Chapter XIV: Appendix: No. I

_Observations on F. Horneman’s Description of the Country and Antiquities of Siwah, with Reference to ancient Accounts of the_ Oasis, _and_ Temple of Ammon. _By Sir William Young, Bart. Secretary._

The papers alluded to in Mr. Horneman’s Postscript have never been received; and nearly two years having elapsed since the date from which our expectation was referred, the above more summary account of his Travels (as probably the only one extant) is offered for perusal. Opportunities of correspondence from the interior of Africa can rarely occur, but by the caravans passing at certain, but distant, periods of time; and even by such conveyance, any communication from an European and Christian traveller, must be conducted with so particular a caution in avoidance of offence to the bigotry and prejudices of the people, that Mr. Horneman’s intentions of again writing may not only have been delayed, but wholly precluded, by the circumstances of his situation. The necessity of sustaining the character of a Mussulman unconnected with those termed “the Infidels of Christendom,” is strongly impressed in his letters from Cairo, Aug. 31, 1798, wherein he earnestly deprecates even inquiry concerning him, as liable to awaken jealousies and suspicions in the natives who may be so questioned; and any farther communications at present, from himself, may be matter of similar apprehension.

Under these considerations, it is become a duty to his public-spirited employers, that such curious intelligence as their traveller has already given, should no longer be withheld, even in its present state, and for which they will make a just and candid allowance.

It is however presumed, that the Reader will not have found in perusal of this Journal, that there is much which may require his favour or excuse: yet some details appear to need explanation, and which (if a reference to the traveller himself were possible) might be given in a manner the most clear and satisfactory.

In default of such advantage, the Editor offers an annotation or comment on two subjects of peculiar interest, treated of in this Journal, and in a manner apparently incorrect, or contradictory to accounts given by other writers.

Page 15; the extent of the Oasis of Siwah, (as represented by Mr. Horneman) differs widely from that stated by every other writer ancient or modern.

Page 23; the admeasurements of the sacred Egyptian building appear to vary in every proportion from those given by a late traveller of allowed accuracy, Mr. Brown.

In the first instance, it is the purpose of the Annotator to ascertain the error, and to shew whence it has arisen.

In the second case, he will have to place the subject in a point of view, by which an apparent variation in the two accounts may not only be reconciled, but even matter of new and just inference, as to the ancient construction and purpose of the building in question, be shewn to arise, from the very elucidation which corrects and compares these differences.

Page 15; Mr. Horneman states “_the principal and fertile territory of Siwah to be fifty miles in circuit_:” in this he disagrees with every account given by the writers cited by Mr. Rennell, and with that latterly given by Mr. Brown, who, in conformity with the descriptions by other authors, states the extent of the Oasis, or fertile spot, to be six miles in length, and four miles and a half in breadth; not exceeding eighteen miles in circumference at the utmost. It will further appear that, in this respect, Horneman is not only at variance with the writings of others, but with his own, and that his own journal furnishes the strongest internal evidence in refutation of the fact he asserts.

Horneman names all the towns within the territory of Siwah,—_Scharkie_, _Msellem_, _Menschie_, _Sbocka_, and _Barischa_, and he places all these villages, or towns, within _one or two miles_ of Siwah the capital, which proximity could not be the case, if the rich and fertile land extended each way sixteen miles in traverse, as a circle of fifty miles implies. On a small and most fertile tract of country, surrounded on all sides by barren and sandy deserts, the rich and productive soil infers a population commensurate with, and in proportion to, its extent. Diodorus Siculus tells us, that the ancient Ammonians dwelt κωμηδὸν, _i. e._ vicatìm. (Ed. Wesseling, Tom. II. p. 198.) And so too the people at present (on grounds probably of convenience and defence against the Arabs of the Desert) appear to live chiefly in towns; and hence those towns must have been more distant, as more widely diffused over so great a space of country from its very character and description, to be supposed in every part occupied and appropriate. Society must have gathered and increased till it fully covered a country of such _exclusive_ fertility and means of subsistence. Generally, increase of population is to be measured by the means of subsistence; and in converse of the proposition, whatever of country was productive and habitable situated as the Oasis of Siwah, must be considered as inhabited and turned to account: the general reasoning and estimate of increase of people is further strengthened by the special argument of probable resort, from the barren yet partially inhabited districts which encompassed it.

Horneman’s description of the territory of Siwah tallies with, and confirms, the speculation: he represents the country as consisting of so many gardens walled or fenced on every side, and cultivated with so nice attention and labour, and with such care in irrigation, that the water directed in various cuts and channels from each spring, was in no case suffered to flow beyond the territory; but was made to lose and expend itself in the cultivated grounds of the Siwahans: and he describes the people as a swarm, and their residence as a crowded hive.

Let us now advert to his more particular enumeration of these Siwahans, and to the practicability of such number (as under any computation can be supposed labourers in the field) being competent to work the ground of fifty miles in circuit, with the nice agriculture he describes.

