Manning, Samuel; Thwing, E. P. [Hrsg.]: Egypt illustrated: with pen and pencil (New York, NY, 1891)

THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS.

in the absence of gunpowder or other explosive material. Wooden wedges were
inserted into the rock, and then moistened. As the line of wedges swelled, a mass of

o 7

stone was detached of the size required. Remembering the stir and bustle of which
these quarries were once the scene, their present solitude and silence are most impres-
sive. Facing the river are a number of small grottoes or chapels, apparently for the

use of the quarrymen, and these, with the but-
tresses of stone carved into the form of columns,
have a very picturesque appearance, giving the
impression

of a vast /M:/
city hewn (~^\ //

out of the Ha
living rock. ///'y\\^XC^
Fifteen ^ ^<Xf

miles above Silsilis, we reach the temple of Kom r^y^r> ____ /f^\

Ombo. Standing as it does on the summit of a j mil H 1 i| jl/| |PT~~pY )}
hill overlooking the Nile Valley, it forms a very ^^^^^ggpLE^^^^tj^^^^^L^/

striking object from the river. Though small in | , ............■........—~———j

size as compared with the mighty masses of N
Karnak and Luxor, it is one of the most beauti-_
ful edifices in Eaypt. The sand-drift from the

, c i i soul visiting its body, and holding the

desert has buried the lower part of the columns, EMBLEMS 0f life and beeath in its claws.

122