Exciderant, voxque ex adytis accepta profundis
Prima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”
Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.
Diod. Sic. lib. xvii. says, that when Alexander required an oracle from Ammon, the chief priest retired back to the sanctuary or holy place, and gave the answer, ex adyto; so the Latin version of Wesselingius expresses it: in truth, there is no Greek word in the original, immediately corresponding with ex adyto; yet the priest retiring εις σήκον, i. e. to the fane or secret recess of the temple; his giving the oracle from such secret recess may be implied.
Applying the accounts of the adytum to the building under consideration, it may be observed, that to form such recess, the rock rising in the centre of the enclosure described at Siwah, offered a peculiar accommodation to the architect. The soil around is represented as wet and marshy, and not therefore suited to excavation. The erecting the Προνὰος, or forepart of the temple, on the elevation of the rock, admitted of the interior end or penetrale being built over a crypt, or artificial cave of eight feet deep, suitable to the purpose and mysteries of an oracular temple.
The entrance to the ancient edifice described by Mr. Horneman was to the north; and from the northern end or division of the building there was a descent of eight feet, in coming to the southern or interior extremity.
Whether anciently the pavement was level and continued, “covering the adytum as a cave;” or whether it was an open vault or recess, from which the priest (as mentioned by Diodorus) might utter the predictions of the oracle unseen by the vulgar; in either case the construction may agree with the ideas to be derived from ancient authority, of the oracular Fane of Ammon; and more strongly warrant a conjecture, that the ruins described by Horneman, may be those of that renowned temple.
Secondly, Mr. Horneman, observing on the rude and stupendous architecture of the building at Siwah, says, “that he could in no part discover any mark or trace on the walls, of their having been incrusted or lined with marbles, or of any ornament having been once affixed.” Indeed the building appears not to have been large, and could little admit of such.
Niches, or pedestals were not required; the most ancient Egyptian temples had no statues: Lucian says,—τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν καὶ παρὰ Αἰγυπτίοισι αξόανοι νηοὶ ἔσαν· edit. Bourdelot. p. 1057. The sole interior decoration of the ancient Egyptian temple at Heliopolis, described by Strabo, was a rude sculpture on the walls in the old Tuscan taste, apparently similar to that observed by Mr. Horneman on the walls at Siwah. Strabo’s words are,—ἀναγλυφὰς δ᾿ ἔχουσιν οἱ τοῖχοι οὗτοι μεγάλων ειδώλων ομοίων τοῖς Τυῤῥενικοῖς, καὶ τοῖς αρχαίοις σφόδρα των παρὰ τοῖς Ελλησὶ δημιουργημάτων· edit. Casaub. p. 806. This, and the indications of rude simplicity observable in the remains of the ancient building at Siwah, may thus strengthen the conjecture that it was the one sacred to Ammon. Diodorus, Arrian, and Curtius, all indeed talk of gold and ornaments, and even of a statue in procession, displayed on the visit of Alexander: but Strabo directly taxes Callisthenes (and therewith those writers who followed him) with exaggerations and additions, introduced to do honour to their hero. Edit. Casaub. p. 813.
The poet Lucan, in his description of the Temple (and its being a fiction will be taken in aid of the argument), states the people of Lybia to be “beati,” i. e. rich; and he had all the gold of Africa before him, if the general account and actual knowledge of this temple at the time he wrote, could have bore him out in a luxuriant description of its splendour and magnificence. From this he appears to have abstained, in deference to fact and to what was generally known, of the rudeness and simplicity of this holy place. His being a poet thus strengthens his authority, whilst he foregoes the splendour of description specially suited to his genius; and gives up matter too of fine poetical contrast, with the simple and pure morals and religion of his Cato. He had no other inducement but truth when he says,