CHAPTER XXII.
ON THE ARTS OF MEROE.
Affluence would introduce a Taste for the Arts. — The Heat of the Climate favourable to Sedentary Pursuits. — Private Emulation would afford farther Encouragement. — Desire of distinguishing themselves by Intellectual Pursuits. — Testimony of Diodorus that Knowledge was very generally diffused in Ethiopia. — The Pyramids of Meroe the oldest Specimens of Ethiopian Art. — Civilisation of the Ethiopians proved by their monumental Edifices. — The Ethiopians Inventors of the Arch. — Egyptian Arches. — Ethiopian Sculpture. — Probable Cause of their peculiar Style. — Reasons for preserving it. — Deference of the Ptolemies and Romans for the Superstitions of the Egyptians. — Pleasing Effect of the Egyptian and Ethiopian Sculpture. — Admirable Manner of drawing Animals, Hieroglyphics, and their Taste in Ornaments. — Colouring on Ethiopian Sculpture. — The Knowledge of the Arts descended from Ethiopia. — Complexion of the ancient and present Inhabitants. — Accuracy of Diodorus’s Account proved by the Monuments. — Taste for the Arts in a Nation inseparable from other Intellectual Pursuits. — Works of the Ethiopian King Tirhaka. — Review of the Antiquities in Ethiopia. — Folly of comparing the present with the ancient Inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile 346
=ILLUSTRATIONS.= * * * * *
MAP OF THE NILE from Assuan to the conflux of the Bahr El Abiad and the Azruk.
ENGRAVINGS ON STONE.
PLATE Page
I. Shageea of the Desert and Camel Man of the 164 Ababde Tribe
II. Sheahk Beshir, and Son of a Bishareen Sheahk 46
III. Nazr ed Deen and Sheakh Sayd, Chief of the 44 Ababde Tribe
IV. Senna and Indigo Plants 240
V. General Plan of the Pyramids of Meroe 66
VI. Principal Group of the Pyramids of Meroe 68
VII. Sections of the Pyramids of Meroe 70
VIII. View of the Pyramids of Meroe 72
IX. View of the Pyramids of Meroe 74
X. Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of 76 Meroe
XI. Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of 78 Meroe
XII. Sculpture in the Porticoes of the Pyramids of 80 Meroe
XIII. Plan of the Ruins of Wady Owataib 100
XIV. Picturesque View of the ruins of Wady Owataib 102
XV. Picturesque View of the ruins of Wady Owataib 104
XVI. Costumes of Moussa, Son of a Melek of Berber, 88 and a Woman of Shendy
XVII. General Plan of the Ruins of Gibel el Birkel 134
XVIII. General View of the Ruins of Gibel el Birkel 136
XIX. View of the Temple of Tirhaka 138
XX. View of the Temple of Tirhaka 140
XXI. Plan of the Temple of Tirhaka 142
XXII. Restoration of the Temple of Tirhaka 144
XXIII. View of Temple of Amun Sekon Gibel el Birkel 146
XXIV. Plan of the Great Temple at Gibel el Birkel 148
XXV. View from the Great Temple at Gibel el Birkel 150
XXVI. View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel 152
XXVII. View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel 154
XXVIII. Sections of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel 156
XXIX. Sculpture in the Portico of a Pyramid at 158 Gibel el Birkel
XXX. Melek of the Shageea Tribe 162
XXXI. View of the Pyramids of Nouri 166
XXXII. Plan of the Pyramids of Nouri 168
XXXIII. View of a Colossal Statue in the Island of 210 Argo
XXXIV. View of a Colossal Statue in the Island of 212 Argo
XXXV. Restoration of the two Colossal Statues in 214 the Island of Argo
XXXVI. View of the Exterior of a Dongolah Cottage 192
XXXVII. View of the Interior of a Dongolah Cottage 194
XXXVIII. Shageea fighting 228
XXXIX. Hassanyeh Tribe 188
XL. Plan of the Temple of Solib 246
XLI. View of the Temple of Solib 248
XLII. View of the Temple of Solib 250
XLIII. View of the Temple of Solib 252
XLIV. View of the Temple of Amarah Frontispiece.
XLV. Ruins of Semneh 276
XLVI. Part 1. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb 328 at Thebes
XLVII. Part 2. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb 330 at Thebes
XLVIII. Part 3. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb 332 at Thebes
XLIX. Part 4. Grand Ethiopian Procession in a Tomb 334 at Thebes
L. Second Cataract of the Nile 278
LI. Sculpture in the Temple of Semneh 270
LII. Osshi Plant 240
LIII.} Hieroglyphic Inscriptions and Sculpture at } Meroe and Gibel el Birkel LIV.} 286
WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
View of the Cottages of Berber 1
View of the Fifth Cataract of the Nile 41
View of the Pyramids of Meroe 69
View of the South-east Group of the Pyramids of Meroe 71
View of the fortified Residence of the ancient Meleks 87 or Kings of Shendy
View of the small Temple of Wady el Owataib 102
Sections of the Columns at Wady el Owataib 104
View of the Temple of Abou Naga 112
Plan of the Ruins of Abou Naga 113
Plan of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel 149
View of the Pyramids of Gibel el Birkel 151
View of the fortified House of Melek Tumbol 206
View of the Ruins of an Ethiopian Fort 216
View of the Cataract of Hennek 217
View of a Colossal Statue in the Quarries at Toumbos 218
Section of the Columns of Solib 247
View from a Tomb excavated out of the Rock near Solib 253
Plan of a Temple at Sukkot 254
View of a Temple at Sukkot 253
Plan of the Temple of Amarah 261
Harp of the Shageea 263
View of the Island of Dahl in the Wady el Hadjar 265
View of the Temple of Semneh, West Side of the River 269
Plan of the Temple of Semneh, West Side of the River 271
View of the Temple of Semneh, East Side of the River 273
Plan of the Temple of Semneh, East Side of the River 274
Egyptian Arch formed by approaching Stones 351
Egyptian Arch, elliptical 352
Egyptian Arch, Segment of a Circle 353
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Sabaco 296
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Sevechus 297
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Tirhaka 297
Name in Hieroglyphics of other Ethiopians of the Royal 298 Family
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Ergamenes 314
Name in Hieroglyphics of King Atarramon 315
ERRATA.
Pages 5, 6, 43, 46. _for_ “Katschef, Katshief,” _read_ “Katshef.”
18, 19, 24, 32. _for_ “Ababdis,” _read_ “Ababdes.”
11, 12, 13, 14. _for_ “Melik,” _read_ “Melek.”
20. line 1. _for_ “danger of fatigue,” _read_ “danger and fatigue.”
32. line 1. for “Mogran,” _read_ “Mogram.”
44. line 3. _for_ “Dongolar,” _read_ “Dongolah.”
69. line 18. _for_ “monuments,” _read_ “tablets.”
80. line 9. _for_ “in the second row,” _read_ “in the same row.”
126. line 25. _for_ “eleven,” _read_ “ten.”
157. line 22. _for_ “Psammeticus,” _read_ “Psammitichus.”
157. line 25. _for_ “Thotmes,” _read_ “Thothmes.”
178. the prices of grain in this page are per ardeb.
[Illustration: =THE NILE= from Assuan to the Conflux of the Blue and White Rivers; _Comprising the routes across_ The Great Nubian and Bahiouda Deserts. =By G. A. Hoskins, Esqr.=
_London: London & Co. Paternoster Row. 1835._
_J. Arrowsmith._]
=TRAVELS= IN =ETHIOPIA.=
[Illustration: COTTAGES OF BERBER.]