to be informed, that this remarkable statue is again as much under the dominion of the desert as it was half a century ago; and, consequently, that it now meets the eye of the Egyptian traveller shrouded in sand to the same depth as before. Dr. Richardson relates that the wind and the Arabs had replaced the covering on this venerable piece of antiquity, and hence that the lower parts were quite invisible. "The breast, shoulders, and neck, which are those of a human being, remain uncovered, as also the back, which is that of a lion; the neck is very much eroded, and, to a person near, the head seems as if it were too heavy for its support. The headdress has the appearance of an old-fashioned wig, projecting out about the ears, like the hair of the Berberi Arabs; the ears project considerably, the nose is broken, the whole face has been painted red, which is the colour assigned to the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, and to all the deities of the country except Osiris. The features are Nubian, or what, from ancient representations, may be called ancient Egyptian, which is quite different from the negro feature. The expression is particularly placid and benign; so much so, that the worshipper of the Sphinx might hold up his god as superior to all the other gods of wood and stone which the blinded nations worshipped."*

He adds that there is no opening found in the body of the Sphinx whereby to ascertain whether it is hollow or not; but we learn from Dr. Pococke that there is an entrance both in the back and in the top of the head, the latter of which, he thinks, might serve for the arts of the priests in uttering oracles, while the former might be meant for descending to the apartments beneath.†

As to the dimensions of the figure, Pococke found the head and neck,-all that were above ground,-to be twentyseven feet high; the breast was thirty-three feet wide; and the entire length about a hundred and thirty. Pliny estimated it at a hundred and thirteen feet long, and sixtythree in height. According to Dr. Richardson, the stretch of the back is about a hundred and twenty feet, and the elevation of the head above the sand from thirty to thirtyfive, a result which accords pretty nearly with the measurement of Coutelle. It is obvious, at the same time, that

the discrepancy in these reports as to the elevation of the figure must be attributed to the varying depth of the sand, which appears to have accumulated greatly since the days of the Roman naturalist. The Sphinx was entire in the time of Abdollatiph, who describes its graceful appearance and the admirable proportion in the different features of the countenance, which excited his astonishment above every thing he had seen in Egypt. Makrisi states that it was mutilated by the Sheik Mohammed, who, in the spirit of a true Mussulman, thought himself bound to destroy all images, and every thing indeed which bore the slightest resemblance to a living creature. He was called the Faster, an expression which denoted his rigid adherence to the rules of his church; while his attack on the Sphinx, and on the stone lions at the gates of Cairo, established his reputation as a furious bigot.

The learned have indulged in the utmost latitude of conjecture respecting the design of such figures. As they are all found placed near temples and consecrated buildings, it has been justly inferred that their emblematical form must have had some relation to the theological opinions or religious rites of the ancient Egyptians. According to some authors, the countenance of a beautiful woman, combined with the body of a lion or other animal, intimated the alluring aspect with which vice at first assails the unwary, and the besotted monsters which she makes them when caught in her fangs. Others, again, have regarded them as astronomical symbols, marking the passage of the sun from the sign Leo into that of Virgo, and thereby shadowing forth the happy period when the overflowing of the Nile diffuses the blessings of health and plenty throughout the whole land. To us the import of this vast hieroglyphic appears somewhat more profound and mystical. The philosophers of the East, who accustomed themselves to view the created universe as the effect of a certain mysterious generation, naturally regarded the First Cause as combining both sexes, as exercising, in a manner entirely incomprehensible to the human intellect, the male and the female energies, and thereby becoming the parent of every thing that exists. It will, accordingly, be found that to the Sphinx are ascribed attributes which do not belong to a man or to a woman singly, and which cannot be united in the same figure with

out representing that imaginary hermaphrodite which the refined speculation of the orientals has enshrined in the darkest recesses of their mystic theology.* On a subject, however, so far removed from the ordinary path of investigation in modern times, and so little likely either to instruct or amuse, it may be sufficient to have suggested materials for reflection to such as are inclined to enter at greater length upon such abstruse inquiries.

Connected with the stupendous undertakings of the Egyptian architects, there is an occurrence mentioned by Herodotus, to which we shall merely direct the attention of the reader. Alluding to a temple erected at Sais in honour of Minerva, the historian observes that what, in his opinion, was most of all to be admired, was a sanctuary brought by Amasis from Elephantiné, consisting of one entire stone. The carriage of it employed two thousand men, all sailors, for the whole period of three years. The length of this edifice, if it may be so called, was twenty-one cubits, the width fourteen, and the height eight. It was placed at the entrance of the temple; and the reason assigned for its being carried no farther is, that the architect, reflecting upon his long fatigue, sighed deeply, and thereby alarmed the superstition of the king, who considered it as a bad omen. Some, however, affirm, that one of the men employed in working a lever was crushed to death,-an event which discouraged Amasis, and induced him to desist from his enterprise.†

