LAB'YRINTII (a word of unknown origin, derived by some from Labaris, the name of an Egyptian monarch of the twelfth dynasty), the name of some celebrated of antiquity, consisting of ninny chambers or passages difficult to pass through without a guide, and the name hence applied to a confused mass of constructions. In the hierogly phics, the word mere signifies a "labyrinth." The principal labyrinths of antiquity were the Egyptian, the Cretan, and the Samian. The first, or Egyptian, of which the others seem to have been imitations, was situated at Crocodilopolis, close to the lake Maris, in the vicinity of the present pyramid of Biakhmu. According to the classical authors, it was built by an Egyptian monarch named Petesuchis, Tithoes, Imandes, Ismandes, Mainies, or Mendes. The recent discovery of the remains of this building'by Lepsius has, how ever, shown that the city was founded by Amenendia I., of the 12th Egyptian dynasty, about 1800 fa.o., and that this monarch was probably buried in it, while the. pyramid and south temple were erected by Amenemha III. and 1V., whose prfenomens resemble the name of Mwris, and their sister, Sebeknefru or Scemiophris, appears to have been the last sovereign of the 12th dynasty. Great confusion prevails-in the -ancient authorities as to the object of the building, which contained 12 palaces under one roof, supposed to have been inhabited by the dodecarchy, or 12 kings who conjointly reigned over Egypt before Psammetichus I. ; while, according to other authorities, it was the place of as rmhly of the govertfors of the nomes or districts, 12 in number according to Herodos tus, ld according to Pliny, anti 27 according to Strat). It was built of polished stone, with many chambers and paSsages, said to be vaulted. having a peristyle court with 3,000 chambers, half of which were under the earth, and the others above ground, which formed another story. The upper chambers were decorated with reliefs; the lower were plain, and contained, according to tradition, the bodies of the 12 founders of the build inn-, and the mummies of the sacred crocodiles, conferring on the building the character mausoleum, probably conjoined with a temple, that of Sebak, the crocbdile-god, and so resembling the Serapeium. Herodotus and Strabo both visited this edifice, which wits difficult to pass through without the aid of a guide. It stood in the midst of a great square. Part was constructed of Parian marble—probably rather arragonite—and of Syenitic granite pillars; had a staircase of 90 steps, and columns of porphyry; and the Opening of the doors echoed like the reverberation of thunder. For a long time great
doubt prevailed whether any remains of the building. existed, and it was supposed to have been overwhelmed by the waters of the lake Morris; and although P. Lucas and Letronne thought they had discovered the site, its rediscovery is due to Lepsius, who found part of the foundations or lower chambers close to the site of the old Morris lake, or modern Birket-el-Keroun. According to Pliny, it was 3,600 years old in his days.
The second, or next in renown to was the labyrinth of Crete, supposed to have been built by Dmdalus for the Cretan monarch Minos, in which the Minotaur was imprisoned by his orders. Although represented on the Cretan coins of Cnossus some times of a square, and at other times of a circular form, no remains of it were to be found even in times of antiquity, and its existence was supposed to be fabulous. The only mode of nudityg the way out of it was by means of a hank or skein of linen thread, which gave the clue to the dwelling of the Minotaur. The tradition is supposed to have been based on the existence of certain natural caves or grottoes, perhaps the remains of quarries, and it has been supposed to have existed n.w. of the island, near Cnossus,while a kind of natural labyrinth still remains close to Gortyna. The idea is supposed to have been derived from the Egyptian.
The third of the labyrinths of antiquity was the Samian, constructed by Theodorus and artists of his school, in the age of Polycrates (540 u.c.), supposed to be a work of nature embellished by art, having 150 columns erected by a clever mechanical contriv ance.—Other inferior labyrinths existed at Nauplia, at Sipontum in Italy, d'lspica in Sicily, and elsewhere; and the name of labyrinth was applied to the subterraneous chambers of the tomb of Porsena, supposed to be that now existing as the Poggio Gazelle, near Chinsi. Labyrinths called mazes were at one time fashionable in garden ing, being imitations, by hedges or borders, of the Cretan; the best known in modern times being the Maze at Hampton court.
Hcrodotus, ii. 148: Diodorus, i. 61, 97; iv. 60, 77; Pausanias, i. 27; Strabo, x. 477, xviii. 111; Plutarch, Theseus, 15; Pliny, H. IL, xxvi. 19, 3, 83; Isidorus, Orig., xv. 2, 6; Huck. Cieta, i. 447; Prokesch, i. 606; Due de Luynes, Annuli, 1829, 364; Lep sins, Einleit., p. 268.