A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1 (of 2)Perrot, Georges
History
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Perrot, Georges
Art -- Egypt -- History; Egypt -- Antiquities
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]
[278] HERODOTUS, iii. 16. Upon this subject see an interesting
article by M. EUGÈNE REVILLOUT, entitled: _Le Roi Amasis et les
mercenaires Grecs, selon les Donnés d'Hérodote et les
Renseignements de la Chronique Démotique de Paris_. (_Revue
Égyptologique_, first year; p. 50 _et seq._)
[Illustration: 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.
[279] There are two passages in HERODOTUS (ii. 91, and 138) from
which we may infer that the Egyptians were fond of planting
trees about their temples.
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