DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4640#0056
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V<^^*^i> ^Vk.
^%S»\ ^^SsVi&vj _\NS^RMs-J
AWWm@A(&lE T© fii mmipil:
)W wiif iii©wi,
llM„
These ruins are situated on the western bank of the Nile and about five hundred yards from the
river, in what, it is highly probable, was formerly a fertile plain; now, deep sands have drifted
over it, and buried the portico of the Temple; a few straggling prickly plants are the only signs
of vegetation, and not a hut is to be seen around : the smooth surface is undisturbed, except by
the trail of the serpent or the tiny footmarks of the lizard : so entirely have the words of prophecy
been fulfilled:—" I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdol to Syene,
even unto the borders of Ethiopia."
At a distance, the propylon is imposing, though plain. The most striking feature of the
Temple is a long dromos, or avenue, of andro-sphinxes : in their state of mutilation they are
supposed by the Nubians to be lions, whence the name Wady Saboua, or "the valley of the lions."
After traversing the short interval from the river, a flight of steps, having on either side a standing
colossal figure, about ten or eleven feet in height and twenty feet apart, leads to a broad, and
formerly elevated, causeway of hewn stone, one hundred and eighty feet long, which, bounded by
the row of sphinxes, continues to the great entrance of the Temple. At the end of the avenue
and at the base of the propylon, two statues, larger than those at the entrance, are lying. The
material of which the Temple is built is sandstone, much decayed, and the stones are disjointed and
displaced; the first effected by the slow action of Time, but the latter seems to have been caused
by some sudden natural convulsion.
Roberts's Journal.
-<.-
..^
V<^^*^i> ^Vk.
^%S»\ ^^SsVi&vj _\NS^RMs-J
AWWm@A(&lE T© fii mmipil:
)W wiif iii©wi,
llM„
These ruins are situated on the western bank of the Nile and about five hundred yards from the
river, in what, it is highly probable, was formerly a fertile plain; now, deep sands have drifted
over it, and buried the portico of the Temple; a few straggling prickly plants are the only signs
of vegetation, and not a hut is to be seen around : the smooth surface is undisturbed, except by
the trail of the serpent or the tiny footmarks of the lizard : so entirely have the words of prophecy
been fulfilled:—" I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdol to Syene,
even unto the borders of Ethiopia."
At a distance, the propylon is imposing, though plain. The most striking feature of the
Temple is a long dromos, or avenue, of andro-sphinxes : in their state of mutilation they are
supposed by the Nubians to be lions, whence the name Wady Saboua, or "the valley of the lions."
After traversing the short interval from the river, a flight of steps, having on either side a standing
colossal figure, about ten or eleven feet in height and twenty feet apart, leads to a broad, and
formerly elevated, causeway of hewn stone, one hundred and eighty feet long, which, bounded by
the row of sphinxes, continues to the great entrance of the Temple. At the end of the avenue
and at the base of the propylon, two statues, larger than those at the entrance, are lying. The
material of which the Temple is built is sandstone, much decayed, and the stones are disjointed and
displaced; the first effected by the slow action of Time, but the latter seems to have been caused
by some sudden natural convulsion.
Roberts's Journal.