TOCAOYKKHIOY OPEXNIANY

ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΟΥΝΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΝΟ
ΜΟΥ ΘεωΝΟΣ ΑΠΟ

KATEĽTHEEN TATI
ΧΗ ΕΠΑΓΑΘΩΝ

ΠΑΧΟΝ ΙΕ.

With good fortune.

[In the sixth year] of Antoninus and Verus, the sovereign emperors, in the prefecture of Flavius of Titianus, Lucceius Ofellianus being commander in chief, and Theon general of the nome; he rebuilt the walls for a good purpose.

Pachon XV. (May 11.)

The walls here alluded to were uncovered by Caviglia, and appear to have been intended to enclose the Sphinx. The edifices on which the inscriptions appeared were on two elevated platforms, on the outside of the altar, and directly in front of the animal, accessible by two flights of steps. The wall was of brick, but cased on the interior side with stone. Mr. Salt supposes that, from the commanding position of the two edifices above-mentioned, they were intended as stations for the Roman emperors or the prefects to view the solemn rites performed in the temple and at the altar in front of the Sphinx.

The annexed sketch will convey to the reader the disposition of the ground, and the objects by which it was occupied, in front of the Sphinx and between its paws, in which

A. Is the granite tablet, 14 feet high, 7 feet wide, and 2 feet

thick.

B. The side tablet, still standing.

C. The tablet fallen, which has been sent to the British Mu

seum.

D. Two small Sphinxes, supposed to have stood in these places, fragments of them having been found near.

E. Statue of a lion, of the best Egyptian sculpture.

F. Two lions of ruder sculpture supposed to stand here, being found near the spot.

G. The granite basement of an altar.

H. The upper part of the altar.

I.

Top of the altar, bearing the marks of burnt sacrifices. K. The horns of the altar, one of which was found in its place. L. The first digit of the Sphinx's paw.

M. The second.

O. The pavement.

PP. Parts of the two fore legs of the Sphinx.

Of all the monuments of antiquity, the Sphinx is perhaps that which has most generally excited the admiration of the lovers of art, notwithstanding its mutilated condition. The contemplative turn of the eye,' (it is an artist who speaks,) 'the mild expression of the mouth, and the beautiful disposition of the drapery at the angle of the forehead, sufficiently attest the admirable skill of the artist in its execution. Yet there is no attention paid to those proportions we are accustomed to admire, nor does the pleasing impression which it produces result from any known rule adopted in its execution; it may rather be attributed to the unstudied simplicity in the conception of the breadth, yet high finish, of the several parts, and the stupendous magnitude of the whole.' Denon's description of this mysterious colossus is equally strong. 'L'expression de la tête est douce, grâcieuse et tranquille, le caractère en est Africain; mais la bouche, dont les lèvres sont épaisses, a une mollesse dans le mouvement et une finesse d'exécution vraiment admirables; c'est de la chair et de la vie.'

6

Such are the sentiments which a repeated view of this colossal piece of sculpture is capable of inspiring into the minds of artists. I confess,' says Mr. Salt, that I felt, like many other travellers, that the praises lavished by Norden, Denon, and others, were greatly exaggerated; but the more I studied it at different hours of the day, and under different effects of light and shade, the more I became satisfied that they had barely done justice to its real merits. It must be allowed, however, that the drawings, by both the gentlemen abovementioned, but faintly accord with their encomiums, being two very wretched performances-but after having repeatedly attempted a likeness of it myself with little success, I am compelled to admit that the difficulties which attend the undertaking are sufficient to baffle any one not professionally dedicated to the arts.'

Mr. Salt had the great advantage of contemplating at his leisure this grand object of art, when laid open in front to its very base; with the fragments of its enormous beard resting beneath its chin; its huge paws stretched out fifty feet in advance from the body, which is in a cumbent posture; with all the appendages of a temple, granite tablet, and altar, spread out on a regular platform immediately in its front: and he admits that these interesting objects, which had for ages been buried deep in the sand, undoubtedly tended to exalt the main figure in his estimation.

