DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0126
92
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
cavations, which occupy the space hetween Medinet Abou
and the mountains, brick arches are every where visible.
And an arch has also been constructed with bricks, bear-
ing the cartouche of Thothmes the First, to support the
roof of a cavern in the adjacent hills, where the rock
happens to be of a very loose texture. Mr. Wilkinson
may have alluded to this tomb when he observed, that
arches were known in Egypt 1540 years before Christ;
and it must have been of importance, as the French are
said to have taken away a very fine sarcophagus from the
bottom of a deep shaft, which has been sunk in it.
I did not, however, observe any remains of arches ,
built with stone. The portal, mentioned by Sig. Belzoni,
behind Drah Abou Negger, is composed of stones laid
in horizontal courses, and cut into a coved shape like
the roof of the temple at Abydos, and those of the
Mamertine prisons at Rome.
The sculpture at the Memnonium seems to relate
to the same great event, that is recorded at Karnac,
Abou Simbel, and at other places, and is equally worthy
of admiration; indeed in some respects more so, being
executed with greater care, and more highly finished.
The horses in particular must have been designed from
very beautiful originals, although greatly differing from
those represented in Grecian sculpture; and many of
them are described in spirited, and natural attitudes,
such as I never observed in any other place. The
whole is in nearly the same style, and has the same
merits and defects, as those at Karnac. The adjacent
ground abounds with gigantic fragments of fine work-
manship, and no doubt many still lie concealed below
the surface.
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEII.
cavations, which occupy the space hetween Medinet Abou
and the mountains, brick arches are every where visible.
And an arch has also been constructed with bricks, bear-
ing the cartouche of Thothmes the First, to support the
roof of a cavern in the adjacent hills, where the rock
happens to be of a very loose texture. Mr. Wilkinson
may have alluded to this tomb when he observed, that
arches were known in Egypt 1540 years before Christ;
and it must have been of importance, as the French are
said to have taken away a very fine sarcophagus from the
bottom of a deep shaft, which has been sunk in it.
I did not, however, observe any remains of arches ,
built with stone. The portal, mentioned by Sig. Belzoni,
behind Drah Abou Negger, is composed of stones laid
in horizontal courses, and cut into a coved shape like
the roof of the temple at Abydos, and those of the
Mamertine prisons at Rome.
The sculpture at the Memnonium seems to relate
to the same great event, that is recorded at Karnac,
Abou Simbel, and at other places, and is equally worthy
of admiration; indeed in some respects more so, being
executed with greater care, and more highly finished.
The horses in particular must have been designed from
very beautiful originals, although greatly differing from
those represented in Grecian sculpture; and many of
them are described in spirited, and natural attitudes,
such as I never observed in any other place. The
whole is in nearly the same style, and has the same
merits and defects, as those at Karnac. The adjacent
ground abounds with gigantic fragments of fine work-
manship, and no doubt many still lie concealed below
the surface.