386 NUBIAN INDUSTRY. is successively raised by an equal number of rude hydraulic machines. Each of these levers is worked by a man, and the water, when it has reached the summit, is distributed over the land by small canals of the neatest construction. On the field west of the river, we here observed a greater number than usual of trees, among which the Egyptian sycamore, the doum and date palms, were the most numerous. The moles thrown out into the river for the purpose of gaining soil, are injurious to navigation; for, being often on both sides, they too greatly narrow the channel, creating dangerous currents and eddies. On the west bank we saw, in the afternoon, a fine white eagle perched upon a rock. The hamlets are here very numerous, standing, as in Egypt, in small palm groves, and single date trees are scattered over the fields. A sheikh's tomb, of a shining white appearance, crested the summit of a neighbouring eminence. The channel of the river is diversified by several islands. TEMPLE OF DANDOOR. CHAPTER XVI. 387 PERFUMED --- TEMPLE OF DANDOOR — THE SILK TREE-APPLES OF SODOMATMOSPHERE - NUBIAN ARMS ROCK TEMPLE OF GYRSHE COLOSSAL STATUES- ARAB LOCK AND KEY-FEUDS OF THE GODS THEORY OF THE SUBLIME DOUBLE SHADOWS DESERT LANDSCAPE EXTINCT VOLCANOS-TEMPLE OF DAKKEARCHITECTURAL PATCHWORK -THE CYNOCEPHALUS - EMPLOYMENT OF GRECIAN ARTISTSHARP WITH TWENTY-ONE STRINGS -CAUSE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLES-ABA BDE CULTIVATORS -WORSHIPPING ON HIGH PLACES WADY MEDYK MANNERS OF THE NUBIANS WATER JARS FOR THE TRAVELLER -SHOOTING THE GAZELLE. Saturday, Jan. 19. Gherf Hussein. CCLXXXI. CONTINUING our voyage, we arrived, in the course of the morning, at Dandoor. The temple, to visit which the traveller pauses at this place, stands on the western bank, near the foot of a rocky hill, at a short distance from the river, and is surrounded by extensive heaps of hewn stone, showing that other buildings formerly existed there. In front of the propylon are the remains of a large court wall, round which, from its appearance at the top, where the stones were formerly connected by clumps of metal, I conjecture a peristyle, or colonnade, originally extended, affording to the priests an agreeable shady walk. There being no opening towards the river, it must have been entered by side doors. - 388 TEMPLE OF DANDOOR. The propylon is lofty and narrow, but was certainly not connected laterally with the great court wall. It has the ordinary ornaments; indeed, there is nothing remarkable in the façade of the temple. The architrave of the pronaos is supported by two columns, with lotus capitals and small plinths, rudely adorned with sculpture; and the intercolumniations are built up half way. Two small side doors lead into the pronaos, one on the north, close to the columns; another on the south, close to the cella. Among the sculptures we could nowhere discover the figure presenting two doves to Osiris, mentioned by Burckhardt; and that of Harpocrates (or Horus, as he terms it), with his finger pointing to his lips, appeared to us no way remarkable*; indeed Monro considered it even more stiff than ordinary. In the sekos there is no sculpture of any kind, excepting on the frieze surrounding the doorways; but, in the adytum, opposite the entrance, there is a kind of tablet, on which a figure in alto rilievo, and numerous hieroglyphics, were once visible. Their remains still exist; yet this is supposed to have been originally a The conjectures and reasonings of Burckhardt on sculpture and architecture should, in general, be allowed but little weight. The temple of Dakke seemed to him superior in many respects to that of Philæ; and in speaking of this edifice of Dandoor, he says, "The temple is, in general, extremely well built, and the sculptures are of the best times, though I conceive it to be posterior in date to the temple at Philæ, from a visible decline both in the architecture and sculpture." The acumen which enabled him at the same time to discover that the sculptures were" of the best times," notwithstanding the "visible