DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1035#0068
32 TOPOGRAPHY OF THEBES. [Chap. I.
that now exists of the interior are the bases of its co-
lumns, some broken statues, and Syenite sphinxes*
of the king, with several lion-headed figures of
black granite, f In front of the door are two large
tablets (stelae) of gritstone, with the usual circular
summits, J in form of the Egyptian shield, on which
are sculptured long inscriptions, and the figures of
the king and queen, to whom Amunre and Sokari
present the emblems of life. Beyond these, a long
dromos of eleven hundred feet extended to the two
sitting colossi, which, seated majestically above the
plain, seem to assert the grandeur of ancient Thebes.
Other colossi, of nearly similar dimensions, once
stood between these and the tablets before men-
tioned; and the fragments of two of them, fallen
prostrate in the dromos, are now alone visible above
the heightened level of the alluvial soil. The
easternmost of the two sitting colossi has been the
* These were found, by Sig. Yanni, below the pavement, where
they must have been concealed by the priests previous to the de-
struction of the temple.
f About two hundred feet from the north corner of these ruins
are granite statues of the asp-headed goddess, and another deity,
formed of one block, in very high relief.
| Of this form were also the Rosetta stone, and all other similar
stelse, which refer to historical events, and which generally com-
mence with the date of a king. There are, however, some excep-
tions. But I believe the Rosetta stone began in the hieroglyphics,
thus: " In the ninth year of the young king,"......agreeing
with the eighth year mentioned in lines 29 and 24 of the Greek;
which last should be translated " in the eighth year" of his reign;
and not " after eight years," as if it had been the date of the
siege.
that now exists of the interior are the bases of its co-
lumns, some broken statues, and Syenite sphinxes*
of the king, with several lion-headed figures of
black granite, f In front of the door are two large
tablets (stelae) of gritstone, with the usual circular
summits, J in form of the Egyptian shield, on which
are sculptured long inscriptions, and the figures of
the king and queen, to whom Amunre and Sokari
present the emblems of life. Beyond these, a long
dromos of eleven hundred feet extended to the two
sitting colossi, which, seated majestically above the
plain, seem to assert the grandeur of ancient Thebes.
Other colossi, of nearly similar dimensions, once
stood between these and the tablets before men-
tioned; and the fragments of two of them, fallen
prostrate in the dromos, are now alone visible above
the heightened level of the alluvial soil. The
easternmost of the two sitting colossi has been the
* These were found, by Sig. Yanni, below the pavement, where
they must have been concealed by the priests previous to the de-
struction of the temple.
f About two hundred feet from the north corner of these ruins
are granite statues of the asp-headed goddess, and another deity,
formed of one block, in very high relief.
| Of this form were also the Rosetta stone, and all other similar
stelse, which refer to historical events, and which generally com-
mence with the date of a king. There are, however, some excep-
tions. But I believe the Rosetta stone began in the hieroglyphics,
thus: " In the ninth year of the young king,"......agreeing
with the eighth year mentioned in lines 29 and 24 of the Greek;
which last should be translated " in the eighth year" of his reign;
and not " after eight years," as if it had been the date of the
siege.