Egyptian art was entirely occupied with richer and more varied forms,
forms which admitted of the play of light and shade, and of all the
splendour of carved and painted decoration. The pyramid being
rejected, no type remained but that of a building which should inclose
both mummy chamber and funerary chapel under one roof, or, at
least, within one bounding wall. There was also, it is true, the Abydos
type of sepulchre, with its mummy chamber hidden in the thickness of
its base; but it was too heavy and too plain, it was too nearly related
to the pyramid, and it did not lend itself readily to those brilliant
compositions which distinguish the last renascence of Egyptian art.
But the hypostyle hall, the fairest creation of the national genius, was
thoroughly fitted to be the medium of such picturesque conceptions
as were then required, and it was adopted as the
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nucleus of the tombs at Sais. A hall divided, perhaps, into three aisles
by tall shafts covered with figures and inscriptions, afforded a
meeting-place and a place of worship for the living. The mummy
chamber was replaced by a niche, placed, doubtless, in the wall
which faced the entrance, and the well, the one essential constituent
of an early Egyptian tomb, was suppressed. Such arrangements as
these afforded much less security to the mummy than those of
Memphis or Thebes, and to compensate in some measure for their
manifest disadvantages, the tomb was placed within the precincts of
the most venerable temple in the city, and the security of the corpse
was made to depend upon the awe inspired by the sanctuary of
Neith. As the event proved, this was but a slight protection against the
fury of a victorious enemy. Less than a year after the death of
Amasis, Cambyses tore his body from its resting-place, and burnt it to
ashes after outraging it in a childish fashion.[278]
Fig. 198.—Sepulchral chamber of an Apis bull; from Mariette.
The tombs of these Sait kings, consisting of so many comparatively
small buildings in one sacred inclosure, remind us of what are called,
in the modern East, turbehs, those sepulchres of Mohammedan
saints or priests which are found in the immediate neighbourhood of
the mosques. Vast differences exist, of course, between the
Saracenic and Byzantine styles and that of Ancient Egypt, but yet the
principle is the same. At Sais, as in modern Cairo or Constantinople,
iron or wooden gratings must have barred the entrance to the
persons while they admitted the glances of visitors; rich stuffs were
hung before the niche, as the finest shawls from India and Persia veil
the coffins which lie beneath the domes of the modern burial-places.
Perhaps, too, sycamores and palm-trees cast their shadows over the
external walls.[279] The most hasty visitor to the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn can hardly fail to remember the suburb of Eyoub, where
the turbehs of the Ottoman princes stand half hidden among the
cypresses and plane trees.
The material condition which compelled the Sait princes to break with
the customs of their ancestors, affected the tombs of
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private individuals also. Throughout the existence of the Egyptian
monarchy the inhabitants of the Delta were obliged to set about the
preservation of their dead in a different fashion to that followed by
their neighbours in Upper Egypt; their mummies had to be kept out of
reach of the inundation. Isolated monuments, like those of Abydos,
would soon have filled all the available space upon artificial mounds,
such as those upon which the cities of the Delta were built. The
problem to be solved was, however, a simple one. Since there could
be no question of a lateral development, like that of the Theban
tombs, or of a downward one, like that of the Memphite mummy pits,
it was obvious that the development must be upwards. A beginning
was made by constructing, at some distance from a town, a platform
of crude brick, upon which, after its surface had been raised above
the level of the highest floods, the mummies were placed in small
chambers closely packed one against another. As soon as the whole
platform was occupied, another layer of chambers was commenced
above it. Champollion discovered the remains of two such cemeteries
in the immediate neighbourhood of Sais. The larger of the two was
not less than 1,400 feet long, 500 feet wide, and 80 feet high; an
enormous mass "which resembled," he said, "a huge rock torn by
lightning or earthquake."[280] No doubt was possible as to the character of the mass; Champollion found among the débris both
canopic vases and funerary statuettes. Within a few years of his
death Mariette undertook some fresh excavations in the same
neighbourhood; they led to no very important results, but they
confirmed the justice of the views enunciated by Champollion. Most
of the objects recovered were in a very bad state of preservation; the
materials had been too soft, and in time the dampness, which had
impregnated the base of the whole structure, had crept upwards
through the porous brick, and turned the whole mass into a gigantic
sponge.
