Wilson, Robert Thomas: The British expedition to Egypt: carefully abridged in two parts (London, 1803)

HERMOPOLIS.
M. Denon observes, that the first sight of
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the portico of this place inspired him with an
idea of the Colossal architecture of the Egyp-
tians ; and that on each rock that composed
this edifice., seemed to be engraved

POSTERITY, ETERNITY:
Hermopolis, or the great city of Mercury,
the capital of the thirty-fifth name, was built
by Ishmun, the son of Misraim. To give some
idea of the colossal proportions of the portico
of its temple, it will be sufficient to say that the
diameter of its columns is eight feet ten inches j
their distances the same ; that of the two co-
lumns of the center, within which the door is
comprised, is twelve feet; which, together,
give a hundred and twenty feet for the facade
of the portico: its height is sixty feet. The
architrave is composed of five stones of twenty
two feet each in length ; the frize the same;
the only stone which remains of the cornice is
thirty four feet: these details may convey an
idea at once of the skill possessed by the
Egyptians in raising these enormous masses,
and of the magnificence of the materials they
employed. The stones are of a free-stone of
the fineness of marble : they are joined only by
the exactnest of their disposition. With re-
spect to the plan of the temple, nothing can be
discovered of its outward walls or of its nave.
The second rank of columns was inclosed to-
the height of the door; the rest were entirely

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