Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/806

782 EGYPT [TOMBS OF THE KINGS. opening in the mountains behind the Setheum, leads to two other valleys, that of the Tombs of the Kings, and the Western Valley. Both these contain royal sepulchres, but those of the former are the more important. The sepulchres in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings are twenty-five in number. Nineteen are the mausolea of kings, of a queen with her consort, and of a prince, all of Dynasties XIX. and XX. One tomb is without sculpture, and there is likewise an uusculptured passage running for a considerable distance into the mountain, which may be regarded as an uncompleted tomb. M. Mariette has found the tombs of functionaries in this valley (Mon., 234). Their plan is always the same in its main particulars, but they differ greatly in extent, in con sequence of having been begun at a king s accession, or even before (for one of them is the tomb of an heir-apparent), and continued throughout his reign, like the pyramids of Memphis. Their paintings and painted sculptures likewise do not present remarkable varieties, for they are almost wholly of a religious character, and principally refer to the future state. These subjects are taken from the Book of the Lower Hemisphere, treating of the course of the sun in the twelve hours of the night, and so in the nether world. They are interesting for the manner in which they illustrate the Egyptian religion, and for the beauty of their execution ; but their intricate nature forbids any detailed description of them in the present article. The plan of one of the most interesting sepulchres may, how ever, be described. The tomb of Setee I., commonly called Belzoni s, since that explorer first opened it since ancient times, is in the freshest state of preservation, except in its outer part, although the miserable barbarism of modern travellers is yearly lessening its beauty. We enter by a staircase, and pass along a steep passage, which ends in a deep pit, now filled up. Thus far the subjects and inscriptions which occupy the walls are unfinished, showing that the tomb was not completed. Immediately beyond the pit, the part discovered by Belzoni begins with a hall 26 feet by 27, supported by four square pillars, the walls of which are covered with very beautiful painted sculp tures, including the celebrated procession of the four races. To the right of this is another chamber, supported by two columns, the decorations of which were never begun, having only been drawn in outline. From the left side of the former chamber we descend a flight of steps, which leads to a passage, another flight of steps, and then another passage, ending in a chamber 17 feet by 14, from which we pass into a hall 27 feet square, having six square pillars, and on either side a small chamber. This forms the portico of the great sepulchral hall, the most splendid part of the tomb, which is of an oblong form, 1 9 feet in length and 30 in breadth, with an arched roof. In the midst, in a depression, was a splendid sarcophagus of alabaster, now in the Soane Museum, and on its removal blocks of stone were found filling up the entrance of an inclined descent, which was cleared for 300 feet by Belzoni, without its ter mination being discovered. It is not impossible that the king was buried in a chamber at the end of this passage. The great sepulchral hall is covered with beautiful painted sculptures, and on its ceiling are astronomical or astrological representations, resembling the astronomical ceiling of the Rameseum of El-Kurneh. A door in the left side of the sepulchral hall leads to a chamber which has two square pillars, and on the same side is a cell; there is another chamber on the opposite side. A large apartment, which was left unfinished, is behind that in which was the sarcophagus, and is the last of those contained in the tomb, if the inclined descent does not lead to other unknown ones. From the entrance to the end of this chamber is a distance of about 300 feet. The tomb of Ramses III. is among the most splendid of the royal sepulchres. Its length a little exceeds 400 feet, but from the nature of the rock its sculptures are less delicately executed than those of the tomb of Setee I. In cells on either side of its passage, a little within the entrance, are interesting paintings illustrating manners and customs, in one of which is the celebrated representa tion of the harpers. The tombs which have been found in the Western Valley are only four in number, and but two of these contain paintings, those of Amenophis III. and of King Ai, the sun-worshipper who succeeded Khu-n-aten. The former is decorated with paintings in a very good style, but unfortunately they have sustained much damage ; the latter is historically interesting as a record of an obscure king, but its paintings are of poor execution. Nowhere, perhaps, are we so forcibly struck by the feel ing of the ancient Egyptians with respect to death arid the future state as in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, and in the sepulchres themselves. The desolateness of the spot, apart from all signs and sounds of life, fitted it for the solemn use to which it was assigned ; and those long dark passages, and lofty chambers, on whose walls we see the awful punishments of the wicked and the rewards of the good,jtitly unveil the most secret mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Not far south of Thebes, on the western bank, is the large village of Arment, the old Hermonthis, where stands a picturesque temple built by Cleopatra. It has two courts with colonnades, and three chambers around which was also a colonnade, of which but one column now stands. It is of small dimensions, having been the " Typhonium " attached to the great temple of Mentu, the divinity of the place, which has been razed. On the other bank of the river, a little higher, at T6d, anciently Tuphium, is a small Ptolemaic temple. Not far beyond, and about 20 miles above Thebes, by the course of the stream, are the " Gebeleyn, " or " Two Mountains," on the western side of the river, where the sandstone begins. The town of Isne, the ancient Sne, called by the Greeks Latopolis, is likewise situate on the western bank, about twelve miles higher, and is remarkable as containing a very fine Egyptian monument, the portico of its great temple of Kneph. This is in the heart of the modern town, and was much choked with rubbish until cleared by Mehemet Ali. It is supported by twenty-four lofty and massive columns, six in front, and four deep, having capitals of various forms, of which those alone in corresponding positions on opposite sides are of the same description, a deviation from regularity of which we do not see examples previous to the Greek rule. The columns and walls are covered with minute sculptures of the bad style of the period when the portico was erected. that of the Csesars. It contains the hieroglyphic names of Claudius, Vespasian, Titus, and other emperors as late as Severus. The back is, however, more ancient, for it bears the name of Ptolemy Philometer, being the front of the older temple of which nothing more is known for certain to remain. Upon the ceiling is a zodiac, from which this monument was supposed to have been of very great antiquity before the interpretation of hieroglyphics had been discovered. On the other bank of the Nile, on the site of Contra Latopolis, is a small temple of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. A few miles above Isne, where both the Libyan and Arabian chains approach the river, are the curious remains of Eilethyia (so written in Egyptian geography). There is a small temple of the Ptolemaic time, and twii little sacred edifices of the period of the Pharaohs, but the most interesting monuments are the tombs and the fort.

The former, which are excavated in a hill, are very remark-