With Mr. Bankes in his voyage upon the Nile into Nubia

When, upon the pacification of the city [Cairo], the gate of the Frank quarter was again thrown open, and free ingress and egress permitted, I resumed my habit of frequenting it, having several friends there among the Italians and others, but none in the number whom I esteemed more than François Barthow, who was, I believe, a French subject born in St. Domingo. Entering one day into conversation with me, and ending that I was not at this time under any engagement, he proposed to me that I should accompany him into Upper Egypt, adding that my passage and living would be free of all expense, and that I might expect some remuneration besides, for that he was to make the voyage upon the Nile with an English gentleman of fortune, in the capacity of his guide and interpreter. I made no difficulty in acceding to this proposal, feeling a very strong curiosity to visit Upper Egypt, which I had never yet seen, so that I got my little matters in order, and within three days was ready to set out.

A large vessel had been hired by the month, and furnished with what was necessary for the purpose, it being the English traveller’s intention to continue always upon the river, stopping or diverging from it only at those points where objects of antiquity and interest present themselves. This traveller was Mr. Bankes, whom I saw for the first time upon my coming on board (September 16, 1815). He had visited all the south of Europe, and speaking Italian as fluently as I did Arabic, he made as frequent use of me in his communications with the natives as of Barthow himself; besides whom there were now in his service Antonio D’Acosta, a Portuguese, who had followed him through most of his travels, and an Arab of Alexandria, named Haleel, who had been engaged as interpreter upon his first landing, and had already made with him the fatiguing journey from Cairo to Mount Sinai and back again, in the interim required for the outfit of our boat: so that I was at this time the fourth in his suite.

In ascending, we stopped only at such objects as were considered of the most paramount interest, or when the wind failed us, which is, however, a circumstance of rare occurrence during the rising of the Nile, it usually blowing at that period strongly and steadily from the north both day and night; so that, since of necessity we must come back by the same course it seemed advisable to profit by it, and to defer the more frequent delays for our return.

The twelfth day from our embarkation brought us to Thebes, where we anchored for ten days, the ophthalmia depriving Mr. Bankes totally of sight during that time. Afterwards, as we approached the Cataract, we sailed through the most remarkable cloud of locusts that I have ever seen. They were passing over from the westward, and seemed rather to fall through the air, like a driven snow-storm, than to fly with any guidance of their own, lighting indiscriminately upon land or water as it happened. Our vessels and clothes were covered with them; and the poor natives of Elephantina and Assouan (Syene) were standing in their fields and gardens, upon piles of earth and stones, endeavouring to keep them off with the same shrill cries, and slinging of pebbles, which they usually employ against the birds in harvest time.

Since the large vessel could not pass the Cataract, and it was the intention to proceed much higher up, it was necessary to hire a smaller of the Nubians, for so are called all who live beyond Assouan.

We accordingly went from thence a few miles over-land, till we came opposite the Island of Philae, where the new boat was got ready for us, which was as rude as it was diminutive, the planks being only pegged together without any nails; it had one ragged sail of blue cotton; and, as there was nothing answering to a cabin, a mat of palm leaves had been bent over it like a sort of arbour. The crew consisted of only two men, and one boy, who was entirely naked, with the exception of a little covering about his loins.

The space being so confined, none but Mr. Bankes slept on board. Both he and François Barthow had retained their European dress, and since that country is very thinly inhabited, the curiosity which their appearance excited among the natives occasioned no great inconvenience, and we even received some tokens of compliment and hospitality.

One of these was very singular: as we lay at anchor, an old man came forward of himself with a palm branch in his hand, of which he had frayed out all the leaves into slender filaments, and had attached to each of them a living locust. He ascertained who was the chief of our party, and presented to him this uncouth offering. We could not discover whether this was any usage of the country, or only a caprice of his own; but upon our inquiring what was to be done with these insects, he replied that they were to be eaten, and, at our request, cooked them for us himself, first pulling off their wings, and then frying the remainder in butter, which we found crisp to the taste, and not wholly unlike a shrimp.

This dainty was never offered to us in any other instance; but in our walks along the river side we found the wings scattered in a manner that gave proofs of its furnishing no very uncommon repast; Derr may be considered the capital of Nubia, and had reverted only the year before to the government of its native princes, by the retirement of the Mamlouks (who had usurped it for a time) further up the Nile to Dongola. These native princes¹ were three brothers, and bore the title of Cashief; one of them, a gross, corpulent man, but much less dark than the usual hue of his countrymen, received us at his palace, which was built of unbaked brick, and smeared here and there with red and white paint.

He spoke in terms of friendly recollection of Mr. Lee and Mr. Smelt, who had preceded Mr. Bankes thus far up the Nile, and had paid him a visit some months before; he sent a present on board of three sheep, and a sack of dates from Ibrim, that are highly esteemed for their quality and size, and in return received soap, gunpowder, and candles, at his own request, preferring them to articles of European manufacture which had been brought for him.

