[Plate XII.] (the third of Sculpture) represents the inner tablet, or the three rows of figures, in a subject upon the opposite wall, and is connected with the fragments of two figures, and adorned with decorations defaced, but apparently so precisely the same as [Plate XI.] that I have thought it unnecessary to repeat them. The smaller figures in this subject are also less perfect. In the first row is the fragment of a figure certainly meant for Osiris; before him may be distinguished four very small divinities, perhaps the genii of Amenti, and a lion, seated on a pedestal, the executioner of justice. In the same row is a curious group of four hogs. I have been told that a representation of these animals once existed on a tomb at Thebes; but this is the first time I have seen them sculptured on any edifice in the valley of the Nile. In the second row is a pedestal, upon which is the model of a monolithic temple. On one side of the latter is a goose, and on the other a hawk, emblematical of the divinities Seb and Horus; after which there is a representation of a tree, with a figure on each side, followed by Thoth, with his hands raised towards the figure of a mummy: the head of the latter is defaced; but its shape is important, as proving that the Ethiopians were acquainted with the art of embalming. The third row contains a pedestal, or altar, on which three figures are seated. One with the globe and horns is Isis; the third, Horus; the other, is defaced: behind these is a large twisted serpent. In the second row of this tablet, and also in [Plate XI.,] is an altar or pedestal, on which are cakes of bread, and in the midst of them the flowers of the lotus; indicating, I conceive, that they are the bread of that plant. The figure with a ceinture of lion’s skin, in both these subjects, is pouring libations on the flowers, symbolical, perhaps, of the reign of the king, who, like the inundation of the river, had spread abundance and prosperity over the land. There were some other fragments on the porticoes, and in one I observed a balance, and Thoth and Horus weighing the actions of the deceased before the judge, Osiris; a common subject on the papyrus, and which is also seen on the walls of the Temple of Athor at Thebes, &c.
At the extremity of each portico, as before observed, is the representation of a monolithic temple, above which are the traces of a funeral boat filled with figures, but all too defaced to be distinctly made out. In the centre of each boat is the sphere in the usual concave socket; and I was able, with much difficulty, to distinguish the divinities Kneph and Anubis. On each side of the boat is a pedestal on which is the bird with a human face representing the soul: one has a sphere on its head. Diodorus mentions that some of the Ethiopians preserved the bodies of their relations in glass (probably alabaster) cases, in order to have them always before their eyes. These porticoes may have been used to contain such cases.
I have carefully described this interesting and magnificent cemetery; but how shall I attempt to express the feelings of the traveller on treading such hallowed ground? One who, in passionate admiration for the arts, had visited the chief galleries of Europe, gazed upon the breathing image of divinity in the Apollo of the Vatican, or the deep expression of the most poetical of statues, the Dying Gladiator of the Capitol; who had beheld and felt the pictorial creations of a Raphael and a Correggio, and, with delight, contemplated Grecian, Roman, and modern sculpture, could not be unmoved at finding himself on the site of the very metropolis where those arts had their origin. The traveller who has seen the architectural antiquities of Rome, and has admired the magnificent use that nation has made of the arch, making it the chief ornament of their baths, palaces, and temples, would be further deeply interested at finding here the origin of that discovery. These emotions would be felt with peculiar force by one who, like myself, had been fortunate enough to trace art through her earliest creations,—from the splendid Gothic edifices of the north to the ruins of the Eternal City—from Rome to Magna Græcia—from the magnificent Temple of Neptune at Pæstum to the still purer antiquities of Sicily, particularly at Girgenti, where nature and art seem to have vied with each other—from that interesting island to the Morea and the city of Minerva, where the knowledge of the arts, sown in the most genial soil, produced the perfection of elegance, chasteness, and magnificence. But the seeds of the knowledge of the Greeks were derived from Egypt; and the Egyptians received their civilisation from the Ethiopians, and from Meroe, where I now am writing. The beautiful sepulchres of that city afford satisfactory evidence of the correctness of the historical records. Where a taste for the arts had reached to such perfection, we may rest assured that other intellectual pursuits were not neglected, nor the sciences entirely unknown. Now, however, her schools are closed for ever, without a vestige of them remaining. Of the houses of her philosophers, not a stone rests upon another; and where civilisation and learning once reigned, ignorance and barbarism have reassumed the sway.