We know that the practice of erecting monolithic temples, or sanctuaries hollowed out in a single stone, was very general in Egypt; some striking specimens being still preserved in the higher parts of the country. But we question whether the power of modern mechanics could remove from

* Les Sphinx des Egyptiens ont les deux sexes, c'est à dire qu'ils sont fémelles par devant, ayant une tête de femme,-et mâles derrière.... C'est une remarque que personne n'avait encore faite. Il resulte, de l'inspection de quelques monumens, que les artistes Grecs donnaient aussi des natures composées à ces êtres mixtes, et qu'ils faisaient même des sphinx barbus, comme le preuve un bas-relief en terre cuite conservé à la Farnesina. Lorsque Herodote nomme les sphinx des androsphinges, il a voulu designer par cette expression la duplicété de leur sexe. Les sphinx qui sont aux quatre faces de la pointe de l'obélisque du soleil, sont re marquables par leurs mains d'hommes armées d'ongles crochus, comme les griffes des bêtes féroces.-Winkelman.

↑ Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 175.

the quarry, and convey to the distance of four hundred miles, a mass of rock thirty-two feet long, twenty-one broad, and twelve in height. It is only in a nation where the Pyramids continue to bear witness to the astonishing effects produced by labour and perseverance that such things must not be pronounced incredible. The obelisks, too, some of which adorn more than one capital city in Europe, prove that the resources of the Egyptian engineer are not to be measured by the progress of similar arts, at the same period, in any part of Italy or Greece.

But our limits forbid us to indulge in details. We hasten, therefore, to leave the vast cemetery which surrounded the ancient Memphis, and of which the Pyramids may be considered as the principal decorations, by noticing the researches of Mr. Salt and his coadjutor Caviglia, in the ruined edifices or tombs which crowd the neighbourhood of Djizeh. Viewed from the monument of Cheops, they appear in countless multitudes, scattered without order among the larger buildings, as the graves in a churchyard round the church, and extend towards the north and south along the left bank of the Nile, as far as the eye can reach. These remains of antiquity were noticed by Pococke and other travellers, but were not till lately examined with the attention which they appear to deserve. They are described as being generally of an oblong form, having their walls slightly inclined from the perpendicular inwards,the peculiar characteristic of ancient Egyptian architecture-flat roofed, with a sort of parapet round the outside formed of stones, rounded at the top, and rising about a foot and a half above the level of the terrace. The walls are constructed of large masses of rock of irregular shape, seldom rectangular, though neatly fitted to each other, somewhat in the manner of the Cyclopean structures, as they are called, which are found in various parts of Greece.

The first of these mausoleums examined by Mr. Caviglia was found to have the inside walls covered with stucco, and embellished with rude paintings, one of which, though much defaced, evidently represented the sacred boat, while another displayed a procession of figures, each carrying a lotus in his hand. At the southern extremity were several mouldering mummies laid one over the other in a recumbent posture. Many of the bones remained entire, and among

the rest was a scull with part of its cloth covering inscribed with hieroglyphics. The second edifice he explored had no paintings, but contained several fragments of statues. In one of the chambers were found two pieces of marble composing an entire figure, almost as large as life, in the act of walking, with the left leg stretched forward, and the two arms hanging down and resting on the thighs. From the position of this statue, and from that of a pedestal and the foot of another figure, in a different chamber, both facing the openings into the respective apartments, Mr. Salt is of opinion that they were so placed for the express purpose of being seen by the friends of the deceased from an adjoining corridor; the statues themselves bearing, as he thinks, evident marks of being intended for portraits of the persons whom they were meant to represent. The several parts were marked with a strict attention to nature, and coloured after life, having artificial eyes of glass or transparent stones, to give them the air of living men. A head was discovered, but it did not exactly fit the statue in question, though it probably belonged to the foot and pedestal ; but its chief value consisted in its similarity in style and features to that of the Sphinx, having the same facial line, the same sweetness of expression and marking in the mouth, and the same roundness and peculiarity which characterize the rest of the countenance,-circumstances which tend to prove its great antiquity. In removing the fragments, eight hours were employed in enlarging the opening of the chamber to enable the workmen to force them through; whence it is evident that the statue must have been placed in its cell before the edifice was completely finished. The same observation, indeed, applies to the Pyramids; the sarcophagus, and other remains of art contained in which, must have been introduced before the passages were lined with granite, the space being now too contracted to admit of their conveyance in a perfect state. We are informed by Mr. Salt that many of the fragments found in these tombs, composed of alabaster as well as of the hardest rock, give a much higher idea of Egyptian sculpture than has usually been entertained; the utmost attention being shown by the artist to the anatomical properties of the human figure, to the swell of the muscles and the knitting of the joints.

In a third of these stone edifices was a boat of a large