Map

We went no higher in our boat than Wadi Halfa where the second cataract begins; but a ride upon camels carried us about half a day’s journey beyond it to Wadi Aumki, a spot of no particular interest, except that it was the farthest we attained to in that journey. We were flow to trust altogether in our return to the current of the river, or to our oars occasionally; so the mast and sail were accordingly laid aside as useless, and we were landing almost continually, wherever there were tidings or expectations of any vestiges of antiquity, and I soon grew so accustomed to see Mr. Bankes drawing and noting from them, that I began to take some interest in the sight of them myself.

There are ruins near Wadi Halfa, but much buried in the sand². At Addé, on the east bank, is a flue chamber in the rock with columns, and but a little lower down on the opposite side are the two wonderful excavations of Abousombul, of which the smaller³ was very perfect and entire, and could be entered; but a drift of sand from the desert had covered so great a portion of the larger temple, that no vestige of a door was at that time to be seen, nor any thing of the four great colossal figures, beyond the bust of one of them, of which the dimensions however were so vast, that when I stood upon a level with the necklace I could hardly reach the beard, and one of our sailors climbed and sat astride upon the ear; yet the countenance, seen at its proper distance, appeared very beautiful.

Mr. Bankes had a longing desire to have uncovered more of this monument at this time, and often spoke of it afterwards.

Ibrim⁴ is very unlike most other situations upon the Nile, being perched upon a very bold rock, in the perpendicular face of which are some small painted chambers, so difficult of access, that our traveller was drawn up into them by a rope round his body.

There are antiquities at Derr and Amada, and at Seboueh an avenue of sphinxes and upright colossal statues leads to a temple buried in sand almost to the roof.

Ruins and inscriptions are found also at Maharraka⁵, Gartaas, and Coshtonbé; and at Girshe is a suite of several large chambers in the mountain-side, the largest of which is divided by eight immense human figures into three aisles, and in the innermost are four smaller figures in a sitting posture, with an altar before them. This excavation, with the great platform and remains in front of it, seemed to me to be what is best worth seeing in all Nubia, after Abousombul⁶.

The workmanship in the temples of Dâkké⁷, Dendoor, and Tayfa (Taphis), is very neat and minute; but the scale of them is inconsiderable; and they seem to have been left unfinished. That at Kalapshé is much larger, and has both sculpture and inscriptions, but is strangely beaten to pieces⁸: not far from it is a temple in the rock, where the natives have a tradition that there were formerly human sacrifices, and believe this to be the occasion of the remarkable redness of the soil about it.

The ruins at Debode (Parembola) are still further down, and brought us within a few hours of Philae.

That beautiful island being covered with ancient remains, Mr. Bankes, upon his return to it, established himself there for some days, in a very diminutive temple that is used as a dwelling-house, and by the light of his candles at night found an inscription in it that had never been observed up to that time⁹. It was also during this short stay that he first brought to light the granite pedestal of the obelisk¹⁰, which has more than twenty lines upon it in the Greek character; this was buried altogether below the surface; but the probable position of it was conjectured from the obelisk lying near the spot, and search was made there accordingly. Some steps were taken, even then, towards the removal of this monument; but, for want of proper tackle, it was abandoned for that time.

The only risk, or sign of ill-disposition, on the part of the inhabitants, that occurred above the cataract, was in this island, where, in Barthow’s absence (who was gone to refit the boat for us below), I had remained alone with Mr. Bankes, but was not always at his side during his researches. One morning a small crowd had collected round him whilst he was drawing in the portico of the principal temple, and one of the number became very importunate and troublesome in demanding a present, and at last even thrust his hand across the paper, in token that the work should not proceed without it; this rudeness had produced some irritation; and when, upon hearing the stir, I came in, I found that the Nubian had drawn his little crooked knife, which is worn buckled upon the left arm, and was holding it in the most menacing position.

I was putting my hand to my pistols (for Mr. Bankes himself went unarmed), and the natives were beginning to take part with their countryman, when, luckily, Barthow appeared in sight upon the shore opposite, accompanied by the Cashief of Assouan, who came thus far to do honour to the stranger, and to the recommendation with which he was furnished by the Pasha of Egypt.

The sight of such a person in authority, with soldiers about him, was sufficient not only to put an end to all disturbance, but to send off every inhabitant precipitately from the island, – all, with one accord, throwing themselves into the water; such among them as had clothes, rolling them up upon their heads, some swimming, and others paddling along astride upon their logs of wood, till they reached the further bank, and got into hiding-places.