decline" observable in them, is somewhat overstrained; yet it must not be forgotten that it is to him we owe the first notice of many of these edifices. THE SILK TREE. 389 doorway leading into a chamber behind, where, it appears to me, no chamber could ever have existed. The exterior walls are adorned with the figures of the popular gods. On the northern side, however, the sculptures were never completed; and, indeed, the whole temple appears to exhibit marks of haste, imperfection, and a declining taste; which, with few exceptions, may be said of all the temples of Nubia, the whole of them being of more modern date than those of Egypt. CCLXXXII. Returning to the river, we continued our walk along the shore, where we saw the peasants watering their wheat-fields with the sakia; a much less laborious contrivance than the one mentioned above. The whole breadth of the cultivated country does not, in this part, exceed seventy or eighty yards, beyond which the rocks and sands of the desert commence. Here we observed numerous specimens of the Asheyr, or "silk tree," bearing a large fruit like a love apple, with a rind very thin and easily broken; the interior of which, in its unripe state, is filled with a juice white and thick as buffalo's milk, but, when ripe, with a fine, soft substance, white and shining, like flos silk. These beautiful filaments, when perfectly dry, the Nubians use as tinder, and the Bedouins twist into matches. In the hands of an ingenious people they might, perhaps, be woven into fabrics more lustrous and delicate than the spoils of the silk-worm; and, for the purpose of making the experiment, I collected a small quantity to be carried 390 APPLES OF SODOM. with me to Europe. Nothing can be more beautiful than the fruit of this tree in size greatly exceeding an orange, and of a soft green colour, tinged on the sunny side with a ruddy blush, and covered with a hoary down and a bloom resembling that of the peach, it hangs among the pale foliage, tempting the eye from afar. Yet frequently, while all its external loveliness remains, it is found, when broken, to contain nothing but dust and ashes. May not this, therefore, since the tree abounds in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, be the celebrated "apple of Sodom?" * Describing the shores of the Dead Sea, with their ruins, barrenness, and volcanic character, Tacitus observes, "cuncta sponte edita, aut manu sata, sive herba tenus aut flore, seu solitam in speciem adolevere, atra et inania velut in cinerem vanescunt."— Hist. 1. v. c. 7. Upon which M. Burnouf has the following note:-" Cymodocée, tourmentée d'une soif dévorante, cueille sur un arbrisseau un fruit semblable à un citron doré; mais lorsqu'elle le porte à sa bouche, elle le trouve rempli d'une cendre amère et calcinée.” — Martyrs, liv. 19. D'abord Tacite, sans doute d'après Josèphe, généralise une observation que tous les voyageurs appliquent à un seul végétal, fameux sous le nom d'arbre de Sodome. Quelques-uns révoquent en doute l'existence de cet arbre, et disent que ce prétendu fruit n'est qu'une image poétique de nos fausses joies. Un autre décrit l'arbuste, qui, selon lui, ressemble à une aubépine, et dont le fruit est une petite pomme d'une belle couleur. Hasselquist prétend que ce n'est ni un arbre ni un arbuste, mais le solanum melongena de Linné (l'aubergine), dont le fruit est quelquefois rempli de poussière, mais seulement quand il a été attaqué par l'insecte nommé tenthredo. Le voyageur moderne Seetzen dit avoir vu, sur un arbre pareil au figuier, des fruits ressemblant à la grenade, et remplis d'une espèce de coton; il pense que ce pourraient bien être là les fameuses pommes de Sodome. Enfin M. de Châteaubriand lui-même croit avoir trouvé, vers l'embouchure du Jourdain, le fruit tant cherché. "Il est tout-à-fait semblable en couleur et en forme au petit limon d'Egypte. Lorsque ce fruit n'est pas encore mûr, il est enflé d'une sève corrosive et salée; quand il est desséché, il donne une semence noirâtre, qu'on peut comparer à des cendres, et dont le goût ressemble à un poivre amer." |