Horneman states 1500 warriors, or _men bearing arms_, as the _data_ for estimating the population of the country: he must mean to say, _men capable of bearing arms_, or there are no _data_, and he means nothing. Calculate a population on the widest latitude from such data, and apply it to a well-cultivated district of 127,360 square acres, and there will not be more than one cultivator to at least 50 cultivated acres: for the women, our journalist has otherwise engaged. They (as he tells us,) are employed in manufacture, and chiefly in that of wicker-work and baskets, which they work with great neatness and ingenuity. These statements carry self-contradiction. These lands cannot be so extensive, or cannot be so cultivated.

Thus from Mr. Horneman’s own account, we may infer, that the rich spot of country termed the Oasis of Siwah, must be of much less extent indeed, than that which he directly states.

Observing particular expressions in the Journal relative to this subject, the cause of error may possibly appear. The traveller says, “the territory of Siwah is of considerable extent; its principal and most fertile district is a well watered valley of about fifty miles in circuit, _hemmed in by steep and barren rocks_.”

Now, referring to other descriptions of the fertile district or Oasis of Siwah, it is to be remarked, that such rich and productive spot of country is no where described, as _immediately_ bounded and hemmed in by steep rocks and mountains. Diodorus, lib. xvii. speaking of the Oasis of Ammon, says, it was surrounded on all sides by barren and arid sands: so too, Mr. Brown mentions the fertile soil or Oasis, of from four miles and an half in breadth, to six in length, as bordered and encompassed by “_desert land_;” intimating _plain_. In truth, it is such desert border of plain, which further on is bounded by rocky mountains. Mr. Horneman appears to have made no excursions from the town of Siwah, further than _of a mile and a half_ to the ruins, and _of one mile_ to the catacombs of _El-Mota_. From all these considerations, it may be surmised, that our traveller looking from Siwah, or its adjacencies, to the hills or rocks surrounding him at a distance, comprized in his estimate of rich country, the whole intermediate plain, not having directed due inquiry or consideration in the ascertaining of, to what extent within the area of that plain, the rich and cultivated soil might reach? Or, perhaps, he _did_ make enquiries; but of some patriotic Siwahan, who thought proper to exaggerate the richness and extent of his petty commonwealth, and confirm his hyperbole, by pointing to the lofty boundary in view: or, perhaps, from not sufficiently understanding the dialect of Siwah, (as the traveller himself allows,) he may have confounded the ideas of _country occupied_, and of _territory claimed_.

Be these surmises and explanations founded or not, our journalist’s representation of the extent of the Oasis of Siwah, is not only at variance with every other account, but with the internal evidence to be extracted from his own account, and must be rejected as erroneous.

Page 23, of the Journal, to which this note refers, a further subject of inquiry and explanation occurs, where Mr. Horneman, describing the ruins of an ancient edifice in the vicinity of Siwah, gives us dimensions and proportions, in every respect differing from those before stated by Mr. Brown, in description of the same building.

The length in feet. The width. The height.

By Mr. Brown, 32 15 18

By Mr. Horneman, 30 to 36 24 27

Mr. Horneman informs us, that he was successively interrupted on entrance into the area of these ruins, and was altogether prevented by the jealousy of the natives, from pursuing any plan of accurate examination or admeasurement. The dimensions which he gives us, are therefore to be taken as the result of computation on mere view; and from these and other circumstances, it is further to be presumed, that such computation by view, was made _from without_; whilst Mr. Brown expressly tells us, that he took his measurements _in the clear_, or _inside_ of the building.

In this case, a deduction equal to the thickness of the walls, is to be made from the length and the breadth of the building, as described by Mr. Horneman.

The thickness of the _end_ walls may be supposed to be much less than that of the _side_ walls, which being constructed to support the vast and ponderous blocks of stone which formed the roof, must have been built with a proportionate strength and solidity, not necessary, and probably therefore not used, at the entrance or end of the building. Mr. Horneman, indeed, when stating the thickness of the walls to be _six feet_, makes no such discrimination; but it may be fairly presumed, that adverting particularly (as he does,) to the massive roof, he meant to note exclusively, the strength of that part of the fabric by which it was supported.

Under such probable conjecture, the length and breadth of the building given by Mr. Brown _from the inside_, and by Mr. Horneman _from the outside_, may so far agree, as fully to exculpate our Journalist from any charge of inattention in his survey, or inaccuracy in his representations; making those allowances which his situation and circumstances, and (above all,) his own declarations of want of precision, fully intitle him to.

The comparative height of the building is a part of the subject, which suggests matter of new and interesting investigation.

Page 23, Mr. Horneman informs us, “_that the northern part of the building is erected on a native calcareous rock, rising about eight feet above the level of the area, within a circumvallation_,” which he particularly and exclusively describes, and which will be a subject of further dissertation. He then mentions, “that two vast stones of the roof have fallen in from the southern part of the building, and lay with their bottom nearly on a level with the plain of the outward enclosure;” and he was thence led to conjecture, that the base or floor of the southern division, was originally lower than that of the northern end.