The cashief offered to take any vengeance on them that should be required; but, as the matter had not gone beyond a menace, there was no occasion to pursue it further: so we mounted the asses that had been brought for us, and rode under his escort to Assouan, where we resumed our larger vessel, which had been left in the charge of the faithful Antonio.

There was now an additional person in our company on board; – a Nubian, of the name of Husseyn, had made himself useful in the upper country, in our communications with the natives, and was upon his way towards Cairo upon his own account; it being very usual, with that race of people, to go into service there, and, though they do not pass for having any quickness of parts, they are found so faithful and trusty as to be commonly selected for door-keepers throughout that great city; they often continue in this capacity, only three or four years, and then will return, with their little earnings, to settle in their own poor and destitute country. Husseyn’s object was to obtain a situation of this description; and glad, therefore, of his food and passage, he continued with us all the way, and was very active and obliging.

Sometimes, when our descent was obstructed by the strong north winds, our whole crew would form themselves into a circle upon the bank, and perform a sort of religious mummery, shaking their heads and shoulders violently, and uttering a hoarse sobbing or barking noise, till some of them would drop, or fall into convulsions. Meantime, being myself very fond of sporting, I used, in those opportunities, to take my gun, in pursuit of wild geese upon the river, or partridges in the desert.

During our stay at Philae, we had explored a larger island opposite to it, where there are ruins, and another on which we discovered the half of a very little temple cut out of a single block of granite; we also visited from thence the ancient quarries of that material, from whence it is thought that the obelisks were cut.

Elephantina is scarce a stone’s throw from Assouan, a delightful cultivated island, with two small temples upon it at that time, both since destroyed; but there is no place where the peasantry, by scratching among the ruins and sifting the dust, still find a greater number of little objects of antiquity. At Assouan, also, there were then remains, that have since disappeared; nothing remarkable is now left there but a very early Mahommedan burial-ground, that is held in veneration, in which the characters on the tombstones are not the same with those now in use (the character is what is called the Kuphic).

We visited Derawi, the village where reside the chief conductors of the slave-caravans, from Darfur, and there tasted booza, a fermented and intoxicating drink made from grain, of the nature of beer.

Map

At Comombo (Ombos) are two temples, one very large, and with the painting upon it very perfect; at Silsily, immense ranges of antique quarries. Below these is Edfou¹¹, with a temple that is visible across the flat to a great distance, and so vast and entire, that there are inhabited cottages standing upon the roof: another, on a much smaller scale, is near it. Two, also, are in and near the village of Esné¹², and have the zodiac in their ceilings. We stopped next to examine that at Herment, and soon after found ourselves at Thebes, where the quantity and scale of the remains on both sides of the river are truly astonishing; and since even a very cursory survey would require many days, we remained stationary there for some considerable time. Our rambles even commenced one morning at daybreak, for there is an old story or superstition, that a sound proceeds from one of the two enormous sitting figures in the plain at the moment when the sun rises, and Mr. Bankes, therefore, chose that hour for visiting them; I need scarcely add that we heard nothing¹³.

The head, which had been broken off by the French from a much smaller colossus, and which has since been brought to England, was then lying near its trunk, among some ruins in the same portion of the old city. Sheik Ibrahim’s description of this to Mr. Bankes¹⁴ had given him so ardent a desire for removing it, that he had even brought with him a proper rope, with pullies and machinery, for the purpose; but difficult such an operation must be, and after seeing upon the spot how long, and having no person whom he could leave to superintend it, the project was abandoned, and he contented himself with removing from the great temple on the other bank of the river (called Karnak), two lionheaded sitting figures, of black granite¹⁵, and very heavy. He purchased also, during his stay, a remarkably large papyrus¹⁶; and when he had seen all the buildings and catacombs, we proceeded in our descent.

The temple at Dendera, even after Thebes, is striking; and there is a great one at Araba Medfoon, which is almost disappearing in the sand.

We found a Bey resident in Echmim¹⁷, with a sort of hereditary jurisdiction; and paid our respects to him, as well as at the convent there, where there was one Catholic friar; but in our return to the boat, we were insulted by the populace, it being the fair-time, and they engaged in one of their fanatic dances, so that they took great offence at the sight of the European dress, and at being looked on by infidels, which obliged us to a hasty retreat. This was the only instance in which we met with any incivility in Egypt, so strict is the protection afforded to strangers by Mahomet Ali.

At Sheik Harredy there is some superstition about a serpent, supposed to reside there; but I could find nothing but a small Turkish building, like the common tomb of a Santon.

