DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0095
HELIOPOLIS.
89
that this city was already in existence under the
Ancient Empire. Usertasen's obelisk, which is
still standing, connects Heliopolis with the
XIIth dynasty, and some blocks of stone, dis-
covered during our excavations in 1858, further
show that Thothmes III. enlarged one of its
temples. "When then did the decline of Heli-
opolis begin ? Was it through the fury of Cam-
byses, as Strabo asserts, that its edifices were
laid low? We cannot tell. Anyhow, Strabo,
who visited Egypt only a few years before our
era, describes it as almost a wilderness, and
nothing now remains of it but the enclosing
wall of the principal temple and the obelisk
which stands in the centre. We speak advis-
edly when we say " the enclosing wall of
the principal temple," for the high and exten-
sive walls which form the enceinte of Heliopolis
must not be mistaken for the walls of the city
itself. It is true one may still see round the
obelisk, and even at some distance from it,
remains of demolished walls and vestiges of
dwellings, which one is quite prepared to im-
agine are the remains of the houses of the city.
But what occurred at Medinet-Abou, at Den-
derah, at Abydos and in many other places, took
89
that this city was already in existence under the
Ancient Empire. Usertasen's obelisk, which is
still standing, connects Heliopolis with the
XIIth dynasty, and some blocks of stone, dis-
covered during our excavations in 1858, further
show that Thothmes III. enlarged one of its
temples. "When then did the decline of Heli-
opolis begin ? Was it through the fury of Cam-
byses, as Strabo asserts, that its edifices were
laid low? We cannot tell. Anyhow, Strabo,
who visited Egypt only a few years before our
era, describes it as almost a wilderness, and
nothing now remains of it but the enclosing
wall of the principal temple and the obelisk
which stands in the centre. We speak advis-
edly when we say " the enclosing wall of
the principal temple," for the high and exten-
sive walls which form the enceinte of Heliopolis
must not be mistaken for the walls of the city
itself. It is true one may still see round the
obelisk, and even at some distance from it,
remains of demolished walls and vestiges of
dwellings, which one is quite prepared to im-
agine are the remains of the houses of the city.
But what occurred at Medinet-Abou, at Den-
derah, at Abydos and in many other places, took