must never be forgotten that a female Sphinx was almost unknown) was in the days of his glory."[1]
I may perhaps appear open to the suspicion of overestimating the arts of ancient Egypt. I therefore cannot do better than refer you to the mature judgment of one who has written the History of Architecture[2] with consummate knowledge, ability and taste.
"No one can possibly examine the interior of the Great Pyramid," says Mr. Fergusson, "without being struck with astonishment at the wonderful mechanical skill displayed in its construction. The immense blocks of granite brought from Syene—a distance of 500 miles—polished like glass, and so fitted that the joints can hardly be detected. Nothing can be more wonderful than the extraordinary amount of knowledge displayed in the construction of the discharging chambers over the roof of the principal apartment, in the alignment of the sloping galleries, in the provision of ventilating shafts, and in all the wonderful contrivances of the structure. All these, too, are carried out with such precision that, notwithstanding the immense superincumbent weight, no settlement in any part can be detected to the extent of an appreciable fraction of an inch. Nothing more perfect, mechanically, has ever been erected since that time, and we ask ourselves in vain, how long it must have taken before men acquired such experience and such skill, or were so perfectly organized, as to contemplate and complete such undertakings."
The walls of the most ancient tombs are decorated with pictures.
- ↑ "Sinai and Palestine," p. lvii.
- ↑ See also the whole fifth book of Mr. Fergusson's "Illustrated Handbook of Architecture."