The difference in measurement or estimate of height stated by the two travellers, strongly corroborates the fact.

It may be premised, that when an object is of no great altitude, an estimate of height may be made on mere inspection or view, with much more accuracy than any other line of dimension. A comparison with known objects, the stature of any human figure near, nay, the very person of the observer himself, will furnish a sort of scale for reference, by which he may compute from four to five times his own height with considerable precision.

A difference so great as that of from eighteen to twenty-seven feet in estimating the altitude of the building at Siwah, could not occur between two the most hasty and inaccurate observers, in noting the height of the same object. The object itself, therefore, must be considered as different; and in the one case, to be that of the _wall within_, and in the other case, that of _the temple from without_.

Mr. Brown taking his measurements in the clear, would ascertain the perpendicular of the wall from a part of the pediment or floor, the most clear and perfect; and this was, at the northern end. The dilapidations in the southern part of the building, do not appear to have attracted his notice in any other consideration, than as mere ruins: and merely as such, the unequal and broken surface would not be preferred for placing a rod in measurement to the summit, or from whence to look up and make a calculation of height. Mr. Brown accordingly measured the height from a proper base at the northern end, and found it to be eighteen feet. It has been already cited from the journal of Mr. Horneman, that the northern end was built on an isolated rock, rising eight feet above the plain of the general enclosure. The top of the wall from north to south, must have run on a level, and in a direct line: and the actual building of the southern part must have been eight feet higher than that of the northern end; and the entire building _from without_ must have appeared, and in truth, have been, twenty-six feet high, even to conform with Mr. Brown’s description from within.

The two travellers in other points agree, as to the architecture of the building, and sculpture on the walls, concurring in proof, that it was of the highest antiquity, and of Egyptian origin.

The division of the edifice exclusively noticed by Mr. Horneman, may give some further indication of its use and purpose, and perhaps may be found to strengthen the conjecture, “that these are the very ruins of the once famous oracular temple consecrated by the _Egyptian_ Danaus, to the divinity of Ammon.”

The writer of this note will on no account, and in no degree, discuss the position of country, within which the renowned temple of Ammon was erected. He considers that question as concluded, and for ever set at rest, in the acute and learned comment on the Geography of Herodotus, by Mr. Rennell. The facts, the arguments, and the inferences stated in that admirable work, indisputably shew the Oasis of Siwah, to have been the Oasis of Ammon. The precincts are thus narrowed, within which our researches are to be directed, for ascertaining the locality, and even the very remains of the temple itself: and this concurrent circumstance will be held in mind, whilst certain details in the description given us of the ruins discovered at Siwah, are examined and brought to the test, by reference to such few particulars as are recorded by ancient writers concerning the temple of Ammon.

The general description of the materials, of the architecture, and of the sculptures, may render it unnecessary to prolong this essay, by discussing the question of _when_, and _by whom_ was the building erected? Those who may yet entertain a doubt, that it was a most ancient Egyptian edifice, are referred to the writings of Norden, of Pocock, of Lucas, and above all, to the treatise of Major Rennell above cited. The annotator ventures to assume the fact; and merely add, τὸ μὲν τέμενος φασὶν ἰδρύσασθαι Δαναὸν τον Αιγύπτιον. Diod. Sic. Tom. II. Ed. Wesseling. page 198.

So much as to the building and its antiquity being taken for granted; the following comment will advert to circumstances exclusively noticed by Mr. Horneman, and which may lead to further inferences, as to its original purpose and designation.

First, In ascertaining the supposed remains of an oracular temple, vestiges of the _adytum_, would be an object of particular research: and perhaps such may be discovered in that part of Mr. Horneman’s description, where he mentions _the different levels of the basement or floor of the ancient edifice at Siwah_.

Hen. Steph. in Thesaur. art. “Adytum,” ἄδυτον, locus secretior templi, ad quem non nisi sacerdotibus dabatur accessus, nam ex eo oracula reddebantur.

The _adytum_, was not only a recess, rendered secret by the reverential awe which forbad approach of the vulgar; but was actually a kind of _crypt_, or place of concealment: among the prodigies forerunning the victories of Cæsar in Asia, “Pergami in _occultis_ ac remotis templi, quæ Græci ἄδυτα appellant, tympana sonuêre. Bell. Civil. lib. iii. cap. 105.