Speaking, however, of snakes, brings to my mind an incident which ought to have been mentioned during our stay at Thebes; for it was there, in the portico at Gournou, that an itinerant juggler, with a long leathern bag full of hooded and horned serpents, and a case also stocked with large living scorpions, found us, and exhibited those tricks which I had often seen before in Cairo, of making them bite and sting him without any effect; but (what was new to me he offered afterwards, for a very small consideration, to make others as invulnerable as himself, and Mr. Bankes jokingly acceded to the proposal: upon which a white powder, which I believe to have been only chalk, was administered, and some words muttered over him; the teeth and stings of the reptiles were then put into action, and though blood followed the puncture, there was neither pain nor swelling; as I found also myself, when I submitted afterwards to the same mummery: the secret being, no doubt, that the venom is by some process previously extracted.

This story continue here

from Narrative of the Life and Adventure of Giovanni Finati native of Ferrara
by Giovanni Finati, 1830

Notes

¹ They are said to be descendants of Bosniac soldier, sent up to reduce the country for Sultan Selim, but who contrived to establish there an hereditary power for themselves from that time.

² It will be seen in a following Chapter, that an excavation was afterwards made here that brought to light a large extent of building.

³ In the sanctuary of this lesser temple is a representation that I have seen no where else. The Queen foundress (who is conspicuous in every pert) is apparently making an offering to herself in her deified capacity, at least the same oval designation is represented over the goddess, as over the female votary standing before her.

⁴ A temple (probably a small one) seems to have been perched nobly at Ibrim (Primmis) over the river; a part of a little double headed propyleum yet remains, which indicates the position.

⁵ Sometimes called Oofedina. It is the ancient Hiera-sycaminon (holy sycamore-tree). The particular tree to which some legend was attached, is most probably represented on the wall there, where Isis and Horus are seen sitting under the shade of one, sculptured in a style that has very little resemblance to the Egyptian; but certainly of a late period.

⁶ Perhaps, in deference to its scale and extent, we must concur in this criticism; but, although not of an earlier period than Abousombul, the execution and proportions are infinitely more rude. It is a curious proof of the durability of wood-work in that climate, that from this temple, unquestionably a work of Sesostris, I took two dove-tails of that material cut of the colossal figures that seemed coeval with the excavation; and, though as light as touchwood had lost nothing of their form, nor crumbled at all upon the touch (as the timber fragments do at Abonsonbal).

⁷ Dekke is Pselcis. There is a curious rock, not far from it in the desert, covered with votives. The temple was dedicated (as appears by the inscription) to the Egyptian Mercury, and the germ o the Greek caduceus may be seen in his hand.

⁸ Talmis. This small excavated temple (of the age of Sesostris) may be considered one of the best specimens existing of the early (time best) Egyptian sculpture.

⁹ Interesting, as mentioning the two Cleopatras (successively wives of Ptolemy Lathurus), the same who are addressed on the pedestal of the obelisk.

¹⁰ Belzoni notices this facts, page 201; but was mistaken if he meant to signify that no complete copy was made of this most interesting inscription at the time of discovery.

¹¹ Apollinopolis. No temple of the Piolemaic dynasty is more beautiful or more entire than this. It is always matter of astonishment to me, that, vast as the buildings of that flourishing period were, there is not, to my knowledge, a single historical sculpture to be seen on any one of them, but all purely mythological and dedicatory. Whereas, in the earlier edifices, very few exist that do not present some representation of real life, and feats of war.

¹² I never could imagine what Denon saw in the sculpture of the portico of this temple, to make him consider it the ne plus ultra of Egyptian art. He can have examined it with but little care, for the forms are lumpish, arid, the details, though minute, are far from being either clean or sharp in point of execution: which, indeed, constitute very visible marks of distinction between the works of the early Egyptian times, as compared with the later; this particular temple, and that mentioned next after it, being among the very last.

¹³ The reader will easily perceive, that the great Memnon statue is what is meant in this passage; and I am of opinion, that it is by no means impossible that some sound may proceed from it by the variation of atmosphere, since, morning after morning, I have observed that effect produced in the portico at Philae; where the stones, as they warm or cool, give a crack like that of a panel, or that (to which the ancients compared the statue’s voice) of a harp-string.

¹⁴ Belzoni mentions this, p. 22. If the print in Norden be consulted, it will there be seen plainly, that the statue was in his time quite entire, and lying prostrate on its face; the bust seemed to have been blasted o from it with gunpowder.

¹⁵ Belzoni afterwards found several others (and in better preservation) for Mr. Salt.

¹⁶ It is not very remarkable for its length (not me a suring above nine feet), but exceeds in breadth any other that I have ever happened to see; it had the singularity also of never having been rolled, but only folded on the breast of the mummy.

¹⁷ Panopolis, where a huge stone or two, and part of an inscription, are the only remains of a temple which, the Nubian geographer tells us, exceeded all others that were remaining on the banks of the Nile in his time (comparing it particularly with Dendera and some others). It was, indeed, likely enough to be so, for Strabo tells us, that here lived the principal stone-cutters of Egypt.