DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17#0141
(Front a Picture by Lear ;
■operty of Miss Griffith.)
CHAPTER IX.
DENDERAH—THE LAST EGYPTIAN PRINCESS.
My reminiscences of Egypt seem to need, for those who would visit the Danks
of the Nile, some account of Denderah, with its temple in various ways differ-
ing from all the others, as it connects the old and the new and shows how
Europe gradually began to influence Africa. The temple of Denderah, although
not covering as much ground as that of Edfou, is in several respects more
wonderful. It also, as we now find it, is a Ptolemaic building, but a careful and
costly reproduction of a previous structure of hoary antiquity, going back to the
days of the ancient empire. Cheops (called Khufu by the Egyptians), the builder
of the Great Pyramid, had founded a temple on this site. Dr. Pétrie in his recent
diggings in the adjoining cemetery found tombs of the Third Dynasty (4000 b.c.),
before the days of Khufu, and proved that the place was still a populous one
when the native rule came to an end.* Thebes was better placed for a metropolis,
and ancient Abydos was not far off. This prevented Denderah from ever rivalling
these neighbours, but still it was a seat of learning ; mainly (perhaps) astronomical
science was cultivated, for two representations of the zodiac were found in the
great temple there, and many astronomical inscriptions, showing what accurate
sidereal knowledge was possessed in early times. This ancient abode of learning
had evidently become neglected during the long dark period of decadence
of the later native Egyptian rulers. The Greek kings of Egypt (during what
* It is to be hoped that Dr. Pétrie will soon be able to publish the results of his two
seasons' discoveries in this neighbourhood.
■operty of Miss Griffith.)
CHAPTER IX.
DENDERAH—THE LAST EGYPTIAN PRINCESS.
My reminiscences of Egypt seem to need, for those who would visit the Danks
of the Nile, some account of Denderah, with its temple in various ways differ-
ing from all the others, as it connects the old and the new and shows how
Europe gradually began to influence Africa. The temple of Denderah, although
not covering as much ground as that of Edfou, is in several respects more
wonderful. It also, as we now find it, is a Ptolemaic building, but a careful and
costly reproduction of a previous structure of hoary antiquity, going back to the
days of the ancient empire. Cheops (called Khufu by the Egyptians), the builder
of the Great Pyramid, had founded a temple on this site. Dr. Pétrie in his recent
diggings in the adjoining cemetery found tombs of the Third Dynasty (4000 b.c.),
before the days of Khufu, and proved that the place was still a populous one
when the native rule came to an end.* Thebes was better placed for a metropolis,
and ancient Abydos was not far off. This prevented Denderah from ever rivalling
these neighbours, but still it was a seat of learning ; mainly (perhaps) astronomical
science was cultivated, for two representations of the zodiac were found in the
great temple there, and many astronomical inscriptions, showing what accurate
sidereal knowledge was possessed in early times. This ancient abode of learning
had evidently become neglected during the long dark period of decadence
of the later native Egyptian rulers. The Greek kings of Egypt (during what
* It is to be hoped that Dr. Pétrie will soon be able to publish the results of his two
seasons' discoveries in this neighbourhood.