In the itinerary of Pausanias, the ἄδυτα of the oracular temples appear to have been sunk beneath, and under the basement or floor of the building. This was so generally the case, that in _Bœoticis_, the word _adytum_ is used as synonymous for the _cave_ of Trophonius. _In Corinthracis, cap._ i. the entrance and passage to the adytum of Palæmon at Chronium, is represented as subterraneous; ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλο ἄδυτον καλούμενον, κάθοδος δὲ ἐς ἀυτὸ ὑπὸ γεως. edit. Kuhn. p. 113, and in the _Achaicis_, the entrance of the adytum of the temple of Minerva, at Pellené, is from under the base of the statue of the goddess, and the recess is hyperbolically represented, as penetrating to the very centre of the earth.

The purposes of these crypts, or concealed recesses in the oracular temples, may readily be surmised: and to conduct their oracle with proper mystery and imposition of respect, was a necessary policy in the priesthood, to prevent any visit or examination of these hallowed places: the hand of the deity was denounced as punishing the trespasser with instant death. Of the many examples that offer, we will take one from _Egypt_: Pausanias in _Phocicis_, mentions, “That a Roman Prefect having from impious curiosity, sent a person to inspect the _adytum_ of Isis at Coptos, the unhallowed intruder was struck dead on the spot.

The oracle was given _ex adyto_.

· · · · isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat.

Virg. Æn. l. ii. v. 115.

It was given too _imo adyto_, or as others express it, from the _depth_ of the adytum.

Nec dum etiam responsa Deûm monitusque vetusti

Exciderant, voxque ex adytis accepta _profundis_

Prima,—“Lycurge dabis Dircæo funera bello.”

Stat. Theb. l. v. 645.

Diod. Sic. lib. xvii. says, that when Alexander required an oracle from Ammon, the chief priest retired back to the sanctuary or holy place, and gave the answer, _ex adyto_; so the Latin version of Wesselingius expresses it: in truth, there is no Greek word in the original, immediately corresponding with _ex adyto_; yet the priest retiring εις σήκον, _i. e._ to the fane or secret recess of the temple; his giving the oracle from such secret recess may be implied.

Applying the accounts of the _adytum_ to the building under consideration, it may be observed, that to form such recess, the rock rising in the centre of the enclosure described at Siwah, offered a peculiar accommodation to the architect. The soil around is represented as wet and marshy, and not therefore suited to excavation. The erecting the Προνὰος, or forepart of the temple, on the elevation of the rock, admitted of the interior end or _penetrale_ being built over a crypt, or artificial cave of eight feet deep, suitable to the purpose and mysteries of an oracular temple.

The entrance to the ancient edifice described by Mr. Horneman was to the north; and from the northern end or division of the building there was a descent of eight feet, in coming to the southern or interior extremity.

Whether anciently the pavement was level and continued, “covering _the adytum_ as a cave;” or whether it was an open vault or recess, from which the priest (as mentioned by Diodorus) might utter the predictions of the oracle unseen by the vulgar; in either case the construction may agree with the ideas to be derived from ancient authority, of the oracular Fane of Ammon; and more strongly warrant a conjecture, that the ruins described by Horneman, may be those of that renowned temple.

Secondly, Mr. Horneman, observing on the rude and stupendous architecture of the building at Siwah, says, “_that he could in no part discover any mark or trace on the walls, of their having been incrusted or lined with marbles, or of any ornament having been once affixed_.” Indeed the building appears not to have been large, and could little admit of such.

Niches, or pedestals were not required; the most ancient Egyptian temples had no statues: Lucian says,—τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν καὶ παρὰ Αἰγυπτίοισι αξόανοι νηοὶ ἔσαν· edit. Bourdelot. p. 1057. The sole interior decoration of the ancient Egyptian temple at Heliopolis, described by Strabo, was a rude sculpture on the walls in the _old Tuscan_ taste, apparently similar to that observed by Mr. Horneman on the walls at Siwah. Strabo’s words are,—ἀναγλυφὰς δ᾿ ἔχουσιν οἱ τοῖχοι οὗτοι μεγάλων ειδώλων ομοίων τοῖς Τυῤῥενικοῖς, καὶ τοῖς αρχαίοις σφόδρα των παρὰ τοῖς Ελλησὶ δημιουργημάτων· edit. Casaub. p. 806. This, and the indications of rude simplicity observable in the remains of the ancient building at Siwah, may thus strengthen the conjecture that it was the one sacred to Ammon. Diodorus, Arrian, and Curtius, all indeed talk of gold and ornaments, and even of a statue in procession, displayed on the visit of Alexander: but Strabo directly taxes Callisthenes (and therewith those writers who followed him) with exaggerations and additions, introduced to do honour to their hero. Edit. Casaub. p. 813.

