see how the Labyrinth could be placed in this situation."*

cus.

He is more inclined to adopt an opinion, founded on the narrative of the Roman naturalist, that this sumptuous monument of ancient taste must have stood in the neighbourhood of Terza, at the west end of the Lake Moris. He there observed several blocks of white stone and red granite, which evidently must have been taken from edifices of great magnitude. Reflecting on the description of Pliny, who places the Labyrinth in that very situation, he made the most diligent search among the remains of antiquity to ascertain whether the marble fragments bore any evidence of the exquisite workmanship ascribed to the famed structure of PsammetiHe admits that he saw not the smallest appearance of an edifice either on the ground or under it, but, at the same time, he beheld through all that part of the country a great number of stones and columns of beautiful colours, of white marble and of granite." These materials of a splendid architecture he observed scattered about for the space of several miles, some on the road, and some in the houses of the Arabs, and others put to various uses in the erection of huts. It was not, therefore, without very plausible reasons that he arrived at the conclusion already stated; and we are satisfied that most of his readers will concur with him in the opinion that, by tracing those interesting ruins to their source, the site of the Labyrinth might yet be discovered. It is true that, having been but little elevated above the ground, the building may be already buried to a great

* Belzoni, vol. ii. p. 156.

G

depth under the mass of soil and sand which is constantly accumulating in all parts of the valley.*

Nothing is more certain than that the level of the lake, as well as of the adjoining land, must have been raised considerably since the first era of historical records. Belzoni himself observed, in one part of Moris, pillars and ruins of ancient buildings now nearly under water; and it is well known that the present rulers of Egypt have more than once found it necessary to erect new dikes upon the ancient mounds, to obviate the effects of an excessive inundation. Denon, too, remarks that at the mouth of this valley the remains of villages overwhelmed by the sand may be everywhere discovered; adding, that nothing is so melancholy to the feelings as to march over these ruins, to tread under foot the roofs of houses and the tops of minarets, and to think that these were once cultivated fields, flourishing gardens, and the habitations of man. Every thing living has disappeared, silence is within and around every wall, and the deserted villages are like the dead, whose skeletons strike with terror.†

When these circumstances are considered, it will be allowed, both that there is good evidence for the existence of an ancient building of great magnificence on the shores of Lake Moris, and also that the changes to which the neighbouring soil is constantly subjected, render the discovery of the Labyrinth, more especially the subterraneous chambers, an undertaking of the utmost uncertainty. From what still remains under our eyes, we are justified in believing almost every thing of Egyptian gran

*

Belzoni, vol. ii. p. 161-165.

+ Denon, vol. ii. P. 218.

deur, when the object of the architect was to do honour to the gods, or to preserve the memory of a beneficent king.

Of the wonderful people, indeed, who inhabit the banks of the Nile, there is nothing more remarkable than that their greatest efforts were made at a time when, in regard to religious faith, they were in the grossest ignorance and darkness, and that, when light sprang up around them, their power, their taste, or their zeal, seemed to decay,-yielding to the domination of barbarian tribes, who were indebted to them for all their knowledge, as well as for their superstition. Persia added nothing to the arts or architectural improvement of Egypt; the Greeks presumed not to rival their masters in the construction of temples, pyramids, and labyrinths; and the propagation of the true religion, under the Roman emperors, put an end to the lofty imaginations which the subjects of the Pharaohs were wont to realize in their national structures. Christianity, which blesses every land where it is cordially received, contributed most of all to the extinction of that spirit which had impelled the Egyptians to undertake and carry into effect designs so vast and imperishable as those which still call forth the astonishment of the traveller. The days of their mythology were those of their proudest glories, and, we may add, of their greatest happiness and freedom. The blind belief in the divine origin of their monarchs, as also the inspiring dogma that the soul was to return to its ancient tenement in the flesh, encouraged them to erect monuments which might resist the pressure of ten thousand years, and carry the fame of their authors to the very threshold of eternity.

But when the exercise of their primi

tive superstition was no longer allowed, and another faith was introduced in its place, the temples were gradually abandoned, and the spirit of the Egyptians, unsubdued by the severest political oppression, yielded at length to a more prevailing power, which directed their hopes and fears to the contemplation of loftier and more spiritual objects.*

But whatever doubt may exist in respect to the situation and remains of the Labyrinth, there can be none relative to the next great object of Egyptian art, which we are about to introduce to the reader. The Pyramids, during several thousand years, have attracted the curiosity of the traveller, and given rise to much learned disquisition; while so great is their magnitude, and so durable the material of which they are constructed, that they present to the moderns the same subject of study which was contemplated by Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Diodorus, and Strabo. Pursuing the plan we have hitherto followed, we shall first extract from the oldest Greek historian the tradition which prevailed in his days, and then draw from other sources the most probable account of the origin, the date, the intention, and the actual appearance of those famous buildings.

Herodotus, it is well known, ascribes the largest of the Pyramids to Cheops, a tyrannical and profligate sovereign. "He barred the avenues to every temple, and forbade the Egyptians to offer sacrifice to the gods; after which, he compelled the people at large to perform the work of slaves. Some he condemned to hew stones out of the Arabian mountains, and drag them to the banks of the Nile;

* Webster, vol. ii. p. 221.