DIVISIONS OF ANCIENT EGYPT-ALEXANDRIA. Egypt; the period in which the Hebrews, finding their situation intolerable, fled to the wilderness. It was the period when the tombs and catacombs-those solemn and mysterious receptacles of the dead, which have excited the deepest interest in modern times were constructed, and whose sculptures and paintings have thrown such a flood of light upon the manners and customs of the Egyptians who lived three or four thousand years ago. Architecture of Ancient Egypt in the First Period of its History. This first period of Egyptian history presents the nation as distinct and peculiar in its religion, its architecture, its government, laws, and modes of life. In modern times, some analogies have been traced between the arts of Egypt and those of Assyria and India; but it is still evident that here, amid a peculiar people, an original, and, at the same time, refined civilization was developed in the very dawn of his tory. 575 The conquest of Alexander, in 332 B. C., made a great change in Egypt. The capital was transferred to the new city of Alexandria, which was built in the Greek style. Ptolemy, a Greek, became master of the country in 321; and, for nearly seven hundred years, - that is, down to the conquest of the Saracens, A. D. 625, - the country was subject to Greek and Roman rulers. This space between Alexander's conquest and that of the Saracens forms the second period of Egyptian history, during which its ancient civilization passed away, and was partially superseded by the manners and customs of the conquerors. The third period extends from the Saracen conquest to the present time, during which, being subjected to Mahometan government, the people have become assimilated, in religion, laws, government, manners, and customs, to other Mahometan countries. The traveller in Egypt, at the present day, will find distinct traces of these three periods of history: the ruins along the Nile are solemn and affecting memorials of the first; the ruins of Alexandria are witnesses to the second; the Saracenic architecture of Cairo-the mosques and monuments of other cities the turban and the harem, every where - are significant of the last. The general divisions of ancient Egypt compared nearly with those of modern times. The north was called Lower Egypt; the middle, Heptanomis; and the south, or Upper Egypt, the Thebaid. The whole comprised fifty-three nomes, or provinces. Its population, now only two millions and a half, is supposed to have been formerly seven or eight millions. How such a population could be sustained by a country whose productive territory did not equal that of the state of New York, might seem a question of difficult solution, did we not know that the long valley of the Nile is one of the most fertile spots on the globe. The Romans considered Egypt as the granary of the empire. We begin our description with the Delta. The modern city of Alexandria is near Lake Mareotis. It is the chief port of Egypt, and the mart of that commerce which is carried on with Europe. Here merchants of nearly all countries may be seen; but the aspect of the streets is very dirty and gloomy. The population is about thirty thousand. Near by are the ruins of the older city, which was founded by Alexander, and, being the capital of the Ptolemies, was one of the most splendid places in the world. Its population was said to be over half a million. The trade was immense, and nothing could exceed the splendor of its edifices, which were built in the Greek style. The ruins of the city abundantly sustain its ancient fame. Amid palm-trees and nopals, frequented by owls, bats, and jackals, are to be seen whole acres covered with broken walls, roofs fallen down, battlements decayed, columns, friezes, and architraves in Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo. Architecture of the Third Period of Egyptian History. ruins, with innumerable tombs and catacombs - the | desolate abodes of the dead. Amid the general ruin, are two objects of great celebrity - Pompey's Pillar, granite, covered with hieroglyphics. Near Alexandria, there was an ancient pharos, or lighthouse, five hundred feet high; but it has totally disappeared. About fifty miles north-east of Alexandria was Sais, once the capital of Egypt, and also the birth and burial place of the Ptolemies. In sight of Alexandria is the Bay of Aboukir, cele. brated for the sea battle between the French and English, in 1798, in which the former were totally defeated. To the east is the modern city of Rosetta, and still farther east is Damietta, both places of some trade and importance. In this region was the city of Pelusium, formerly considered the key of Egypt; and near by, bordering upon Arabia, was the "land of Goshen," inhabited by the Israelites. In this quarter was Heropolis, the residence of the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. A little to the north, on the Red Sea, is the modern town of Suez, with some trade and a good harbor. This was anciently connected with the eastern branch of the Nile by a canal; but it is now filled up. Omitting places