The poet Lucan, in his description of the Temple (and its being a _fiction_ will be taken _in aid of the argument_), states the people of Lybia to be “beati,” i. e. _rich_; and he had all the gold of Africa before him, if the general account and actual knowledge of this temple at the time he wrote, could have bore him out in a luxuriant description of its splendour and magnificence. From this he appears to have abstained, in deference to fact and to what was generally known, of the _rudeness and simplicity_ of this holy place. His being a poet thus strengthens his authority, whilst he _foregoes the splendour of description specially suited to his genius_; and gives up matter too of fine poetical contrast, with the simple and pure morals and religion of his Cato. He had no other inducement but truth when he says,

“Non illic Libycæ posuerunt ditia gentes

Templa, nec Eöis splendent donaria gemmis

Quamvis Æthiopum populis Arabumque _Beatis_

Gentibus, atque Indis, unus sit Jupiter Ammon:

_Pauper adhuc deus est_; nullis violata per ævum

Divitiis delubra tenens, morumque priorum

Numen Romano templum defendit ab auro.”

Lucan, lib. ix.

The Temple of Ammon further may be presumed, to have been of small dimension. When Alexander alone enters the building, it is mentioned by his historians, that such exclusive permission was a mark of high respect; but Strabo further informs us, that all who attended on Alexander, “_heard_ the Oracle _from without_:” ἔξωθὲν τε τῆς θεμεστείας ΑΚΡΟΑΣΑΣΘΑΙ πάντας πλὴν Αλεξάνδρου, Τουτον δ᾿ ἔνδοθὲν εἶναι. edit. Casaub. p. 814. The Oracle given from the extreme recess of the interior, (to which the priest retired for the purpose, as before cited from Diodorus), could be heard and distinguished from without, only under supposition, that the entrance was at no great distance from the adytum, and the temple, of course, not large.

Thirdly, It is exclusively stated by Mr. Horneman, that _the building at Siwah is situated in the centre of an inclosure, surrounded at some distance by ancient foundations of a strong and massive wall_. Not to lengthen this note by unnecessary citations, it may be sufficient to refer generally to the Itinerary of Pausanias, wherein scarcely a temple is mentioned throughout Greece, without noticing, at the same time its inclosure and circumvallation: and even the sacred grove, distinctively from the temple, was often surrounded by a wall, as was that of Venus _in Eliacis_, cap. xxv.

These walls may be considered, in one respect, as marking the boundary of the holy ground; but further, they were built with a view to protecting not only the sanctity, but the wealth too of the temple.

The statues were often of gold and ivory; and the offerings of golden shields and goblets, and other votive presents, given by those who consulted the oracles, formed a treasure considerable in proportion to the character and renown of the sacred place. Cicero, in his accusation of Verres, notices that the treasures of a state were often deposited too in sanctuaries, not only as protected by the abhorrence of sacrilege, but by the strength of the place: thus the general subsidies collected by the Athenians, at the close of the Persian wars, were kept in the Parthenon; and the wealth pillaged from the temple at Phocis, by Philomelus, and which occasioned the holy war, was immense. On these accounts the greater temples were often placed in actual fortresses. The Temple of Minerva at Syracuse, was in the Ortygia; the Parthenon of Athens, in the Acropolis; the Roman Temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol; and the Editor, when in Sicily, remarked the circumvallations inclosing the temples at Selinunté, and the almost impregnable situations of those at Agrigentum and Segesté.

The foundations of ancient circumvallation at Siwah may thus be considered, in some degree, as indications of the origin and purpose of the building within the inclosure.

The Ammonian temple was certainly surrounded by a strong wall; “triplici muro circumdatum,” as Diodorus, lib. xvii. and Q. Curtius, lib. iv. cap. 7, both inform us. Curtius uses the word _munitio_, and the Ἀκρόπολις, _or arx_ of Diodorus, answers in description to the mount of Siwah itself; and the temple of Ammon being represented as being erected within the third or more distant inclosure of wall, its distance from the citadel may well correspond _with that_ of the ruins in question, from the town of Siwah.

Horneman further informs us, that the ancient building which he describes, stood in the _centre_ of the area, and partly on a rock; and at the same time observes, that the ground generally throughout the area was broken and dug up in search of treasure; from which may be inferred that formerly there were _other buildings_ within the inclosure. On this head it is almost unnecessary to cite ancient authorities; it will appear from a view of the well known ruins in Greece, Sicily, and the Magna Græcia, &c. that the ancients often availed themselves of one and the same circumvallation, and erected different temples within the general inclosure; so, in the Achaicis of Pausanias, cap. cxx. the temples of Minerva and of Diana Laphia are within the same boundary of wall, without enumerating the many other instances in that curious journal; or to the three temples actually remaining at Pæstum, &c. within the inclosure of one and the same wall. In reference to the subject more immediately under consideration, the _Ammonian temples of Juno and Mercury_ were in high repute with the Greeks, as mentioned in the Eliacis, p. 416, edit. Kuhn: and these temples were probably within the same inclosure as that of Ammon. The temple of Ammon being the principal, might be supposed to be erected in the _centre_ and _on the rock_, which strong foundation may have in part yet preserved it, whilst the foundations of the others more easily dug and broken up, have brought those edifices low to the ground; and hence the very materials (as we are told) have been carried away, and no vestiges remain but of the area of the earth having been disturbed and heaped, as the work of search, dilapidation, and pillage was carried on.

