DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0136
HOLY LAND, AND CYPRUS. 105
The portico of Esneb, which the French cleared of the
surrounding rubbish, was again made the receptacle for the
dirt of the inhabitants of that part of the town. The
northern columns are, however, still uncovered; the southern
ones are buried up to their capitals in sand and dust. I was
precluded from the possibility of drawing this portico in its
present state, from the existence of a mud wall within three
or four feet in a parallel direction.
The temple at Aphroditopolis, about a mile and a half
north of Esneh, has been much damaged within the last
eight or nine years, by one of the Mamelouk chiefs, who
fancied he should discover treasure there; and, in conse-
quence, blew up part of it with gunpowder.
If the first visit to Luxor disappointed me, I was amply
repaid by my second, when I had time to consider the pro-
portions of its parts, where the diameters of the columns
were upwards of eight feet, supporting, at a height of forty,
masses of stone of more than eighteen feet in length, with a
breadth and depth of six. I found a village containing three
or four hundred inhabitants, partly built amongst the co-
lumns, and partly on the terrace of the sanctuary, supposed
to be the tomb of Osmandyas.
My visit to Carnac, the ancient Diospolis, a ruined
temple farther from the banks of the river, on the same side
as Luxor, was equally gratifying. It was impossible to look
The portico of Esneb, which the French cleared of the
surrounding rubbish, was again made the receptacle for the
dirt of the inhabitants of that part of the town. The
northern columns are, however, still uncovered; the southern
ones are buried up to their capitals in sand and dust. I was
precluded from the possibility of drawing this portico in its
present state, from the existence of a mud wall within three
or four feet in a parallel direction.
The temple at Aphroditopolis, about a mile and a half
north of Esneh, has been much damaged within the last
eight or nine years, by one of the Mamelouk chiefs, who
fancied he should discover treasure there; and, in conse-
quence, blew up part of it with gunpowder.
If the first visit to Luxor disappointed me, I was amply
repaid by my second, when I had time to consider the pro-
portions of its parts, where the diameters of the columns
were upwards of eight feet, supporting, at a height of forty,
masses of stone of more than eighteen feet in length, with a
breadth and depth of six. I found a village containing three
or four hundred inhabitants, partly built amongst the co-
lumns, and partly on the terrace of the sanctuary, supposed
to be the tomb of Osmandyas.
My visit to Carnac, the ancient Diospolis, a ruined
temple farther from the banks of the river, on the same side
as Luxor, was equally gratifying. It was impossible to look