DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0142
REMARKABLE INSCRIPTIONS.
133
temple—things which carry him from the works
of man to a grander and higher subject, that of
man himself. On the lofty to wers in front of the
temple, among the mysterious and unknown wri-
tings of the Egyptians, were inscriptions in Greek
and Latin, telling that they .whose names were
there written had come to worship the great god-
dess Isis ; that men had lived and looked upon the
sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and the roll-
ing river, and worshipped a mute idol. And
again, on the front wall was the sacred cross, the
emblem of the Christian faith, and the figures of
the Egyptian deities were defaced and plastered
over, showing that another race had been there to
worship, who scorned and trampled on the gods
of the heathen. And again there was an inscrip-
tion of later days, that in the ruins of the temple
carried \ ith it a wild and fearful interest; telling
that the thunder of modern war had been heard
above the roar of the cataract, and that the arm
of the soldier which had struck terror in the frozen
regions of the north, had swept the burning sands
of Africa. In the grand propylon, among the
names of tourists and travellers, in a small plain
hand is written—"L'an 6 de la republique, le 13
Messidor, une armee Franchise, commandee par
Buonaparte, est descendue a Alexandrie ; l'armee
ayant mis, vingt jours apres, les Mamelukes en
fui.te aux pyramides, Dessaix, commandant la
premiere division, les a poursuivi, au de-la des
cataractes, ou il est arrive le 13 Ventos;, de Pan 7."
VOL. I.-M
133
temple—things which carry him from the works
of man to a grander and higher subject, that of
man himself. On the lofty to wers in front of the
temple, among the mysterious and unknown wri-
tings of the Egyptians, were inscriptions in Greek
and Latin, telling that they .whose names were
there written had come to worship the great god-
dess Isis ; that men had lived and looked upon the
sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and the roll-
ing river, and worshipped a mute idol. And
again, on the front wall was the sacred cross, the
emblem of the Christian faith, and the figures of
the Egyptian deities were defaced and plastered
over, showing that another race had been there to
worship, who scorned and trampled on the gods
of the heathen. And again there was an inscrip-
tion of later days, that in the ruins of the temple
carried \ ith it a wild and fearful interest; telling
that the thunder of modern war had been heard
above the roar of the cataract, and that the arm
of the soldier which had struck terror in the frozen
regions of the north, had swept the burning sands
of Africa. In the grand propylon, among the
names of tourists and travellers, in a small plain
hand is written—"L'an 6 de la republique, le 13
Messidor, une armee Franchise, commandee par
Buonaparte, est descendue a Alexandrie ; l'armee
ayant mis, vingt jours apres, les Mamelukes en
fui.te aux pyramides, Dessaix, commandant la
premiere division, les a poursuivi, au de-la des
cataractes, ou il est arrive le 13 Ventos;, de Pan 7."
VOL. I.-M