These tombs resemble those of the kings in having no well; and as
for the funerary chapel we do not as yet know whether it existed at
all, how it was arranged, or what took its place. Perhaps each of the
more carefully constructed tombs was divided into two parts, a
chamber more or less decorated and a niche contrived in the
masonry, like the rock-cut ovens of the Phœnician catacombs. As
soon as the mummy was introduced,
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the niche was walled up, while the chamber would remain open for
the funerary celebrations. In order that the tombs situated at some
height above the level of the soil, and in the middle of the block of
buildings, should be reached, a complicated system of staircases and
inclined planes was necessary. In the course of centuries the tombs
of the first layer and especially those in the centre of the mass, were
overwhelmed and buried from sight and access by the continual
aggregation above and around them. The families to which they
belonged, perhaps, became extinct, and no one was left to watch
over their preservation. Had it not been for the infiltration of the Nile
water, these lower strata of tombs would no doubt have furnished
many interesting objects to explorers. In any case it would seem likely
that, if deep trenches were driven through the heart of these vast
agglomerations of unbaked brick, many valuable discoveries would
be made.[281] Such a system left slight scope to individual caprice; space must have been carefully parcelled out to each claimant, and
the architect had much less elbow room than when he was cutting
into the sides of a mountain or building upon the dry soil of the desert.
In the royal tombs alone, if time had left any for our inspection, could
we have found materials for judging of the funerary architecture of
Sais, but, as the matter stands, we are obliged to be content with
what we can gather from Theban and Memphite remains as to the
prevailing taste of the epoch.
Upon the plateau of Gizeh, to the south of the Great Pyramid, Colonel
Vyse discovered and cleared, in 1837, an important tomb to which he
gave the name of Colonel Campbell, then British Consul-General in
Egypt. The external part of the tomb had entirely disappeared, but we
may conclude that it was in keeping with the subterranean portion.
The maker of the tomb had taken the trouble to define its extent by a
trench cut around it in the rock. The external measurements of this
trench are 89 feet by 74. A passage had been contrived from one of
its faces to the well, which had been covered in all probability by an
external structure. The well opens upon a point nearer to the north
than the south, and its dimensions are quite exceptional. It is 54 feet
4 inches deep, and 31 feet by 26 feet 8 inches in horizontal
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section; it terminates in a chamber which is covered by a vault 11 feet
2 inches thick. It was not however in this chamber, but in small lateral
grottos that several sarcophagi in granite, basalt, white quartz, &c.,
were found. The remains of two other wells were traced. This tomb
dates from the time of Psemethek I.
Fig. 199.—Section in perspective of "Campbell's tomb," from
the plans and elevations of Perring.
Fig. 200.—Vertical section in perspective of the sarcophagus
chamber of the above tomb; compiled from Perring.
In the necropolis of Thebes there is a whole district, that of the hill El
Assassif, where most of the tombs belong to the twenty-sixth dynasty.
Their external aspect is very different from that of the Theban
sepulchres. The entrance to the subterranean galleries is preceded
by a spacious rectangular courtyard, excavated in the rock to a depth
of 10 or 12 feet. This court was from 80 to 100 feet long and from 40
to 80 feet
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wide; it was surrounded by a stone or brick wall, and reached by a
flight of steps. A pylon-shaped doorway gave access to the courtyard
from the side next the rock, another door of similar shape opened
upon the plain; "but some tombs are entirely closed (see Fig. 201)
except towards the mountain, from which side they may be entered
by one or two openings."
Fig. 201.—A Tomb on El-Assassif (drawn in perspective from
the plans and elevations of Prisse).
The subterranean part of these tombs varies in size. In some of them
a gallery of medium length leads to a single chamber. In others, and
these form the majority, there is a suite of rooms connected by a
continuous gallery. To this latter group belongs the largest of all the
subterranean Theban tombs, that of Petamounoph (Fig. 191). We have already noticed the extraordinary dimensions of its galleries;
there are also two wells which lead to lower sets of chambers. All the
walls of this tomb are covered with sculptured reliefs. In the first
chambers these are in very bad condition, but they improve as we
advance, and in the farthest rooms are remarkable for their finish and
good preservation. The exterior of this sepulchre is worthy of the
interior. The open court, which acts as vestibule, is 100 feet long by
80 wide. An entrance, looking towards the plain, rises between two
massive walls of crude brick, and, to all appearance, was once
crowned by an arcade; within it a flight of steps leads
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down into the court. Another door, pierced through the limestone rock,
leads to a second and smaller court which is surrounded by a portico.
