The walls of the cella and adytum are covered with painted figures, the colours of which still remain tolerably perfect, more so than those at Philæ, owing to a coat of plaister having been laid upon the walls by the Greeks, to receive the paintings of their saints; but which has for the most part fallen off; the colours generally used are red, blue, green, and black. The hawk-headed Osiris, with a staff in one hand, is painted of a light green colour, some females, holding the lotus in their hands, are quite black; the variously coloured striped robes of the Osiris with a tiara on his head have a most gaudy appearance; the hair, in general, of all the figures is painted black, though in some it is blue; the spaces between the different figures are covered with hieroglyphics, painted red. On the lower part of the side walls of the adytum are single human figures, each with an animal by its side, generally an ox, a gazell, or a goose. The exterior walls of the temple are covered with sculptures of colossal figures, like those at Tintyra and Edfou; though not so large: they are rudely executed, and by no means correspond with the beauty of the sculpture on the interior of the chambers. Heads of sphinxes project from the walls, as at Tintyra; through which perhaps the priests delivered their oracles.
The walls of the portico are prolonged the whole length of the temple, and by means of a transverse wall in the rear of the chamber behind the adytum, form a high inclosure all round; at about twenty feet beyond which, is the general inclosure to the whole building; this is carried to the foot of the hill, which has been cut down perpendicularly, so as to serve as the end wall. In the south-west corner of the area thus formed around the temple, is a small quadrangle formed on one side by three columns, and on the adjacent interior side by a short wall built across the area; here a grotto, or sepulchre, has been hewn in the perpendicular rock, similar to what I noticed behind the temple at Dandour; it consists of a single chamber, with the winged globe over its entrance, but without any other sculpture. A flight of steps leads from the propylon down to a paved terrace which extends to the foundations of an oblong building, standing just over the river, where are some fragments of columns. Visitors by water, during the inundations, might have stepped from their vessel into this building.
The temple of Kalabshe deserves to rank, with that of Dakke, amongst the most precious remains of Egyptian antiquity. I have given merely a rapid description of it, but, I hope, sufficient to shew, that it deserves to be investigated closely in all its details. In its site, it is to be compared with the temples of Tintyra and Edfou; and it belongs to the best period of Egyptian architecture, though it bears traces, in several of its parts, of a less careful and more hurried execution, than that of the two temples just mentioned. The walls are uncommonly well built: the existing columns have the Philæ capitals, but are less nicely worked.
The Greeks had formed this temple into a church; and several of the paintings of their saints are still remaining upon the walls. In the portico I copied the following inscription:
About a quarter of an hour distant from this temple, on its north-west side, is a small temple cut out of the rock; the road to it lies through the remains of the ancient town, a heap of stones and rubbish, covering a space along the shore of about a mile and a quarter. In front of the temple is an open area (also hewn out of the rock), in which is the entrance to the cella; the cella is thirteen paces in length, by six in breadth; its roof is supported by two polygonal pillars; in the walls are two small recesses, with three statues in each. Adjoining the cella is the adytum, a small room, eight feet square. The sculptures and hieroglyphics on the walls are of the same rude execution as those at Derr. The group of Briareus is again repeated on both sides of the entrance.i[55] The walls of the open area in front of the temple are covered with sculptures representing very interesting historical subjects: on one side is a battle; the victor in a chariot, drawn by two fiery steeds, like those at Karnac, is driving his vanquished enemies before him, who are flying towards a country thickly covered with fruit trees of various shapes and sizes, some of which have large round leaves, and clusters of fruits hanging from them, with apes sporting amongst the branches. Behind the victor’s car are two smaller ones, of the same form, each drawn by two horses at full speed; and bearing a female, standing upright, with a charioteer in front holding the reins. In another compartment, on the same wall, is a triumphal procession passing before Osiris, seated: naked men come first, bearing upon their shoulders large blocks of wood, probably ebony;i[56] one of them leads a wild mountain goat, a second carries an ostrich, a third holds in one hand a large shield, and in the other a gazell, and a fourth is bringing an ape into the royal presence; next comes a man bearing a block of precious wood, like the former, and driving two large buffaloes before him; the train is closed by a tall cameleopard, with its leader, followed by two prisoners, who are naked, with the exception of the skin of a wild beast tied round their waists. In another compartment, just above the latter, is a large lion, with his keeper; an animal of the size of a large goat, with long straight horns, and a pair of buffaloes. In front of these two compartments, and before the king, lie heaps of quivers and arrows, elephants teeth, skins and furs of wild beasts, and a row of calabashes, supposed, perhaps, to contain precious ointments or perfumes. On the wall opposite to this, is a compartment, in which the king is represented seated, while bearded prisoners, with their hands bound, are brought before him; amongst them a train of female slaves is distinguished, dressed in long robes, with a high head-dress of this shape,