Fourthly, Mr. Horneman was shewn, at the distance of half a mile from the ruins, “_a spring of fresh water, which takes its rise in a grove of date trees, and in a most romantic and beautiful situation_.”

This description precisely answers to that of the _Fountain of the Sun_, mentioned by ancient writers: and the distance from the chief temple too, seems to agree. “Haud procul arce _extrinsecùs_ alterum Hammonis fanum jacet, quod multæ arbores proceræ inumbrant, et _fons proximus est_, ὀνομαζομένη Ἠλίου κρήνη·” Diod. Sic. Tom. II. p. 199. So too Curtius, “Est etiam aliud Hammonis nemus; in medio habet fontem; _Aquam Solis vocant_.” Lib. iv. cap. 7.

Thus far the merely descriptive accounts agree. If a further point can be ascertained, it will be conclusive, and the beautiful spot visited by our traveller, be identified as that of the Fountain of the Sun, situated _extrinsecùs_, or without the inclosure, in which stood the principal temple of Ammon.

The water of the Fountain of the Sun was, at different periods of each twenty-four hours, successively _hot_ and _cold_: “Aquam enim habet, cum horis diei miris subinde vicibus re variantem. Nam sub lucis ortum tepidam emittit. Die hinc progrediente pro horarum succedentium ratione, frigescit. Sub æstum vero meridianum frigedo ejus summa est. Quæ rursùs parili modo remittit usque ad vesperam. Tunc appetente nocte rursùs incalescit, ad mediam usque noctem, ubi exæstuat. Exinde calor sensìm deficit: donec unà cum exortâ luce pristinam teporis vicem recuperârit.” Diod. Sic. Tom. II. edit. Wesseling, p. 199.

Mr. Horneman appears to have made no inquiries on this curious subject; but tells us, that having asked, “if there was any spring of fresh water near?” he was shewn to the one he describes, undoubtedly the _nearest_, and probably the same as seen by Mr. Brown, who says, (p. 24 of his Volume of Travels), “that one of the springs which rise near the ruins described, is observed by the natives, to be _sometimes cold and sometimes warm_.” Mr. Brown does not appear to have considered the Oasis of Siwah as that of Ammon. He had no favourite discovery to set forth and confirm by particular remarks and circumstances: he had not an interest in his account of the changeable temperature of this spring, but that of truth. The periodical variation from hot to cold, and from cold to heat, may rather, therefore on his relation, be assumed as fact; and be taken as a matter of proof concurrent with the grove, the spring itself, the distance from the ruins, and the beauty of the situation, _all_ answering to the descriptions of the _Fountain of the Sun_, given by ancient writers, and, in reference to the ruins, rendering the conjecture more probable, that they are those of the Temple of Ammon.

Fifthly, Mr. Horneman says, “that the material of which the building is constructed, is a limestone, containing _petrifactions of shells and small marine animals_; and that such stone is _to be found and dug up in the neighbourhood_:” so too Strabo tells us, p. 49, that sea fossils and shells were spread on the Oasis of Ammon; κατὰτὴν μεσόγαιαν ὁρᾷται πολλαχου κόχλων καὶ ὀστρέων καὶ χηραμίδων πληθος, καὶ λιμνοθάλαττοι καθάπερ φησὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερον τοῦ Ἄμμωνος. Strabo, p. 50, further noticing the marine substances scattered on the Oasis of Ammon, cites Eratosthenes, supposing that the sea once reached to that interior spot of Africa, and supporting his conjecture by observing, that the oracle could not anciently, and in the first instance, have been so renowned and visited, if difficult of access, by being far _inland_. Casaubon’s version expresses it, “fortassis etiam Ammonis templum, aliquando in mari jacuisse, quod nunc maris effluxu sit in mediâ terrâ; ac conjicere se, oraculum illud optimâ ratione tam illustre ac celebre factum, esse quòd in mari esset situm, neque ejus gloriam probabile esse tantam potuisse existere, quanta nunc est, si tam longè fuisset a mari dissitum.” P. 50. The poet follows the geographer’s idea, and derives a fine sentiment for the mouth of Cato.

Numen · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

· · · · · · · · · · steriles nec legit arenas,

Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum.

Pharsal. lib. ix. v. 576.

Now, taking the simple fact, the stones with which the Temple of Ammon was built, might be supposed to contain _fragments of marine animals and shells_, such as those mentioned by Horneman. For the rest, Strabo’s (or rather Eratosthene’s) conjecture is scarcely admissible.