of less note, we come to Middle Egypt. The first object of interest is Cairo, the pres ent capital, lying on the east side of the Nile. It is a place of great antiquity, being built on the ruins of a city named Babylon, so called as being the resi dence of some Babylonish captives brought hither by the conqueror, Sesostris. The present city was founded by the Fatimite khalifs, A. D. 973. Saladin surrounded it with strong walls and superb gates. It became the capital, and soon eclipsed Alexandria, which from this time declined. All over Africa and the East, Cairo is considered a superb city, and its splendors are celebrated in poetry. To a European it is dull and gloomy. Its streets are unpaved, winding and dark - no windows looking into them. The houses are of two stories. There are lawns, large and green, which become lakes during the inundations, and afterwards are covered with brilliant verdure. The finest building is the mosque of Sultan Hassan. This city is the greatest thoroughfare in the world, it being View of Cairo and the Valley of the Nile, from the East: Pyramids of Ghizeh and Libyan Mountains in the Distance. the focal point of the caravans which conduct the trade | bers, and sold like cattle in the open market. The between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean and Arabia. The streets are often thronged with such multitudes of camels, asses, and dogs, as to render it difficult to pass. Slaves are imported here in great num extent of Cairo is seven miles; it covers as much ground as Paris; its population is three hundred thousand. It is the largest city in Africa. Near to Cairo are some of the most interesting an tiquities in Egypt. A few miles to the north-east are the vestiges of Heliopolis, the Or or Bethshemesh of Scripture, famous for its temple of the sun. A little most fertile parts of Egypt. After traversing the departed, Memphis having superseded it. It flourished | tains, the waters of the Nile are let into this territory, for ages, but was captured and plundered by the Per- converting what was once a desert into one of the sian king Cambyses about 529 B. C., since which it has gradually disappeared, excepting its ruins. Opposite to Cairo is the village of Ghizeh; and here, scattered along the western bank of the Nile, are the pyramids those stupendous works which seem to rival in magnitude the operations of nature. There are about sixty in number, extending along a slope to the river, for sixty miles. The largest are those of Cheops and Cephrenes. The first is six hundred and ninety-three feet square at its base, and five hundred feet high. It was built about four thousand years ago, and while machinery was but little known. It is said to have occupied a hundred thousand men for twenty years. It has been penetrated, and is found to have several long galleries, leading to two chambers, in one of which is a sarcophagus, now empty. The second pyramid is but four hundred feet high. This was opened by Belzoni, who found, in a chamber fortysix by sixteen feet, a sarcophagus containing only the bones of a bull! It is supposed that the pyramids were built as sepulchres for the kings, though there can be little doubt that some religious ideas were associated with their erection. Some authors have imagined them to have been only the central parts of temples, flanked with gigantic columns. Though the mind is affected by these mighty monuments of antiquity, -carrying us back for forty centuries, they must still be regarded as testimonials of a vain pomp and selfish arrogance on the part of the builders, who lavished the revenues of the empire upon works designed only to perpetuate their name. They remain as a standing proof of the fatuity of human pride. As works of art, they are entitled to no high commendation; and we are only astonished at their magnitude. As to the amount of labor required for their construction, they are even inferior to many modern structures. The pavements of London, for instance, the work of a single city, and exciting no sentiment of wonder, contain a larger mass of stones than the pyramid of Cheops. Sphinx. About six hundred feet from this is the Cyclopean image of the Sphinx, representing a human head, with the body of a lion. All but the head and neck are now covered with sand; the whole figure is sixty feet high, and one hundred and twenty-five feet long. Omitting many other objects of interest, we must notice Fayoum, lying south-west of Cairo some fifty miles, and twenty-five miles from the Nile. By means of an artificial cut through the Libyan chain of moun As we ascend the Nile from Cairo, numerous towns and villages are seen skirting the river on both sides. Hitherto the antiquities of Egypt astonish us rather by their magnitude; as we reach Minieh, we begin to meet with those which combine grandeur with displays of skill and art. On the eastern side of the Nile, the rocky faces of the hills are pierced with numerous tombs, which have been sealed up for ages, and when opened to modern inspection, have been found to have their sides decorated with paintings, still preserving