over which the cloke is thrown. In another compartment, close to this, a prisoner is immolated: and farther on, is a small battle-piece, in which the assault and capture of a tower are represented; a man, with an axe in his hand, is endeavouring to make a breach in the walls, from which some of the garrison are precipitated, while others are brought in prisoners. All these subjects are in bas-relief, and extremely well executed; they are the best specimens of historical sculpture that I have seen in the valley of the Nile, even more spirited than those at Thebes; the figures of the animals, in particular, are faithfully and correctly delineated. On considering the subjects they represent, they will be found very important, because they record a historical fact, no where else alluded to in any Egyptian structure. The hero of Egypt has here carried his arms into a country inhabited by lions, cameleopards, apes, and elephants: none of which animals are found in Nubia or Dóngola; the elephant and cameleopard inhabit the banks of the Nile towards Sennaar, the forests on the frontiers of Abyssinia, and the banks of the Astaboras and Astapus, from whence also the most beautiful and highest esteemed female slaves are now imported into Egypt: all the above-described trophies of victory, therefore, indicate, that the battles must have been fought in the countries to the south of the civilized country of the ancient Meroe; for the skin-clad prisoners denote a savage people. The battle-pieces of Thebes, at Luxor and Karnac, seem to allude to less distant scenes of warfare. May not the castles, surrounded with water, which are there represented, relate to the fortified islands in the Batn el Hadjar, where we still meet with so many brick ruins? The head-dress of the fugitives, which is close-cut hair, and not a cap, as has been erroneously described, and the short, narrow beard, under the chin, are perfectly characteristic of the southern Noubas, whose colour is not quite black, but of that deep copper tinge, which a painter, unskilled in mixing colours, would rather represent by dark red than black. It may readily be imagined, that the inhabitants of the sterile districts of Nubia, and the Batn el Hadjar, would look with an envious eye upon the riches of Egypt, and would frequently excite the resentment of the monarchs of Thebes, by making inroads from their strong-holds, upon the adjacent provinces of Egypt.
The small temple I have just described, is called by the natives Dar el Waly. Travellers proceeding by water are not likely to see it, without enquiring for it. In the hill close by, are the quarries whence the stones were hewn for the erection of the town and temples of Kalabshe. This, no doubt, was the ancient Talmis, and some mounds of rubbish on the east side, indicate the remains of Contra-Talmis. Talmis must have acquired its opulence by commerce, and not by agriculture, as the shore, in its neighbourhood, is no where more than forty yards in breadth. In ancient times, as at the present day, the traffic in dates probably supplied the Nubians with their chief means of subsistence, and gave life to the whole valley of the Nile from Wady Halfa to Philæ. Considerable profits might also be derived from the passage of vessels laden with goods from Meroe; whose traders perhaps, landed their merchandize at Sukkot, and transported it from thence upon camels, across the Batn el Hadjar. It is probable, however, that the principal part of the trade of that ancient city with Egypt was carried on over-land, by the present route of the Sennaar caravans; for had it been by water, I think that some remains of commercial towns would be met with at both extremities of the Batn el Hadjar, where the vessels must have been unloaded and reloaded, as navigation is impracticable throughout that rocky district. When we consider the cataracts which occur in the country of the Sheygya, south of Dóngola, at Koke, in Mahass, at Wady Dal, and in the Batn el Hadjar, and that the distance from Goos to Derr, through Dóngola, following the course of the river, is twenty-five days journeys, while it is only eight by the route of the slave caravans, across the mountains, it seems probable that the ancient caravans of the southern countries descended into the valley of the Nile opposite Ebsambal, where the navigation down the river may have recommenced.i[57]
We halted for the night, a little way beyond Dar el Waly, at Khortum (خُرطم), a village opposite the island of Darmout, and belonging to Kalabshe, having rode about six hours and a half in the course of the day. There was a shower of rain in the night, by which both myself and my guide caught a severe cold. The heat, which, in my journey up the river, was very moderate during the day, began now to be great, and the sudden change occasioned by the rain from almost tropical heat to winter cold, affected the health of us both.