DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6359#0105
94
EGYPT AND ITS MONUMENTS.
sand, was at length uncovered for a while by laborious and
Sisyphus-like toil, (the sand slipping down almost as fast as it
could be removed,) it presented the appearance of an enor-
mous couchant Sphinx, with gigantic paws, between which
crouched, as if for protection, a miniature temple with a plat-
form, and nights of steps for approaching it, with others lead-
ing down from the plain above. A crude brick wall protected
it from the sand. It is hardly possible to conceive a more
strange or imposing spectacle than it must have formerly pre-
sented to the worshipper, advancing as he did along this ave-
nue of approach, confined "between the sand-walls of the ravine,
and looking up over the temple to the colossal head of the tu-
telary deity, which beamed down upon him from an altitude
of sixty feet, with an aspect of godlike henignity. On un-
covering the paws, accordingly, many inscriptions were found,
records of the admiration of Grecian travellers, and of careful
restorations by the Roman emperors.
" The whole figure is cut out of the rock, excepting the
fore legs. The head formerly was adorned with a cap, which
has been removed, but portions of the drapery at the side of
the face remain. Should any one imagine that the annexed
representation exaggerates the size, it may he stated that the
circumference of the head around the forehead is given by
Pliny as one hundred and two feet. It is supposed to have
been originated by Thotmes III., and the names of his son and
of later monarchs are inscribed upon it, and they are repre-
sented as offering sacrifice to a smaller representation of it.
" From contemplating this marvel of the ancient world, we
repaired to our nocturnal abode in a tomb scooped out of a
ledge of the rock on which the great pyramid is reared. Hav-
ing arranged with certain Arabs to wake us up in order to
EGYPT AND ITS MONUMENTS.
sand, was at length uncovered for a while by laborious and
Sisyphus-like toil, (the sand slipping down almost as fast as it
could be removed,) it presented the appearance of an enor-
mous couchant Sphinx, with gigantic paws, between which
crouched, as if for protection, a miniature temple with a plat-
form, and nights of steps for approaching it, with others lead-
ing down from the plain above. A crude brick wall protected
it from the sand. It is hardly possible to conceive a more
strange or imposing spectacle than it must have formerly pre-
sented to the worshipper, advancing as he did along this ave-
nue of approach, confined "between the sand-walls of the ravine,
and looking up over the temple to the colossal head of the tu-
telary deity, which beamed down upon him from an altitude
of sixty feet, with an aspect of godlike henignity. On un-
covering the paws, accordingly, many inscriptions were found,
records of the admiration of Grecian travellers, and of careful
restorations by the Roman emperors.
" The whole figure is cut out of the rock, excepting the
fore legs. The head formerly was adorned with a cap, which
has been removed, but portions of the drapery at the side of
the face remain. Should any one imagine that the annexed
representation exaggerates the size, it may he stated that the
circumference of the head around the forehead is given by
Pliny as one hundred and two feet. It is supposed to have
been originated by Thotmes III., and the names of his son and
of later monarchs are inscribed upon it, and they are repre-
sented as offering sacrifice to a smaller representation of it.
" From contemplating this marvel of the ancient world, we
repaired to our nocturnal abode in a tomb scooped out of a
ledge of the rock on which the great pyramid is reared. Hav-
ing arranged with certain Arabs to wake us up in order to