their brilliant colors, and exhibiting the manners and customs of the Egyptians, in all the pursuits of life. These and other similar remains are among the most interesting antiquities of Egypt; and we shall hereafter give a more particular account of them in delineating the religion and civilization of the ancient Egyptians. Two miles above Minieh, are the ruins of Antinoe, a city founded by the Roman emperor Adrian, and exhibiting the relics of theatres, porticoes, arches, and columns, all in the Greek style, and contrasting strongly with the ruins of obelisks, tombs, and gigantic temples of the ancient Egyptians in this region. On the opposite side of the river, in this quarter, vast plains are strown with mingled ruins of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman architecture. We now come to Central Egypt. Siout is a large town on the east side of the Nile, with two hundred thousand inhabitants. The valley of the river, which is very narrow above and below, is here twelve miles wide, the river itself being but seven hundred and fifty feet in width. Here the caravans for Nubia and Darfur take their departure. The rocky faces of the mountains here exhibit multitudes of excavated tombs, richly decorated within with sculpture and paintings; some of these were occupied by Christian fanatics, who here began the system of seclusion which resulted in the foundation of monachism. As we ascend the river from Siout, the most stupendous views begin to meet the eye. At Achmin, a neat town of ten thousand inhabitants, half of whom are Christians, the ruins of two great temples are seen. Still northward, on the west side of the river, are the ruins of Tentyra, or Dendera, which are the finest in ZODIAC OF DENDERA-KARNAC. 579 Egypt. The portico of the temple is inconceivably | of the portico is equally beautiful. The roof contained grand and beautiful. Its length is two hundred and sixty-five feet, and its height sixty. It is entirely a sculptured representation of the twelve signs of the zodiac, which has been taken down, and is now in the Museum at Paris. This is twelve feet long, eight feet wide, and three feet thick. covered with mystic, varied, and fantastic sculptures, hieroglyphics, groups, figures of deities, sacred animals, processions of soldiers - in short, the manners and mythology of Egypt embodied. The workman ship is elaborate and highly finished. The interior | um, and the tombs cut in the mountain behind. It is impossible even to name all the curiosities of this wonderful region. A few miles to the north of Dendera, the view opens upon a scene to which the world presents nothing parallel - an extensive plain, covered almost throughout its whole extent with the most amazing ruins. This is the site of Thebes - the city of the hundred gates, that mighty capital, the foundation of which is unknown in history, and belongs only to the dim ages of traditionary poetry, whose report would have been denounced as wholly fabulous, had not such mighty monuments proved that it fell short of the reality. This work of the first age of the world almost eclipses, as to grandeur, all that art and power have since produced. At first, the observer sees only a confusion of portals, obelisks, and columns, all of gigantic size, towering above the palm-trees. Gradually, he is able to distinguish, on the eastern or Arabian side of the ruins, the palaces of Karnac and Luxor; on the western or Libyan side, the Memnoni others majestically erect; immense halls, whose roofs are supported by a forest of columns, portals, and propylæa, surpassing in magnitude all similar structures. From the west, this chaos assumes an orderly appearance; and the almost endless series of portals, gates, and halls appear ranged in regular succession and harmonizing with each other. When the plan is thoroughly understood, its regularity appears wonderful; and the highest admiration is excited by the arrangement and symmetry of all the parts of this vast edifice. Karnac * surpasses in grandeur every other structure, umns, mutilated colossal statues, obelisks, some fallen, in Thebes and in the world. The French engineers on horseback were an hour and a half in performing its circuit, which, they therefore conceive, cannot be less than three miles. On the north-east entrance the Egyptians appear to have lavished all their magnificence. The approach is by a long avenue of sphinxes, the largest of any in Egypt, leading to a succession of portals with colossal statues in front. Most points of view present only the image of a general overthrow, rendering it difficult to distinguish Karnac as a series of regular edifices. Across these vast ruins appear only fragments of architecture, trunks of broken col • The ruins of Thebes are distributed over four miserable villages - Karnac, Luxor, Gournei, and Medinet Abu. Not only the general extent, but all the particular features, of this extraordinary structure are distinguished by a magnitude elsewhere unparalleled. There are two obelisks of sixty-nine, and one of ninety-one, feet high: this, the loftiest of any in Egypt, is adorned |