DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4023#0061
AND NUBIA. 15
This description, as well as the plan and the fection os the souterrain,
enable the reader to judge, that what is given out, in the country, sor a temple,
muft have been the tomb os fome great lord, or perhaps even os a king. However
as there is neither inscription nor fculpture, that can let us know to what pur-
pofe this edifice has ferved, I leave it to every one to assign the use sor which it
was deftined. I fhall only remark, that the gallery, which continues beyond
this pretended temple, feems to fhew that there are further on other edifices of
this nature. The common opinion likewife is, that there are, in the neighbour-
hood, other like souterrains; but they are not known: probably becaufe the
entrance into them is fo well closed, that it could never be difcovered; or becaufe,
after having opened them, they have been fo neglected, that the hole has been
flopped up by the fand ; and the fame thing will happen, according to all ap-
pearance, to that, of which I have been fpeaking, fince the entrance becomes
daily fmaller, and the alley lower. I think myfelf happy however in having feen
enough of it, to give a juft idea, and to preserve the memory of it.
I n mounting up the same rock, one meets with great sosses of which they Folks, the
know not either the deftination, or the time in which they were dug. They unknown/
are cut perpendicularly srom the furface downwards, and may have forty seet of
depth upon fifty os length, and twenty of breadth. Their fides are very even;
but the bottom is fo filled with sand, that one can scarce difcovcr the
upper part of a canal, which muft, one would think, have led to some fub-
terraneous place. It is well known, without my mentioning it, that it is
not in the power os a traveller to get fuch places cleansed, in order to satissy
his curiofity. Whoever knows the country, cannot require os us so hazardous
an attempt; and those, who, without having seen any thing, imagine that we
may do every thing that seems practicable to them, need only travel in Egypt,
to be convinced, that it is more eafy to judge than to act as one would.
W e fhould now pafs to the defcription os the new Alexandria ; but besore
I quit the ancient, I have (till many things to fay, and reflections to make, with
regard to it. It is not sufficient to have made the tour os this ancient city, to
have gone out of its inclosure to fee the column os Pompey, to have entered into
the catacombs, which are in the neighbourhood, to have feen the canal of
Cleopatra, to have gone over the borders of the old port, and the adjoining
ground, which had appeared to deferve our examination ; there is always some-
thing omitted upon such occasions, and sometimes we leave too much to be fup-
plied by the imagination. It would feem, sor example, in reading the description,
that I have given of the inclosure os the old city, that one may trace it all round,
without sinding any interruption. It is however certain, that there are fpaces,
where there remain neither bulwarks, nor walls; and if the reader would
know those fpaces, he need only examine the plan: they will be seen by a Plate I.
glance os the eye. Moreover, to have a juft idea of the condition os the
ground, which was occupied by the ancient city, there is something else to be
obferved befides the antiquities, which fubsift. The modern edisices themselves,
the
This description, as well as the plan and the fection os the souterrain,
enable the reader to judge, that what is given out, in the country, sor a temple,
muft have been the tomb os fome great lord, or perhaps even os a king. However
as there is neither inscription nor fculpture, that can let us know to what pur-
pofe this edifice has ferved, I leave it to every one to assign the use sor which it
was deftined. I fhall only remark, that the gallery, which continues beyond
this pretended temple, feems to fhew that there are further on other edifices of
this nature. The common opinion likewife is, that there are, in the neighbour-
hood, other like souterrains; but they are not known: probably becaufe the
entrance into them is fo well closed, that it could never be difcovered; or becaufe,
after having opened them, they have been fo neglected, that the hole has been
flopped up by the fand ; and the fame thing will happen, according to all ap-
pearance, to that, of which I have been fpeaking, fince the entrance becomes
daily fmaller, and the alley lower. I think myfelf happy however in having feen
enough of it, to give a juft idea, and to preserve the memory of it.
I n mounting up the same rock, one meets with great sosses of which they Folks, the
know not either the deftination, or the time in which they were dug. They unknown/
are cut perpendicularly srom the furface downwards, and may have forty seet of
depth upon fifty os length, and twenty of breadth. Their fides are very even;
but the bottom is fo filled with sand, that one can scarce difcovcr the
upper part of a canal, which muft, one would think, have led to some fub-
terraneous place. It is well known, without my mentioning it, that it is
not in the power os a traveller to get fuch places cleansed, in order to satissy
his curiofity. Whoever knows the country, cannot require os us so hazardous
an attempt; and those, who, without having seen any thing, imagine that we
may do every thing that seems practicable to them, need only travel in Egypt,
to be convinced, that it is more eafy to judge than to act as one would.
W e fhould now pafs to the defcription os the new Alexandria ; but besore
I quit the ancient, I have (till many things to fay, and reflections to make, with
regard to it. It is not sufficient to have made the tour os this ancient city, to
have gone out of its inclosure to fee the column os Pompey, to have entered into
the catacombs, which are in the neighbourhood, to have feen the canal of
Cleopatra, to have gone over the borders of the old port, and the adjoining
ground, which had appeared to deferve our examination ; there is always some-
thing omitted upon such occasions, and sometimes we leave too much to be fup-
plied by the imagination. It would feem, sor example, in reading the description,
that I have given of the inclosure os the old city, that one may trace it all round,
without sinding any interruption. It is however certain, that there are fpaces,
where there remain neither bulwarks, nor walls; and if the reader would
know those fpaces, he need only examine the plan: they will be seen by a Plate I.
glance os the eye. Moreover, to have a juft idea of the condition os the
ground, which was occupied by the ancient city, there is something else to be
obferved befides the antiquities, which fubsift. The modern edisices themselves,
the