombs
have been converted into dwelling-places, for which, from their
size and freedom from damp, they were peculiarly convenient.
They have been long since deserted; and 1 should be inclined to
conclude that some of the habitations are of xery antient date,
anterior even to the excavation of the sepulchres, as in many in-
stances the broken walls are hidden under fragments and chips
of stone collected at the time of the construction of the tombs.
These spots, elevated as they are above the plain, had, besides their
other conveniences, the recommendation of placing their inhabi-
tants beyond the reach of the oppressive impositions of the suc-
cessive masters of the country; and, being difficult of access,
they ensured to their occupiers, when pursued, an impregnable
retreat among the mountains. We observed in the neighbour-
hood the ruins of a small Coptic convent.
The paintings which have adorned the cieling and the walls of
these sepulchres are many of them in a very high state of preserva-
tion. Jn general the figures as well as groups are merely painted,
without any marks of the knife or chisel; but in some they are
exceedingly well executed both in relief and in intaglio, previous
to their being coloured : many resembled those we had seen at
Eleithias, particularly the funeral processions and the feasts. In
one