DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0132
98
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
I was sorry to observe again at this place, that, in pro-
portion as what is called the civilisation of the country-
extends, these noble edifices become more and more dila-
pidated, and that neither perfection of art, nor antiquity
are any protection, when materials are wanted either for
public buildings, or for private palaces. In short, the
difficulty of removing the enormous masses, of which they
are composed, forms their only defence. The Great Tem-
ple even has been assailed, notwithstanding the quantity
of loose materials, with which it is surrounded. The Arab
village has been removed towards the river.
9th.'—I landed near Quasr-e-Syad, and the site of
Chenoboscion, in search of the tombs mentioned by
Mr. Wilkinson. Having crossed a plain slightly culti-
vated to the desert mountains at about two miles' distance
from the river, I found a rough cavern, containing a
Greek inscription, but without any vestiges of painting,
or of sculpture, or of a regular doorway ; neither did
it appear to have been used as a tomb. The floor had
not even been levelled. These mountains are composed
of white stone interspersed with small black pebbles.
Beyond this grotto were two others near a canal, in
which doorways, and a raised bench often seen in se-
pulchral excavations had been roughly hewn. The
villages in this neighbourhood were neai-ly deserted, as
the inhabitants had fled to the mountains, and wan-
dered from place to place to avoid conscription, and
compulsory labour in the manufactories.
How (Diospolis Parva) is a straggling village built on
mounds of rubbish, and of broken pottery. It contains
manufactories of sugar, and of indigo, and is situated in
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
I was sorry to observe again at this place, that, in pro-
portion as what is called the civilisation of the country-
extends, these noble edifices become more and more dila-
pidated, and that neither perfection of art, nor antiquity
are any protection, when materials are wanted either for
public buildings, or for private palaces. In short, the
difficulty of removing the enormous masses, of which they
are composed, forms their only defence. The Great Tem-
ple even has been assailed, notwithstanding the quantity
of loose materials, with which it is surrounded. The Arab
village has been removed towards the river.
9th.'—I landed near Quasr-e-Syad, and the site of
Chenoboscion, in search of the tombs mentioned by
Mr. Wilkinson. Having crossed a plain slightly culti-
vated to the desert mountains at about two miles' distance
from the river, I found a rough cavern, containing a
Greek inscription, but without any vestiges of painting,
or of sculpture, or of a regular doorway ; neither did
it appear to have been used as a tomb. The floor had
not even been levelled. These mountains are composed
of white stone interspersed with small black pebbles.
Beyond this grotto were two others near a canal, in
which doorways, and a raised bench often seen in se-
pulchral excavations had been roughly hewn. The
villages in this neighbourhood were neai-ly deserted, as
the inhabitants had fled to the mountains, and wan-
dered from place to place to avoid conscription, and
compulsory labour in the manufactories.
How (Diospolis Parva) is a straggling village built on
mounds of rubbish, and of broken pottery. It contains
manufactories of sugar, and of indigo, and is situated in