Travels in Ethiopia, above the second cataract of the Nile

by G. A. Hoskins

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THIS IS THE CEMETERY OF THE CAPITAL OF ETHIOPIA. — THE IMPOSING APPEARANCE, NUMBER, POSITION, AND DIMENSIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS. — ETHIOPIAN ARCH. — PROOFS THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS DESCENDED FROM ETHIOPIA. — EDIFICES OF A PYRAMIDAL FORM THE BEST ADAPTED TO RESIST THE RAVAGES OF TIME. — PECULIAR STYLE OF THE SCULPTURE. — THE LANGUAGE OF HIEROGLYPHICS GENERALLY KNOWN IN ETHIOPIA. — THE STYLE OF THE SCULPTURE THE CRITERION OF THE AGE. — MONUMENTAL, GEOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS DESCENDED FROM MEROE. — DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURE. — NAME OF MEROE ON THE MONUMENTS. — MEROE PECULIARLY INTERESTING, AS THE BIRTH-PLACE OF THE ARTS. — SANDSTONE QUARRIES. — SITE OF THE CITY. — VILLAGES OF THE PRESENT INHABITANTS. — AGRICULTURE. — CAILLIAUD.

Agatharchides says the Astaboras unites its stream with the Nile, and forms the Island of Meroe; and Strabo (lib. 17.) says Meroe is formed by the conflux of the Astapus and Astaboras. Diodorus states the island to be 375 miles long, and 125 wide. The exact distance from Syene to Meroe is stated by Pliny to have been a subject of great dispute even in his time; which is the more extraordinary, when we consider the number of travellers who had then visited and even penetrated beyond the capital of Ethiopia. Pliny first mentions Delion as having travelled far beyond Meroe; afterwards Aristocreon, Bion, Basilis, and Simonides the younger, who wrote an account of that city. Timosthenes was sixty days in making the voyage by water. Eratosthenes reckoned the distance 625,000 paces, and Artemidorus 600,000. Bion gives us a list of towns, but no distances: the sixty days of Timosthenes, by water, is too indefinite a date to be of any use, although it agrees tolerably well with the account of Herodotus.[13] The 625,000 paces of Eratosthenes, equal to 590 miles, is about the length of the direct caravan road, which I find to be 560 miles to the town. Artemidorus’s distance of 600,000 paces, equal to 568 miles, agrees more closely with my ascertained distance of that route, that is, across the Great Desert, by Korosko and Abou-Hammed.

Pl. 5.

From a Drawing by L. Bandoni.

Printed by C. Hullmandel.

GENERAL PLAN OF THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE.

Published by Longman, Rees & C^o. April 6^th. 1835.

Pliny says that this dispute concerning the distance to Meroe was finally settled by the prætorians and tribune sent by Nero for the purpose of exploring the country, which he had some intention to make a conquest of. There is little doubt, I conceive, that these men would follow the Nile, in order to observe all the towns, and report what resources there would be for an army. This will account for their calculating the distance to the island at 874,000 paces (817 English miles). Following most of the sinuosities of the Nile, I find it about forty miles more; but, as it cannot be supposed that they did not occasionally avail themselves of some of the many shorter routes now followed by the caravans, this may be considered to correspond with sufficient exactness.

Pliny computes from Napata to the Island of Meroe, 360,000 paces (340 English miles). If Gibel el Birkel be the site of ancient Napata, the distance by the longest road is only 240, a difference of 100 miles; I therefore conceive that Gibel el Birkel cannot be the site of the ancient city of Napata, which, I think, we must look for 100 miles lower down the river, perhaps at Old Dongolah. Ptolemy places it much more to the north. Pliny says, that from the commencement of the island to the town is 70,000 paces (66 English miles). I found the distance to be nearly 60 miles; a difference only of 6 miles: but these discrepancies are not surprising when we consider the vague information and dubious authorities from which he acknowledges that he compiled his account. I suggested, in crossing the Great Desert, the probability of its having formerly contained establishments and wells, at different stations, for the convenience of a more civilised population, and of this route having been anciently much more frequented by travellers. There is every reason then to suppose that Eratosthenes and Artemidorus took this route; which will make their calculations, as well as those of the prætorians by the Nile, accord very satisfactorily with the position of these ruins. Without bringing forward other proofs, the authority of Ptolemy is sufficient to dispel any doubt that might possibly remain upon the subject. That geographer places the capital of Ethiopia in latitude 16° 26′; a difference only of 30′ from the observation of Cailliaud. It is impossible to conceive the observation of that geographer to be exactly correct (which, indeed, is rarely the case); for, besides the absence of other ruins, we cannot imagine that there could have been another town so near the capital with such splendid cemeteries as these.

Never were my feelings more ardently excited than in approaching, after so tedious a journey, to this magnificent Necropolis. The appearance of the Pyramids, in the distance, announced their importance; but I was gratified beyond my most sanguine expectations, when I found myself in the midst of them. The pyramids of Geezah are magnificent, wonderful from their stupendous magnitude; but for picturesque effect and elegance of architectural design, I infinitely prefer these of Meroe. I expected to find few such remains here, and certainly nothing so imposing, so interesting, as these sepulchres, doubtless of the kings and queens of Ethiopia. I stood for some time lost in admiration. From every point of view I saw magnificent groups, pyramid rising behind pyramid, while the dilapidated state of many did not render them less interesting, though less beautiful as works of art. I easily restored them in my imagination; and these effects of the ravages of time carried back my thoughts to more distant ages.