The Libyan Ammon had long been venerated in Greece, and throughout the then civilized world. A subordinate temple was consecrated to Ammon in Laconia, and the god was yet more anciently worshipped by the Aphytæi. Paus. Kuhn, p. 293. Another temple was raised to Ammon in Bœotia, and in which Pindar dedicated a statue of the god; and the same great poet wrote a hymn to the Lybian deity, and sent the copy to its priesthood in Africa. Bœotica, p. 741. So anciently and so highly as the oracle of Ammon was revered, and so much as it was resorted to by the most enlightened nations of Greece, Asia, and Egypt, the circumstance of its once having been situated on the coasts of the sea, could not have escaped tradition or direct historical account, if such had ever been the fact.

The above remarks are with deference submitted to the reader, as adding probability to the conjecture, that the ruins seen by Mr. Horneman, in the vicinity of Siwah, may be the actual remains of the _ancient oracular temple of Ammon_.

Having in the above comment cited a passage from the _Pharsalia_, not as authority, but for purpose of inference; and having further adverted to a sentiment attributed to the philosophic hero of the poem, in reference to the inland and sequestered situation of the temple of Ammon; the annotator is induced to close this essay with a version of the admirable speech of Cato at length, as deriving a peculiar interest from connection with the subject under discussion, appearing to terminate, (and leave as it were, in ruins,) the superstitions of the oracle, with the fabric of its temple.

Lucan tells us, that Cato approaching the Fane of Jupiter Ammon in Lybia, was requested by Labienus to demand of the oracle,—“What was to be the fate of Cæsar?—whether Rome was to be enslaved or free?—and in what consisted virtue, &c. &c.”

Cato, (his spirit flaming high, as e’er

From Ammon’s fane burst forth in prophecy)—

Spoke from his heart,—the sacred shrine of truth!—

“What wouldst thou, Labienus?—should I ask,

If being free, that freedom I’d resign?

If I would die,—before I’d be a slave?

If life is nought,—when measur’d but by years?

If evil can affect the good;—or whether

The threat of Fortune’s lost upon the brave?

If to deserve well is enough?—or if,

Desert is yet dependant on success?

All this I know:—Ammon can’t tell ME more!

We all depend on God:—(his priest and oracle

Silent) His will is known, nor does he need

A voice, but that within the breast of man:

Our duties are implanted on our births!

The God of Nature ne’er confin’d his lessons

Here, to the few;—or buried his great truths

In Afric’s sands.—Is not HIS HOLY PLACE,—

At once all earth, sea, air, and heav’n, and virtue?—

God is, whate’er we see,—where’er we move!

Let those who doubt, go ask at yonder fane

Their lot?—not knowing how they’d act, or feel.

No oracle confirms, or moves, _my_ thoughts;

—Makes nought more sure:—I know I am to die,

And this doth make me sure,—of how to live!

The coward and the brave, the bad and good

Alike must die!—and God declaring this,

Made known to man, all man requires to know!”

Thus Cato spoke,—turn’d from the hallow’d fane

In faith and virtue satisfied; and left

Ammon, to Ammon’s votaries,—the people.

W. Y.

_Ille Deo plenus, tacitâ quem mente gerebat,_

_Effudit dignas adytis è pectore voces:_

_“Quid quæri, Labiene, jubes?—an liber in armis_

_Occubuisse velim potiùs, quàm regna videre?_

_An sit vita nihil, sed longam differat ætas?_

_An noceat vis ulla bono?—Fortunaque perdat_

_Oppositâ virtute minas,—laudandaque velle_

_Sit satis, et nunquam successu crescat honestum?_

_Scimus; et hoc nobis non altiùs inseret Ammon._

_Hæremus cuncti Superis, temploque tacente,_

_Nil facimus non sponte Dei: nec vocibus ullis_

_Numen egit: dixitque semel nascentibus auctor_

_Quicquid scire licet; steriles nec legit arenas_

_Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum._

_Estne Dei sedes, nisi terra, et pontus, et aër,_

_Et cœlum, et virtus? Superos quid quærimus ultrà?_

_Juppiter est quodcunque vides, quocumque moveris!_

_Sortilegis egeant dubii, semperque futuris_

_Casibus ancipites: me non oracula certum,_

_Sed mors certa facit: pavido, fortique cadendum est._

_Hoc satis est dixisse Jovem.” Sic ille profatur_

_Servatâque fide, templi discedit ab aris,_

_Non exploratum populis Ammona relinquens._

Lucan, lib. ix. v. 564.

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=POSTSCRIPT.=

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=POSTSCRIPT.=

It may be satisfactory to his Employers and to the Public, to receive some further account of Mr. Horneman, on termination of the travels more immediately the subject of his Journal.

