Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

2 6

CITIES OF EGYPT.

column carried away for the mosques and palaces of the
latest rival of Memphis. A reaction of bigotry added a
fresh motive; and the wise counsels of the old philosopher,
who claimed historical monuments as confirmations of
the truth, found no favour with those who ignorantly
made a merit of destroying the records of idolatry.

Thus has Memphis been carried away. Yet the great
necropolis still remains on the edge of the desert behind,
stretching north and south nearly twenty miles, with
its populous centres behind the city, its smaller suburbs
far away, marked by above sixty pyramids, some nearly
perfect, some in ruins, the greatest still preserving their
first shape when seen from afar. These are the royal
tombs ; around them, ranged in streets, are the sepulchres
of subjects, some massively built of stone, others cut in
the sides of the rock, where its form allowed, others again
mere pits leading to chambers of sepulture. The sub-
terranean tomb of the sacred bull Apis is a stupendous
excavation, mainly a series of grand galleries, from which
open out chambers, each large enough to hold the
massive sarcophagus of a mummied bull.

The vast extent of this city of the dead is some
measure of the long duration of Egyptian history.