Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

538 EGYPT.
Egypt. Having shown by the legends and other evidence that
the magnificent ruin,which has been considered by some
as the remains of the Memnonium, and by others as
those of the Tomb of Osymandyas, is in reality the wreck
of the Rhamesseion, we shall now endeavour to ascertain
the exact site of that celebrated edifice of Thebes called
Amenophion by the Egyptians, but known among the
Greeks by the name of the Memnonium. And here we
may observe, that if what has been stated above respect¬
ing the statue ot Memnon, or of Amenophis the third
of that name, whom the Greeks call Memnon, be well
founded, the position occupied by this and the correspond¬
ing colossus must in some measure determine the site of
the Memnonium. Accordingly, the legends discovered
on the ruins scattered about, such as the debris of archi¬
traves, portions of colossal figures, shafts of columns, and
fragments of enormous bas-reliefs, together with the hie-
roglyphical inscriptions found in the hypogcea of the neigh¬
bourhood, which contained the mummies of the great offi¬
cers charged, during their lifetime, with the guardianship
of this edifice, all lead to the same conclusion which Jol-
lois and Devilliers, in their excellent description of these
ruins, had arrived at from other considerations ; namely,
that the ruins towards the extremity of which, on the
side of the river, appear the two enormous monolith sta¬
tues, about sixty feet in height, commanding the whole
plain of Thebes, mark out the site of the Amenophion or
Memnonium. These two figures, which are formed each
of a single block of grey breccia, transported from the
quarries of the upper Thebaid, and placed in a sitting
posture on immense bases of the same material, with the
hands extended on the knees in an attitude of repose,
seem to have decorated the exterior facade of the prin¬
cipal pylon of the Amenophion ; and, in an inscription on
the seat of one of the figures, we find the names and
titles of the third Amenophis of the eighteenth dynasty,
called Memnon by the Greeks, who occupied the throne
of the Pharaohs in the seventeenth century before the
Christian era, most distinctly and accurately enumerated.
The following is the concluding portion of this legend ;
“ The lord sovereign of the upper and lower region, the
reformer of manners, he who holds the world in repose,
Horus, who, great by his power, has smitten the bar¬
barians, the king sun lord of truth, the son of the sun,
Amenothph, moderator of the pure region, beloved of
Ammon-Ra, king of the gods.” The dedication of this
palace, which is altogether dramatic, being in the form of
a dialogue between Amenoph or Amenothph and Am-
mon-Ra, “ king of the gods,” is entirely in accordance E„
with the inscription of which we have here quoted a w?
part: the king appears in the character of founder of the '
edifice, and the Jupiter of the Egyptian Pantheon thus
responds to the invocation of his representative upon
earth : “ Approach, my son, sun lord of truth, of the germ
of the sun, son of the sun, Amenothph; I have heard thy
words, and I perceive the structure which thou hast exe¬
cuted ; I who am thy father rejoice in beholding thy good
works.” The identity of the Memnonium of the Greeks
and the Amenophion of the Egyptians is therefore no
longer doubtful; and it is still less so, that “ when the
Memnonium was in all its glory,” it formed one of the
greatest wonders of the old capital of Egypt.1
Situated behind the Amenophion, in a valley formed
by the rocks of the Libyan mountain and a large mame-
lon detached from them on the side of the plain, is a
small temple in a state of perfect preservation, which the
French Egyptian Commission has described under the
name of the Little Temple of Isis. It is entered by a small
propylon of sandstone attached to the enceinte, and co¬
vered on the exterior side with sculptures heavily elabo¬
rated. Its situation is dreary and dismal. The tablets
upon the bandeau of the gateway represent on the one side
Ptolemy Soter II. presenting offerings to Hathor and the
great triad of Thebes, Ammon-Ra, Mouth, and Chons;
and on the other, the goddess Thme or Theme'i (Themis),
and a triad formed of the hieracocephalous god Mandou,
his wife Ritho, and their son Harphre. The temple was
therefore dedicated to Hathor or Venus, identified with
Themei or Themis ; in other words, the principle of beau¬
ty was here worshipped mythologically in conjunction with
that of truth and justice. This is completely confirmed
by the hieroglyphical inscription sculptured along the
frieze of the pronaos, part of which has been translated
by M. Champollion. The naos is divided into three con¬
tiguous halls, forming as many sanctuaries, the principal of
which, being that in the middle, is entirely covered with
sculptures of an import similar to those already described.
The sanctuary on the left was consecrated to Theme'i, and
all the tablets with which it is decorated relate to the
functions performed by that goddess in Amenti, or the
Egyptian Tartarus.2'
The palace of Kournah, though also of small dimensions
compared with the great and important edifices we have
described, is nevertheless an interesting monument, as it
belongs to the Pharaonic times, and dates from the most
glorious epoch in the annals of ancient Egypt. Besides,
1 Champollion, Lettres ecrites d'Egypte et de Nulie, p. 303, et seqq. Among the ruins of the Amenophion, on the side of the Libyan
mountains, on the border of the desert, are twro blocks of grey breccia, each about thirty feet in length, which exhibit the form of
enormous stela or pillars, and are covered with hieroglyphical tablets, which, according to Champollion, “ nous montrent toujours le
roi Amenophis-Memnon, accompagne ici de la reine Ta'ia son epouse, accuillis par le dieu Amon-Ra, ou par Plitah-Socharis.” P. 309.
ri he two sovereigns of this terrible place (where, according to the Egyptian mythology, the souls of men were judged), Osiris
and Isis, receive at first the homage of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, gods Philopators; and on a cross or partition wall is sculptured the
grand scene of the psychostasis. This vast bas-relief represents the hypostyle hall called in Egyptian Oskh, or the court of Amenti, with
suitable decorations. The grand judge, Osiris, occupies the further extremity of the judgment-hall; 'and at the foot of his throne ap¬
pears the lotus, the emblem of the material world, surmounted with images of his four children, the directing genii of the four winds
or cardinal points. The forty-two judges, assessors of Osiris, are ranged in a double line, each having his head surmounted with an
ostrich feather, the symbol of justice ; whilst, on a bench before the throne, the Egyptian Cerberus, or Teoiwm-enement, a triple mon¬
ster, at once crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus, opens his horrid jaws, ready to devour guilty souls. Towards the door of the tribunal
appears the goddess Thmei redoubled, or twice represented, by reason of her twofold function of goddess of truth as well as of justice;
and the first form, qualified as Thmei, ruler of Amenti (truth), presents the soul of an Egyptian, Under a corporeal form, to the se¬
cond personation of the goddess ( justice), whose legend is as follows : “ Thmei, who resides in Amenti, where she weighs the hearts of
all men in a balance, and whom the wicked cannot escape.” In the neighbourhood of him who is here undergoing his final trial are the
words, “ arrival of a soul in Amenti;” and further on is an infernal balance, into the scales of which Horus, the hawk-headed son
of Isis, and Anubis the shakal-headed son of Osiris, are placing, the one the heart of the arraigned, and the .other a feather, the em¬
blem of justice ; whilst, between the fatal, instrument which is to decide the fate of the soul, and the throne of Osiris, is placed the
biocephalous god Thoth, described as “ thrice great, the lord of Schmoun (Hermopolis Magna), the lord of the divine words, the se¬
cretary of justice to the other gods in the hall of justice and of truth.” This divine recorder writes the result of the trial to which
the heart of the deceased Egyptian has just been subjected, and goes to present his report to the sovereign judge who presides in
Hades. (Champollion, Lettres ecritcs d'Egypte, pp. 319, 320 )