EGT
359
EGT
Pfop^i ^ ilte Pharaoh, who added the hypmthral area and theno^' name » and the exact era at which he flourished,
ar e
ate a. ,P r ® e >8ely ascertained ; but if, as is very probable, welita e of ,01 ‘ized to read Bocchoris , this part will date in theHnnj e ’he twenty-fourth dynasty, or about 810 b.c. Otherate tl t a PP ear ’ n different parts of the building, among whichSato,, 0Se °f Amyrteus and Alexander on the inner and outerSjy* of the area.”
ti] Xor ' n e Made this digression in favour of Karnac andaiarn n i W ? w hl now continue our descriptions, taking our^h'etn' 63 ' n S eo g r aphical order, commencing at the northernfirst r °^' Upper Egypt , and travelling southwards. Theeiria ' ns °f which we have any notice are those ofof ri ?P u hs Magna, but they are little better than moundsiet^i'l 8 - ^ ie P ort ' co described by Denon having beenOf t- | <; d. This portico was of great merit, and consistedc °tai e Ve oolaoms in two rows of six each, surmounted with6 and entablature. The next place we arrive at is. e ,' a > the ancient Tentyris , which contains ruins of
The following account is given by
^'ken, name of Tentyris, or Tentyra , (in Coptic Tentore, or4t| 1(Jl , 0re ,) seems to have originated in that of the goddessNth?., A P' lro dite, who was particularly worshipped there;lea ***'of
karp p at ’k 6 principal temple was dedicated to that goddess, we" tli e .? ,n ’he hieroglyphics, as well as from a Greek inscriptionad I" 16 Tiberius , in whose reign its magnificent portico$ b tt< ^ ^ le ori S inal budding. Egyptian sculpture had
•°ng^ dt;d
y een on the decline before the erection of this temple ;„ le Egyptian antiquary looks with little satisfaction ont| 0tl of Ca ' ess st y le °f th e figures, and the crowded profu-111 -adjusted hieroglyphics, that cover the walls of^taij a,c and Roman monuments ; but architecture still^Pfial t * ,e grandeur of an earlier period ; and though then ®f the columns were frequently overcharged with
tae general effect of the porticos erected under thejkt <j(J as and Caesars, is grand and imposing, and frequently^ tlig Stltute °f elegance and taste. The same remarks applyPeople of Dendera ; and from its superior state of1|i ^rg p ,'. it: ' 0 n, it deserves a distinguished rank among the most
®ti nw
tt «red
singly, may be said to have a heavy, and perhaps
the
portico is doubtless a noblenor is the succeeding hall devoid
M cil her? U r’ a PP earance >
a ^aut* 1 architecture ;
j%(, 0s y a nd symmetry of proportion. On the ceiling of the’ 0r portico, is the Zodiac , which has led to much^iatjpg^atroversy, and which has at length, through thedie Greek inscription, and the hieroglyphicaly'Hg Cq die Cassars that cover its exterior and interior walls,«kti>- a ,fi"ed to the more modest and probable antiquity of
- 'f’ails of the cornice offer a very satisfactory
the use of triglyphic ornament, which is commont|| S<), ae\ | t * le ohlest Pharaolmic temples, though arranged ine ,S'e . >at Afferent manner, and without so remarkable aA X l V n die present instance.
*i ■ le frieze, or rather architrave, is a procession
'll
to
V r >am ’
j, lci among the figures that compose it are two playing
The inscription
Projecting summit of the cr mice, and commencesof the emperor Tiberius . Those of Aulus
i» Mrp
On *’ >mq another with the tambourine.
V l le
HJ 8 «»me
p r hiccus, the military governor or prefect, andV (1 My mius Crispus, commander of the forces, thoughei 'ased, are still traced when the sun strikes
V.?
the
( surface of the stone
re ign is unfortunately lost.s Mall planisphere which was
but the date of the
in one of the lateral
chambers on the right-hand side of the temple, and behindthe pronaos, has been removed to France , and from itsposition it probably dated a few years before the Zodiac .Numerous are the names of Crnsars in this temple. Inthe portico may be distinguished those of Tiberius, Caligula ,Claudius, and Nero , and on the former front of the temple,now the back of the pronaos, are those of Augustus andCaligula . This was in fact the original extent of tiie build-ing, and it was previous to the addition of the portico that itwas seen by Strabo .
“ The oldest names are of Ptolemy Cmsarion, or Neo-ctesar, and Cleopatra , who are represented on the backwall of the exterior ; and it is probable that the whole naoswas the work of the Ptolemies , though the sculptures remainedunfinished till the reign of Tiberius , who, having erected theportico, added many of the hieroglyphics on the exteriorwalls.
“ The portico is supported by twenty-four columns, andis open at the front, above the screens that unite its sixcolumns ; and in each of the side-walls is a small doorway.
“ To this succeeds a hall of six columns, with three rooms oneither side ; then a central chamber, communicating on oneside with two small rooms, and on the other with a staircase.This is followed by another similar chamber (with two roomson the west, and one on the east side) immediately before theisolated sanctuary, which has a passage leading round it, andcommunicating with three rooms on either side. The totallength of this temple is 93 paces (or about 220 feet,) by 41,or, across the portico, 50.
“ In front of the temple was the dromos, extending for thedistance of 110 paces to an isolated pylon, bearing the namesof Domitian and Trajan. The attributes of Athor through-out this building very much resemble those of Isis ; and sheis in like manner represented nursing the young child Harpo-crates, who is said, in the hieroglyphics, to be the ‘ son ofAthor .’
“ ‘ Behind the temple of Venus,’ says Strabo , ‘ is thechapel of Isis :’ and this observation agrees remarkably wellwith the size and position of the small temple of thatgoddess ; as it consists merely of one central and two lateraladyta, and a transverse chamber or corridor in front, andstands immediately behind the south-west angle of that ofAthor . To it belonged the pylon that lies 170 paces to theeastward, and which, as we learn from a Greek inscription oneither face of its cornice, was dedicated to Isis, in the thirty-first year of Caesar (Augustus ) ; Publius Octavius beingmilitary governor or prefect, and Marcus Claudius Posthumus,commander of the forces. In the hieroglyphics, besides thename of Augustus, are those of Claudius and Nero .
“ Ninety paces to the north of the great temple of Athor is another building, consisting of two outer passage-chambers,with two small rooms on either side of the outermost one,and a central and two lateral adyta, the whole surrounded,except the front, by a peristyle of twenty-two columns. Thecapitals, ornamented or disfigured by the representations of aTyphonian monster, have led to the supposition that this templewas dedicated to the evil genius ; but as the whole of itssculptures refer to the birth of Harpocrates , it is evidentthat it appertains to the great temple of Athor , who is herestyled his mother ; and it may be said rather to be dedicatedto Harpocrates than to Typhon, who is only introduced ina subordinate character, as relating to the young deity. Thenames are of Trajan, Adrian, and Antoninus Pius .
“ Around these buildings extends a spacious enclosure otcrude brick, about 240 paces square, having two entrances,one at the pylon of Isis, the other at that before the greattemple.