“Nearly two thousand years ago, these tombs were an object of wonder and curiosity, and used to attract visiters from different parts of the earth as they now do. It was the practice even then for many of those who beheld them to leave [Pg 418]some memorial of their visit behind, in the shape of an inscription commemorating the date at which they ‘saw and wondered,’ to use the expression which is commonly found among them. Some of these inscriptions are curious: one of them is to the following effect: ‘I, the Dadouchos (literally Torch-bearer), of the most sacred Eleusinian mysteries, Nisagoras of Athens, having seen these syringes (as the tombs were commonly called), a very long time after the divine Plato of Athens, have wondered and given thanks to the God and to the most pious King Constantine, who has procured me this favour.’ The tomb in which this was written seems to have been generally admired above all others, though, as Mr. Wilkinson tells us, one morose old gentleman of the name of Epiphanius declares that ‘he saw nothing to admire but the stone,’ meaning the alabaster sarcophagus. There are many other inscriptions: some afford internal evidence of their dates, and among them are four relating to the years 103, 122, 147, and 189 of our era.
“A great many of the painted sculptures, which are found in these tombs, relate to the idolatrous worship of the ancient Egyptians, and the rites and ceremonies which they practised in connexion with it[269]. But besides these, there are others which afford us a vast quantity of interesting information upon the subjects of their domestic usages and every-day life. In one chamber are depicted the operations of preparing and dressing meat, boiling the cauldron, making bread, lighting the fire, fetching water, &c. Another presents scenes in a garden, where a boy is beaten for stealing fruit; a canal and pleasure boats; fruit and flowers; the mechanical processes of various arts, such as sculpture, painting, the mixing of colours, &c. In the Harper’s Tomb, (so called from there being among the bas-reliefs figures of a man playing upon an instrument resembling a harp,) which was first visited by Bruce, there are some [Pg 419]curious illustrations of the furniture which was in use among the Egyptians; tables, chairs, and sideboards, patterns of embossed silk and chintz, drapery with folds and fringe are there to be seen, precisely such, we are told, as were used in our own country some years ago when Egyptian furniture was in fashion.
“The ‘Tombs of the Kings’ bring many allusions of Scripture to the mind, as is remarked by Mr. Jowett, as in the passages of Mark v. 2, 3, 5, and particularly of Isaiah xxii. 16. ‘What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself on a rock?’
“Another passage of the same prophet might be applied to the pride which the tenants of these magnificent abodes took in resting as magnificently in death as they had done in life; he tells us (xiv. 18), ‘All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.’
“The mystical sculptures upon the walls of the chambers within these sepulchres, cannot be better described than in the words of Ezekiel, (viii. 8, 10): ‘Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door; and he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in, and saw; and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.’
“‘The Israelites,’ remarks Mr. Jowett, ‘were but copyists; the master sketches are to be seen in all the ancient temples and tombs of Egypt.’ These are the places in which the dead bodies of the inhabitants of ancient Thebes were deposited many ages ago; and notwithstanding the havoc which, during many years, has been made among them, the stores of mummies which they contain would almost appear to be inexhaustible; indeed, as a modern writer expresses it, it would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that the mountains are merely roofs over the masses of mummies within them. The coffins, which are made of sycamore-wood, serve as fuel to the Arabs of the whole neighbourhood. ‘At first,’ says Mrs. Lushington, ‘I did not relish the idea of my dinner being dressed with this resurrection wood, particularly as two or three of the coffin lids, which were in the shape of human figures, were usually to be seen standing upright against the tree under which the cook was performing his operations, staring with their large eyes as if in astonishment at the new world upon which they had opened.’
“The miserable beings who have fixed their dwellings in these cavern tombs, are as little civillized as could be expected; [Pg 420]our female traveller describes them as having a wild and resolute appearance. ‘Every man was at this time (1828) armed with a spear, to resist, it was said, the compulsory levies of the Pacha, who found it vain to attack them in their fastnesses. I, who was so delighted with the beauty and peace of our new abode, felt quite disturbed to discover that the very spot where we encamped four years before, witnessed the massacre of many hundreds of Arabs, then in resistance against this recruiting system, and who were blown from guns, or shot, while endeavouring to make their escape by swimming across the river. The poor people, however, behaved with civility to us, and I felt no apprehension at going among them with a single companion, or even alone. To be sure we were obliged to take especial care of our property, for which purpose the chief of Luxor assisted us by furnishing half-a-dozen men to watch by night round the encampment. Nevertheless, once after I had gone to sleep, I was awakened by the extinguishing of the light, and felt my little camp-bed raised up by a man creeping underneath; he fled on my crying out, and escaped the pursuit, as he had the vigilance, of our six protectors.’
“The feelings occasioned by the sight of the numerous fragments of mummies which are to be found scattered in every direction in the neighbourhood of these tombs, must be to one of a reflective cast of mind peculiarly affecting. The Rev. Mr. Jowett, after speaking of his ascent to the top of the Libyan mountains, ‘which command a magnificent view of the winding of the Nile, and the plain of the hundred-gated Thebes,’ says, ‘as we were descending the other side of the mountain, we came suddenly on a part where thirty or forty mummies lay scattered in the sand,—the trunk of the body filled with pitch, and the limbs swathed in exceeding long clothes. The forty days spent in embalming these mortal bodies, (Genesis 1. 3.) thus give us a sight of some of our fellow-creatures who inhabited these plains more than three thousand years ago. How solemn the reflection that their disembodied spirits have been so long waiting to be united again to their reanimated body! and that this very body which, notwithstanding its artificial preservation, we see to be a body of humiliation, will on its great change become incorruptible and immortal.’”
The following observations are by Mr. Browne:—
“The massy and magnificent forms of the ruins that remain of ancient Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the city of Jove, the city with a hundred gates, must inspire every intelligent spectator with awe and admiration. Diffused on both sides of the Nile, their extent confirms the classical observations, and [Pg 421]Homer’s animated description rushes into the memory:—‘Egyptian Thebes, in whose palaces vast wealth is stored; from each of whose hundred gates issue two hundred warriors, with their horses and chariots.’ These venerable ruins, probably the most ancient in the world, extend for about three leagues in length along the Nile. East and west they reach to the mountains, a breadth of about two leagues and a half. The river is here about three hundred yards broad. The circumference of the ancient city must therefore have been about twenty-seven miles. In sailing up the Nile, the first village you come to within the precincts is Kourna, on the west, where there are few houses, the people living mostly in the caverns. Next is Abu-Hadjadj, a village, and Karnak, a small district, both on the east. Far the largest portion of the city stood on the eastern side of the river. On the south-west Medinet-Abu marks the extremity of the ruins; for Arment, which is about two leagues to the south, cannot be considered as a part.