From this peristyle a sculptured portal leads to the first subterranean
chamber, which is 53 feet by 23, and once had its roof supported by a
double range of columns. The next chamber is 33 feet square. With a
double vestibule and these two great saloons there was no lack of
space for gatherings of the friends and relations of the deceased.
Neither at Memphis nor at Thebes do the tombs of this late period
contain any novel elements, but they are distinguished by their size
and the luxury of their decoration. In some, the wells are much wider
than usual; in others it is upon the external courts and upon those
double gateways which play a part similar to that of the successive
pylons before a Theban temple, that extra care is bestowed. Vaults
are frequently employed and help to give variety of effect. Private
tombs become as large as those of sovereigns, and similar
tendencies are to be found in the sculpture. The Egyptian genius was
becoming exhausted, and it endeavoured to compensate for its want
of invention and creative imagination by an increase in richness and
elegance.
A chronological classification is only possible in the cases of those
tombs which bear inscriptions and figures upon their walls. At
Memphis, as at Thebes, the remains of thousands of tombs are to be
found which give no indication of their date. Sometimes they are deep
mummy pits, slightly expanding at the bottom; sometimes, as at
Thebes, the rock is honeycombed with graves between the border of
the cultivated land and the foot of the Libyan chain. In the mountains
themselves there are hundreds of small chambers, with bare walls
and often extremely minute in size, cut in the sides of the cliffs.
Finally, there are the vast catacombs, in each chamber of which the
mummies of labourers and artisans were crowded, often with the
instruments of their trade by their sides.[282] Pits full of mummified animals are also found among the human graves. Rhind saw some
hundreds of the mummies of hawks and ibises taken from a tomb at
the foot of the Drah-Abou'l-Neggah. They were each enveloped in
bandages of mummy cloth, and beside them numerous small boxes,
each with a carefully embalmed mouse
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inside it, were found. The lids of these boxes had each a wooden
mouse upon it, sometimes gilt.[283]
We have endeavoured to notice all that is of importance in the
funerary architecture of Egypt, because the Egyptian civilization, as
we know it through the still existing monuments, carries us much
farther back than any other towards the first awakening of individual
thought and consciousness in mankind. The primitive conceptions of
those early periods were, of course, different enough from those to
which mankind was brought by later reflection, but nevertheless they
were the premises, they contained the germ of all the development
that has followed; and to thoroughly understand the origin and
constitution of this development it was necessary to follow it up to its
source, to the clearness and transparency of its springs.
The art of Egypt is the oldest of all the national arts, and the oldest
monuments of Egypt are its tombs. By these alone is that earliest
epoch in its history which we call the Ancient Empire known to us.
In later ages the country was covered with magnificent temples and
sumptuous palaces, but, even then, the tomb did not lose its pre-
eminent importance. The chief care of the Egyptian in all ages was
his place of rest after death. Rich or poor, as soon as he arrived at full
age he directed all his spare resources towards the construction and
decoration of his tomb, his happy, his eternal "dwelling," with which
his thoughts were far more preoccupied than with that home in the
light, upon which, whether it were a miserable mud hut or a vast
edifice of brick or wood, he looked with comparative indifference,
regarding it as an encampment for a day or a mere hotel for a
passing traveller. The tombs, when not hollowed from the living rock,
were built with such solidity and care that they have survived in
thousands, while the palaces of great sovereigns have perished and
left no trace, and the temples which have been preserved are very
few in number.
Being mostly subterranean and hidden from the eye of man,
sepulchres preserved the deposits entrusted to them much better
than buildings upon the surface. Those among the latter which
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were not completely destroyed, were, in very remote times, damaged,
pillaged, stripped, and mutilated in a thousand ways. All that subsists
of their decoration—shattered colossi and bas-reliefs often broken
and disfigured—tells us nothing beyond the pomps and triumphs of
official history. The tombs have suffered much less severely. The
statues, bas-reliefs, and paintings which have been found in them,
seem, in many instances, to have been the work of the very men
whose footprints were found in the sand which covered their floors
when they were opened.[284] The pictures offered to our eyes by the walls of the private tombs are very different from those which we find
in the temples. All classes of the people appear in them in their every-
day occupations and customary attitudes. The whole national life is
displayed before us in a long series of scenes which comment upon
and explain each other. Almost all that we know concerning the
industrial arts of Egypt has been derived from a study of her tomb-
houses. In every hundred of such objects which our museums
contain at least ninety-nine come from those safe depositories.
