DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0059
32
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
The wind being fair, I passed Erment (Hermontis).
1th. — Left Eilelithias and Kom Achmah on the
eastern shore, and in the evening was opposite to
Edfou.
8^. — I went through the narrow pass of Hadjar
Silsilis, where the water must be exceedingly deep, as
the current is not perceptibly increased; and leaving
Koum Ombos, situated on a promontory on the eastern
shore, I arrived in the evening at Es Souan. The
island of Elephantine is covered with rubbish and broken
pottery: but, with the exception of a few foundations,
a wall towards the south-eastern end, and a figure in
a sitting posture, nothing can be distinctly made out.
Tablets of hieroglyphics have been inscribed in many
places on the rocks in these islands, and also in those
near the town of Es Souan. The neighbouring quarries
to the eastward are very interesting, on account, of the
vast monuments they have furnished for so many ages,
and of the peculiar nature of the stone of which they
are composed. They appear to have been worked prin-
cipally with a chisel, although the marks of wedges are
in some places visible.7
The column containing the well-known inscription
has been removed; but the Obelisk remains, and I
7 It is to be remarked, that in the various painted representations
of the sculpture of images from granite and from other stone, the
instruments employed are often represented of a yellow colour, like
that of brass.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
The wind being fair, I passed Erment (Hermontis).
1th. — Left Eilelithias and Kom Achmah on the
eastern shore, and in the evening was opposite to
Edfou.
8^. — I went through the narrow pass of Hadjar
Silsilis, where the water must be exceedingly deep, as
the current is not perceptibly increased; and leaving
Koum Ombos, situated on a promontory on the eastern
shore, I arrived in the evening at Es Souan. The
island of Elephantine is covered with rubbish and broken
pottery: but, with the exception of a few foundations,
a wall towards the south-eastern end, and a figure in
a sitting posture, nothing can be distinctly made out.
Tablets of hieroglyphics have been inscribed in many
places on the rocks in these islands, and also in those
near the town of Es Souan. The neighbouring quarries
to the eastward are very interesting, on account, of the
vast monuments they have furnished for so many ages,
and of the peculiar nature of the stone of which they
are composed. They appear to have been worked prin-
cipally with a chisel, although the marks of wedges are
in some places visible.7
The column containing the well-known inscription
has been removed; but the Obelisk remains, and I
7 It is to be remarked, that in the various painted representations
of the sculpture of images from granite and from other stone, the
instruments employed are often represented of a yellow colour, like
that of brass.