OF EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE.
Egypt being a country of small extent, and having been early and frequently conquered, the history of its ancient cities, palaces, and temples, was beyond the reach even of Herodotus. This parent of history only com mences his account after the translation of the seat of empire to Memphis, and his personal intercourse with the country was not until a hundred years after its con quest by Cambyses. The origin and progress, there fore, of the powerful state which raised Thebes, and the other unrivalled edifices with which Upper Egypt was crowded, is to us totally unknown.
From the seat of empire having been first established at Thebes, and next at Memphis, we are led to conclude that the original progress of colonisation was made in the same direction ; but the periods or manner of this progress, as far as regards the cities of Upper Egypt, are involved in impenetrable obscurity. The forms of architecture and sculpture having been strictly determin ed, it is only from some shades of difference in the per fection of the workmanship of the latter, that we are led to conjecture that Apollinopolis, Tentyra, and Latopolis, are later works than the great edifices of Luxor and liar Ilac.
From the magnificent description of Thebes by Ho rner, we learn that it had risen to great importance pre vious to the Trojan war, or about 1200 years B. C. Mem phis is said to have been built eight generations after Thebes, and Cambyses invaded Egypt 525 B. C.; so that for a period of 700 years, this country is known to have abounded in wealth and population; and when it is considered, that during this time the command of this wealth was in the hands of an able, artful priesthood, and unceasingly applied to the construction of religious and royal edifices, we shall, after recollecting what was performed in Europe by similar means during a few cen turies, be convinced, that the period before mentioned was alone quite sufficient for accomplishing even the justly celebrated works of the Thebaid.
With the invasion of Cambyses terminated the splen dour of Upper Egypt. He carried with him not only conquest, but destruction. His warfare was not merely with the people, but with their palaces and religious structures. He carried off not only the spoils, but the
artists, leaving this once splendid valley a deplorable scene of ruins ; and such is the fate of empires, that not more than two centuries had elapsed, when even these ruins suffered a further dilapidation from the destroyer of the Persepolitan palace of Cambyses. But notwith standing all this, and also the repeated efforts of the more powerful Romans, and the natural waste of 3000 years, the magnificent and indestructible remains of Egyptian architecture at this day, exhibit a striking pic ture of that once powerful and learned people.
Upper Egypt contains structures of three distinct forms. 1. The simple pyramid. 2. Apartments en closed by sculptured walls with flat roofs, supported by rows of columns, and connected by open porticos. And, 3. Caverns, grottos, or tombs. We are here also with out historical evidence, with regard to the priority or suc cession of these several modes. Some are of opinion, that caverns furnished first dwellings, and also places of worship, and that to these succeeded the simple pyra mid ; whilst others contend, that the colonnades were raised in imitation of groves of trees, in which were the earliest places of worship. The simplicity of the pyra mid, and its having also been found by the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru, would induce us to assign it a very early xra ; but the Egyptian pyramids being situated at the northern extremity of the valley, in the neighbour hood of Memphis the second capital, we are at a loss to reconcile this circumstance with the previous reign of Thebes. If caverns have been the first habitations of the early inhabitants of Egypt, they must have occupied only what are now reckoned natural caves ; for the exca vations appropriated for tombs are arranged with great skill, and contain some of the most perfect sculptures and paintings. Indeed, from extensive ranges of orna. mental tombs being constantly found adjacent to each great city, they evidently formed a part of the establish ment, and they are also known to have enjoyed a very important place in the dncient Egyptian mythology.