In order to give a true idea of the national character of the Egyptians
and to enable the originality of their civilization to be thoroughly
understood, it was necessary to show the place occupied in their
thoughts by the anticipation of death; it was necessary to explain
what the tomb meant to them, to what sentiments and beliefs its
general arrangements and its principal details responded; it was
necessary to follow out the various modifications which were brought
about by the development of religious conceptions, from the time of
the first six dynasties to that of the Theban Empire.
The brilliant architectural revival which distinguished the first and
second Theban Empires was mainly due to this development of
religious thought. Almost all the peculiarities of the Memphite tomb
are to be explained by the hypotheses with which primitive man is
content. But when mature reflection evolved
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higher types for the national gods, when polytheism came to be
superimposed upon fetishism, the hour arrived for the temple to take
its proper place in the national life, for majestic colonnades and
massive pylons to be erected on the banks of the life-giving river. The
temple was later than the tomb, but it followed closely upon its
footsteps, and the two were, in a fashion, united by those erections
on the left bank of the Nile, under the Theban necropolis, which
partook of the character of both. The temple is the highest outcome of
the native genius during those centuries which saw Egypt supreme
over all the races of the East, supreme partly by force of arms, but
mainly by the superiority of her civilization.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE SACRED ARCHITECTURE OF EGYPT.
§ 1. The Temple under the Ancient Empire.
No statue of a god is known which can be confidently referred to the
first six dynasties. Hence it has sometimes been asserted that at that
early period the Egyptian gods were not born, if we may use the
expression, that the notions of the people had not yet been
condensed into any definite conception upon the point. Some writers
incline to believe that Egyptian thought had not yet reached the point
where the polytheistic idea springs up, that they were still content with
those fetishes which retained no slight hold upon their imaginations
until a much later period. Others affirm that the absence of gods is
due to the fact that the Egyptian people were so near to the first
creation of mankind that they had not yet forgotten those religious
truths which were revealed to the fathers of our race. They believe
that Egypt began with monotheism, and that its polytheistic system
was due to the gradual degradation of pure doctrine which took place
among all but the chosen people.
We shall not attempt to discuss the latter hypothesis in these pages.
It is a matter of faith and not of scientific demonstration. But to the
first hypothesis we shall oppose certain undoubted facts which prove
it to be, at least, an exaggeration, and that Egypt was even in those
early days much farther advanced, more capable of analysis and
reflection, than is generally imagined. M. Maspero, in his desire for
enlightenment upon this point, searched the epitaphs of the ancient
empire, and found in their nomenclature most of the sacred names
which, in later phases of the national civilization, designate the
principal deities of the
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Egyptian pantheon.[285] The composite proper names often seem to express individual devotion to some particular deity, and to indicate
some connection between the latter and the mortal who bore his
name and lived under his protection. These divinities must, then,
have already been in existence in the minds of the Egyptians. The
most that can be said is that they had not yet arrived at complete
definition; art, perhaps, had not yet given them those unchanging
external features and characteristics which they retained to the last
days of paganism. It is quite possible that they were, more often than
not, represented by those animals which, in more enlightened times,
served them for symbols.
If the inscription and the figured representations still existing upon a
certain stele which was found a short distance eastward of the
pyramid of Cheops[286] are to be taken literally, we must believe that that monarch restored the principal statues of the Egyptian gods and
made them pretty much what we see them in monuments belonging
to times much more recent than his. The upper part of the stele in
question shows the god of generation, Horus, Thoth, Isis in several
different forms, Nephthys, Selk, Horus as the avenger of his father,
Harpocrates, Ptah, Setekh, Osiris, and Apis. These statues would
seem to have been in gold, silver, bronze and wood. Mariette,
however, is inclined to think that this stele does not date from the time
of Cheops, that it is a restoration ma