DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17#0202
PYRAMIDS AND PROGRESS.
in sand and rubbish until
excavated by Mariette. A
populous Arab village and
the accumulated dirt and
rubbish of ages had swal-
lowed it up. The roof was
built over with huts, and the
temple courts used as cellars
and stables for animals. To
visit the buildings of the
temple we now descend thirty
or forty steps, to find the
entire edifice exposed to
view. This temple possesses
its outer enclosing walls
intact ; they are of great
strength, ten feet thick, and
entirely covered with inscrip-
tions. The size of the princi-
pal chambers is inscribed on
one of the walls, as well as
the architect's name, also lists
of the geographical divisions
of ancient Egypt, with their
names recorded. It was
sacred to Horus, and the
Greeks called the place Apollinopolis, thus preserving its attribution to the sun-
god. The present edifice was mainly the work of the Ptolemies, who were
Greeks, and testifies to the wealth of the kingdom—for its cost must have
been millions sterling, and the restoration occupied 180 years. It was a faithful
reproduction of a much older building, and the work of the Eighteenth Dynasty
still exists within it. The monolithic shrine of the sacred hawk is in the centre,
quite perfect : a chamber hollowed out of one block of Syene granite. There
are six courts, narrowing as they approach the Holy of Holies, around which
are arranged fifteen chapels, all sculptured and painted. The outer and inner
walls of the open passage that encircles all are covered with historical and
other tales, told in pictorial and hieroglyphic illustrations. Staircases lead to
the roof, and from the top of the pylons a magnificent view of the Nile Valley
is obtained.
GRANITE MONOLITHIC SHRINE, TEMPLE OF EDFOU.
The only one now mutilimi: entire in Egypl.
in sand and rubbish until
excavated by Mariette. A
populous Arab village and
the accumulated dirt and
rubbish of ages had swal-
lowed it up. The roof was
built over with huts, and the
temple courts used as cellars
and stables for animals. To
visit the buildings of the
temple we now descend thirty
or forty steps, to find the
entire edifice exposed to
view. This temple possesses
its outer enclosing walls
intact ; they are of great
strength, ten feet thick, and
entirely covered with inscrip-
tions. The size of the princi-
pal chambers is inscribed on
one of the walls, as well as
the architect's name, also lists
of the geographical divisions
of ancient Egypt, with their
names recorded. It was
sacred to Horus, and the
Greeks called the place Apollinopolis, thus preserving its attribution to the sun-
god. The present edifice was mainly the work of the Ptolemies, who were
Greeks, and testifies to the wealth of the kingdom—for its cost must have
been millions sterling, and the restoration occupied 180 years. It was a faithful
reproduction of a much older building, and the work of the Eighteenth Dynasty
still exists within it. The monolithic shrine of the sacred hawk is in the centre,
quite perfect : a chamber hollowed out of one block of Syene granite. There
are six courts, narrowing as they approach the Holy of Holies, around which
are arranged fifteen chapels, all sculptured and painted. The outer and inner
walls of the open passage that encircles all are covered with historical and
other tales, told in pictorial and hieroglyphic illustrations. Staircases lead to
the roof, and from the top of the pylons a magnificent view of the Nile Valley
is obtained.
GRANITE MONOLITHIC SHRINE, TEMPLE OF EDFOU.
The only one now mutilimi: entire in Egypl.