DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11715#0102
THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS.
portraits of Cleopatra, of colossal size. They are far from supporting her reputation
for beauty. The face is expressive of sensuality and voluptuousness, and bears no
trace of the ambition and intelligence with which she had been credited. Their resem-
blance to the original has sometimes been called in question, but, as Dean Stanley
remarks, " the fat full features are well brought out, and being like those at Hermonthis,
give the impression that it must be a likeness."
We are now approaching Thebes, the capital of Ancient Egypt, and the culminating
the great hall in the temple oe abydos.
point of its splendor and magnificence. Throughout a period nearly twice the length
of our own history the wealth and power of successive Pharaohs had been devoted to
its aggrandisement, and the labor of subdued and enslaved nations been employed in
the erection of its temples and palaces. For fifteen hundred years each succeeding
generation added something to its glories. Its Titanic edifices record the history and
illustrate the greatness of the people thoughout the whole period of their national
existence.
The great plain of Thebes afforded a noble site for such a city. The Arabian and
Libyan Mountains which enclose the Nile Valley here assume grander forms than in
q8
portraits of Cleopatra, of colossal size. They are far from supporting her reputation
for beauty. The face is expressive of sensuality and voluptuousness, and bears no
trace of the ambition and intelligence with which she had been credited. Their resem-
blance to the original has sometimes been called in question, but, as Dean Stanley
remarks, " the fat full features are well brought out, and being like those at Hermonthis,
give the impression that it must be a likeness."
We are now approaching Thebes, the capital of Ancient Egypt, and the culminating
the great hall in the temple oe abydos.
point of its splendor and magnificence. Throughout a period nearly twice the length
of our own history the wealth and power of successive Pharaohs had been devoted to
its aggrandisement, and the labor of subdued and enslaved nations been employed in
the erection of its temples and palaces. For fifteen hundred years each succeeding
generation added something to its glories. Its Titanic edifices record the history and
illustrate the greatness of the people thoughout the whole period of their national
existence.
The great plain of Thebes afforded a noble site for such a city. The Arabian and
Libyan Mountains which enclose the Nile Valley here assume grander forms than in
q8