Travels in Ethiopia, above the second cataract of the Nile

by G. A. Hoskins

DEFICIENCY OF WATER. — RETURN TO THE NILE. — WILD ANIMALS. — ANCIENT CANAL. — TEMPLE OF ABOU NAGA. — DIFFICULTIES. — THE MODERN CAPITALS OF ETHIOPIA. — SENNAAR. — THE DIFFICULTY OF PENETRATING TO THE SOURCE OF THE BAHR EL ABIAD. — TRIBE OF ARABS ON ITS BANKS. — WATER LESS SWEET THAN THAT OF THE BAHR EL AZRUK. — ARAB DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER. — INUNDATION OF THE NILE. — RETURN TO SHENDY. — MAMELUKE EXERCISE.

I had intended to have proceeded from the ruins of El Owataib to those of El Mecaurat, farther in the Desert; but my stock of water was almost exhausted, in consequence of my guide and camel-driver not having brought their own supply, according to agreement, also on account of several of my own geerbahs proving bad, and our consumption, owing to the extreme heat, having been twice what we expected. Signor Bandoni seems to be apprehensive of a deficiency, and anxious to guard against it; for yesterday evening I found him in my tent with his mouth at a three-gallon geerbah. His draughts were profounder than his philosophy, for by his earnestness he seemed intent on trying whether he himself possessed that valuable faculty which his experience in the desert had taught him the camels possess; that of imbibing, at one draught, a sufficient store for a week. We left the ruins at half-past twelve, and arrived at the Nile at half past six. We saw on our road numerous traces of the lions, hyenas, tigers (nimr), wild asses, and ostriches, and near the river, guinea-fowls. Shortly before arriving at the Nile, we passed the bed of a canal which seemed to be ancient. They informed me that it extends very far into the Desert towards the ruins of Mecaurat.

March 11. We left this morning at seven, and reached the ruins of Abou Naga at nine. The two square pillars which remain of this temple, are very curious. On each side is a representation of what is generally called a figure of Typhon, above which is the head of Isis or Athor. These figures are very much injured, but the style is extremely bold and decidedly very ancient. The people above Meroe, says Diodorus, worship Isis and Pan, and also Hercules and Zeus. This Typhonian figure is called Pthah by many, and considered as an immediate emanation from Jupiter. We have here two more divinities to add to the Ethiopian list: I use this name, for of all the antiquities existing in the valley of the Nile, these have the most ancient appearance. The [drawing] will give an exact idea of the style of the sculpture. The reader will remark that this is no effort of a feeble and corrupt taste, no imitation of a foreign (Egyptian) style, but the spirited work of an early period, when the productions of art would naturally be more remarkable for force and vigour than for exquisite or delicate finish. There are no hieroglyphics, nor any appearance of there ever having been any, which may be considered another proof of their great antiquity, an edifice in which they are absent must either be of the most ancient or most modern date: and certainly this latter description cannot belong to the present structures. The style has evidently the stamp of originality, and I therefore think it may be considered a fragment of perhaps one of the most ancient temples which has ever been erected in honour of the two great divinities, Isis and Typhon, or rather, I should say, of the two principles of good and evil existing in the world: for Isis, the Ceres of the Greeks, is a type of that benevolent care of the Deity which furnishes men with the fruits of the earth; and she is worshipped under the form of a woman, emblematical of the maternal fondness of the great divinity. Under that view, she is sometimes represented with her son, the infant Horus, on her knees, as the source of the multiplication and increase of the human race.

TEMPLE OF ABOU NAGA.

The figure which, in deference to the general opinion, I have called Typhon, has been considered by many to be that of Pthah, from the circumstance of almost similar representations having been found with the name of that divinity in hieroglyphics; but, in the absence of any inscription to decide the question of what this figure has been, I must confess that I conceive it not impossible that it may be the Hercules of the Ethiopians. Hercules, or the god of strength, would be a type of the attribute of power in the great divinity; and that this should be a leading representation in the primitive ages, is not surprising, as, of course, muscular strength would then be the endowment most highly prized. The fables of Hercules clearing the earth of monsters were very probably partly derived from Ethiopia, together with the worship of the divinity. The mythology of the Ethiopians, as I may, perhaps, venture to mention more particularly on a future occasion, appears by no means to have been a gross polytheism. I do not mean to say that the “uncultivated mass,” as Gibbon styles them, very little removed in point of intellect from their fellow-labourers the oxen, could have entertained very pure notions of religion; I only agree with those who conceive that the more educated and enlightened classes worshipped these different symbolical forms, not as separate and equally powerful divinities, but as the types of the different attributes of the One great Deity. This temple, which was about 150 feet long, seems to have been ornamented with six pilasters, five feet square; but it was impossible to trace the plan satisfactorily: and as I conceive the materials to have been carried away, an excavation would be of little use. The plan (2300 feet in circumference) shows that the town has been small, and built of sun-burnt bricks.

PLAN OF THE RUINS NOW CALLED ABOU NAGA.

I had intended to have gone from this place to the ruins of Mecaurat, at eleven hours’ distance in the desert. The soldier who officiated as my guide, on leaving the ruins of Wady el Owataib yesterday, said that we could not visit the ruins of Mecaurat, as they were situated farther in the desert; that we should most probably meet with lions on the road; and that the danger would indubitably be much greater than on the preceding night; that, at this season of the year, it was folly to think of going there without a guard or large caravan; and, to conclude, that he would not incur the responsibility of taking me. This morning, to my surprise, he said he was willing to accompany me, if I desired. In this uncertainty I asked for information from the sheakhs and different peasants I met; and the result of these enquiries was, that, Mecaurat being farther in the mountains, lions are much more numerous there than at Wady el Owataib; that we should probably fall in with them on the road; that this was the most dangerous season, from their food being scarce, and that none of the peasants lead their flocks there, since fires do not always succeed in repelling them. A few years ago there were few or none; but now the number was so great that I ought not to hazard going. In fact, not one, by bribes or threats, could be induced to join our caravan.

Notwithstanding this discouraging information, I was anxious not to leave any of the antiquities of Ethiopia unexplored; and I felt that I might have gone without very great risk, because we had a proof, the night before last, of the effect of fire in frightening lions away; and I believe, as long as there are camels, or any kind of cattle, they would not, if unmolested, attack a human being. I had learned, also, that there was one edifice not much ruined, and conceived that in it a fortification might soon be made, which a lion could not penetrate. My servants seemed evidently afraid, but said, wherever I went they would accompany me; but my artist made so many objections that I told him, in disgust, he might go or not, as he thought proper. He took me at my word, and refused to accompany me. I at first determined to go alone: but, after considering that I should have to leave two camels and a servant with him; that my caravan would thus be reduced in number; and as no other camels could be procured, their owners being afraid of the lions, I should not be able to take enough of water to enable me to stay at the ruins a sufficient time to make all the drawings that would be necessary; I gave up the expedition, conceiving that it was of little importance. My funds, also, are now considerably reduced, and I am not in a country where I can easily replenish them. The heat is every day more intolerable. I ought, for private reasons, to have long since been in Europe; my health has for several days been very indifferent, from these annoyances, the excessive heat, which for the first few days of its commencement is always most prejudicial, and I must confess myself not a little disgusted.