These pyramids are of sandstone, the quarries of which are in the range of hills to the east. The stone is rather softer than the Egyptian, which, added to the great antiquity, may account for the very dilapidated state of most of these ruins; and also for the sculpture and hieroglyphics being so defaced. Time, and the burning rays of a tropical sun, have given them a brownish red tint, in some parts nearly black. As the operation of many ages is required to make this change on a light-coloured sandstone, a further proof is afforded of the great antiquity of the monuments. The stones being small, and easily removed, it is fortunate that the chief group of pyramids is so far distant from the Nile; otherwise, like those on the plain, near the river, a great proportion of them might have been carried away as materials for the erection of more modern edifices.
This, then, is the Necropolis, or City of the Dead. But where was Meroe, its temples and palaces? A large space, about 2000 feet in length, and the same distance from the river, strewed with burnt brick and with some fragments of walls, and stones similar to those used in the erection of the pyramids, formed, doubtless, part of that celebrated site. The idea that this is the exact situation of the city is strengthened by the remark of Strabo, that the walls of the habitations were built of bricks: Εν δε ταις πολεσιν αἱ οικησεις εκ φοινικινων σχιζων διαπλεκομεναι και τοιχων εκ πλινθων. These indicate, without doubt, the site of that cradle of the arts which distinguish a civilised from a barbarous society. Of the birthplace of the arts and sciences, the wild natives of the adjacent villages have made a miserable burying-place: of the city of the learned—its “cloud-clapt towers,” its “gorgeous palaces,” its “solemn temples,” there is “left not a rack behind.” The sepulchres alone of her departed kings have fulfilled their destination of surviving the habitations which their philosophy taught them to consider but as inns, and are now fast mouldering into dust. As at Memphis, scarcely a trace of a palace or a temple is to be seen. In this once populous plain I saw the timid gazelles fearlessly pasturing. The hyenas and wolves abound in the neighbouring hills. This morning Signor B. met a man with the head of one which he was carrying in triumph to his village: he said that he had been attacked at once by three small ones when alone, and with no weapon but his lance. The small villages of Bagromeh[19], south of the ruins, consist of circular cottages with thatched conical roofs. The peasants have numerous flocks, which they send to pasture on the plain. On the banks of the river I observed cotton, dourah, and barley. Such is the present state of Meroe. It is an ample requital for my toilsome journey, to have been the first to bring to England accurate architectural drawings, &c. of all the remains of the ancient capital of Ethiopia, that city which will ever live in the grateful recollection of those who love the arts.
March 6. My rais informed me, this morning, that he could wait no longer; that his orders from the Mahmoor were only to show us the ruins; that he knew the governor wanted the boat; and that he would not stay another night on any consideration. I should have wished to have remained a few days more at this interesting place, particularly with the view of making some excavations, but I must confess I had no great hopes of the latter being of much avail. Since the enterprising French traveller, M. Cailliaud was here, the desert must have made great encroachments on the ruins in the plain, as I saw nothing of the traces and almost plan, of a temple which he has marked in his General Plate, No. XXXI.
It will be alleged that there are a great many discrepancies between my architectural and picturesque views and those of M. Cailliaud. I have only to remark that the former are by M. Bandoni, a most skilful Italian architect and painter of acknowledged reputation, whose sufficient recommendation to me was the patronage of that most distinguished of British antiquarians, Sir William Gell. The picturesque views are drawn by myself, with the utmost care and attention, and with the camera lucida; so that I can vouch for the correct position of every stone. M. Cailliaud has given several pieces of sculpture from the propylons. I observed that the façades of two of the porticoes were ornamented with sculpture, representing a king sacrificing prisoners—a subject so often seen in Egypt: they were very much injured; but had they struck me as being so extraordinary as he has represented them, I should certainly have drawn them separately. The figure which appears in my camera view ([Plate IX.]) has none of those peculiarities. The variations in the directions of the pyramids are most accurately marked; for I was very particular in my directions to Mr. B. on that subject. M. Cailliaud has left me the opportunity of being the first to present to the public several interesting pieces of sculpture, and numerous tablets which decorate the interior of the porticoes.
CHAPTER VII.
DEPARTURE FROM THE RUINS. — NUMEROUS VILLAGES, ONE CALLED MEROUEER. — SHENDY. — FORTIFIED HOUSE OF THE MELEK. — INSIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT CAPITALS OF ETHIOPIA. — POPULATION OF SHENDY. — BAZAAR. — PRICES OF CAMELS, SLAVES, ETC. — MANNER OF TRANSACTING BUSINESS. — WOMEN OF SHENDY. — SLAVE SYSTEM. — POWER OF THE ANCIENT MELEKS. — THEIR WIVES. — ARMY OF THE PASHA. — DEATH OF ISMAEL PASHA. — METAMMAH. — THE KATSHEF OF THAT PLACE AND HIS COURT. — KATSHEF OF SHENDY.