We cannot dismiss the subject of this wonderful piece of sculpture hewn out of the living rock, without noticing an assertion of Dr. Clarke, which is calculated to convey very false impressions as to the real nature of one of the most extraordinary works of ancient art now in existence. Speaking of the Sphinx, he says, 'The French

have uncovered all the pedestal of this statue, and all the cumbent or leonine parts of the figure; these were before entirely concealed by sand. Instead, however, of answering the expectations raised concerning the work upon which it was supposed to rest, the pedestal proves to be a wretched substructure of brick-work, and small pieces of stone, put together like the most insignificant piece of modern masonry, and wholly out of character, both with respect to the prodigious labour bestowed upon the statue itself, and the gigantic appearance of the surrounding objects.' Now all this must either be the workings of the Doctor's imagination, like the 'splashing of the great stone' in the dry Well of the pyramid; or, he must have listened to some such idle story from the Arabs as that which they told to Mr. Caviglia,-that the French had discovered a door in the breast of the Sphinx, which opened into its body, and passed through it into the second pyramid. The French never uncovered more than the back of the Sphinx; they never saw the pedestal they never pretended that they saw it-there is, in fact, no pedestal, no brick-work in any way connected with the statue of the Sphinx. M. Denon saw nothing but the head and neck; and M. Gobert, who was constantly stationed at the pyramids, says in his memoir, 'I succeeded in uncovering its back sufficient to determine its measurement; and he affirms it to be cut out of a salient angle of the mountain, and to be, what it really is, one single piece of rock. It is true that the paws, which are thrown out fifty feet in advance, are constructed of 'masonry,' but neither 'insignificant,' nor in the least resembling 'modern; this however could not have been known either to the French or to Dr. Clarke.

We have now taken a rapid view of the labours and discoveries of Mr. Caviglia. This enterprising man, after the most persevering exertions for ten months, in consequence of exposing himself too much to the sun, was unfortunately seized with an attack of ophthalmia, which compelled him to suspend his labours; and shortly after he returned to his ship at Alexandria. The expense. incurred by all these operations amounted to about 18,000 piastres, a share of which was contributed by Mr. Salt and two or three other gentlemen, who liberally engaged that the disposal of whatever might be discovered should be left wholly to Mr. Caviglia; and he, on his part, generously requested that every thing might be sent to the British Muscum, as a testimony of his attachment to that country, under the protection of whose flag he had for many years navigated the ocean. Mr. Salt very justly observes that 'the unexampled circumstance that these operations were carried on by a single individual, attended occasionally only by one soldier, without the slightest molestation being offered, or unpleasant circumstances occurring, notwithstanding that numerous parties of idle soldiers went

every day to inspect his labours, and thousands of Arabs during part of the time were encamped in the neighbourhood, presents the most unequivocal proof of the tranquillity now reigning in Egypt, and does honour at the same time to the liberality of Mahomed Ali Pashaw, who, on this occasion, as on many others, exerted himself to facilitate the researches carried on by Europeans connected with science.'

Recent travellers have had the strongest proof of this. Lord Belmore and his family, in their visit to Nubia as far as the second cataract of the Nile, met with every possible attention and assistance, in every part of their tour, from the agas and other officers in command; and we are glad to find that his lordship's brother, Captain Corry, of the navy, had with him an excellent sextant, and availed himself of the opportunity of determining with accuracy the latitudes of every place at which they halted: this was a desideratum in Nubian geography, as no actual observation had before been made beyond Syene, the latitude of which, as determined by M. Nouet, he found to be correct to a second; whereas the record which the French savans left engraved on the Propylon at Carnac makes it different full three miles: the same or greater errors prevail in all the latitudes which they have registered at this place.

And here we cannot avoid reverting to M. Jomard, who would appropriate to the French nation, or rather to the savans of the French Institute, all the antiquities of Egypt which either have been or may be discovered, as their legitimate patrimony. We shall know soon on what grounds these extravagant pretensions are founded. Meanwhile, M. Jomard would not, perhaps, do very unwisely to be somewhat more tender of his censures on an unpro tected individual, or one whom he considered as such, since blunders of no common kind (as we shall presently show) have crept even into that colossal work on Egypt compiled under the auspices of 'Napoléon le Grand; nay, under the signature of 'Jomard,' as a voucher for their accuracy.

The plate, No. 83, is supposed to represent the judgment of souls after death. Osiris is seen sitting on a throne, before whom stands a person with a pair of scales, who is meant no doubt to personate Justice. Several human figures are marching up the steps of the throne to receive their final doom for the deeds they have committed in this life. On the right, a little above, is a boat with a pig in it, driven away by a monkey and proceeded by another. M. Jomard is not sure whether the pig be a pig or a river-horse, but either animal will suit his speculations on the scene, which he thus deciphers. The monkey is Mercury under the figure of a cy