By a letter from Mr. Horneman, dated at Tripoly, August 19, 1799, it appears, that on coming to Mourzouk, the end of October, 1798, he was informed that a caravan was preparing to set out for Soudan in three divisions, of which the first was to depart in three days after his arrival. The period fixed for departure of the last division, allowed time for the necessary preparations, and Mr. Horneman had intended to proceed with it on a journey to the Agades and Cashna; but informations he afterwards received induced him to alter his purpose. He was told that the caravan was likely to meet with obstruction or attack in passing through a country of the Tuaricks, then at war with Fezzan; and he observed that the caravan consisted wholly of black traders, from whose intercourse or connection he was not likely to derive either useful consequence or patronage, which might facilitate his friendly reception with the Moors of interior Africa. These and other circumstances induced him to forego the present opportunity, and with the less regret, as, at no distant period, a great caravan was expected from Bornou, with which, on its return, he might travel to the greatest advantage. Whilst remaining at Mourzouk, himself and his servant Frendenburgh were seized with the country fevers: Horneman recovered, but his servant died.

On the re-establishment of his health, Horneman found that some months yet must elapse before the caravan could be expected from Bornou: and in the interval of public resort from the arrival or passage of the caravans, Mourzouk affording no further objects of curiosity or interest, he determined to proceed to Tripoly, for the purpose of transmitting to the Committee of the African Association, such intelligence as he had hitherto collected in their service. He arrived at Tripoly, after a journey of two months, about the middle of August; transacted the business he had in view, and on the 1st of December, 1799, set out on his return to Mourzouk, where he arrived January 20th, 1800.

Two letters from Mourzouk have been since received, and at date of writing the last, Mr. Horneman was on _the eve of setting out with the caravan for Bornou_; and with intention from that remote kingdom to prosecute further discoveries to the westward, and in the heart of Africa.

The letters from Mourzouk are as follow:

“SIR, “_Mourzouk, February_ 20, 1800.

“I left Tripoly the 1st of December, 1799, and arrived here (the capital of Fezzan) January 20th, 1800, after a safe and good journey, though protracted and slow. I am in the best health, and with fair probability of its continuance.

“The route from hence to Soudan, is not yet secure enough for me to undertake proceeding by way of the Agades.

“There is now at this place, a Shereef of Bornou, a man of sense, and very much considered by the Sultan of that country. I have made him my friend, and it is in his company I shall depart from this place about the 15th of March for Bornou, whence in the months of August or September, I think to reach Cashna, distant from Bornou about fifteen days journey.

“I shall write as often as opportunity offers, that at least some letters may arrive for your information, and the tranquillity of my family.

“I remain, with great esteem,

“SIR,

“Your most obedient,

“FREDERICK HORNEMAN.”

_Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, K. B. President of the Royal Society, &c._

“SIR, “_Mourzouk, April_ 6, 1800.

“Our caravan is on the point of setting off for Bornou, myself shall join it in the evening.

“Being in an excellent state of health, perfectly inured to the climate, sufficiently acquainted with the manners of my fellow-travellers, speaking the Arabic language, and somewhat of the Bornou tongue, and being well armed and not without courage, and under protection of two great Shereefs, I have the best hopes of success in my undertaking.

“The Soudan caravan left this place about a month ago; I did well not to join it, as some time past a number of Tibbo were seen hovering, with an intention of attacking that caravan.

“Being the first European traveller undertaking so long a journey in this part of the world, _I will not put my discoveries to the hazard, by exposing myself to the casualties of long and unnecessary residence and delays in any one place_, and propose staying no longer at Bornou than till the month of September, when I shall proceed to Cashna with the great caravan, which always about that time of the year sets out from Bornou for Soudan.

“I cannot yet decide on my further procedure on leaving Soudan, or Cashna, but you may depend on my best intentions and wishes to give full satisfaction to the Society.

“Consider this letter as the last for this year, or perhaps as the last before my arrival at some port on the coast of Africa. March the 24th I sent a long letter from Tripoly, and being by a good opportunity, have no doubt of its arriving safe.[12]

“In addition to what I stated in my letter of the 24th of March, I have to observe, that in the small-pox, the application used here to preserve the eyes of children, consists of what they term _samsuc_, (tamarinds,) and _zurenbula zigollan_, (onions,) and this with good effect, as I am told.

“I have more particularly made inquiry respecting venereal disorders, and can confirm what I before wrote, that salts and coloquintida, (in Arabic _handal_) are specific remedies for that disease in this country, and used in the manner I described.

“From every information I can collect, the natives of Fezzan are not susceptible of venereal infection more than once in their lives. It is singular, that notwithstanding there is a great difference as to the nature of this disease, between poxes brought here by the caravan from Soudan, and by those from Tripoly and Cairo, yet never (or at least very seldom,) can a man get these two sorts one after the other in the course of his life.

“Some days past I spoke to a man who had seen Mr. Brown in Darfoor; he gave me some information respecting the countries he travelled through, and told me, that the communication of the Niger with the Nile was not to be doubted, but that this communication before the rainy season was very little in those parts; the Niger being at the dry period reposing, or _non fluens_.

“Not long ago, the same custom was observed at Bornou as in ancient times at Cairo, ‘a girl very richly dressed, was thrown into the river Niger.’

“Comparing my enquiries as to Soudan, and its communication with the western and south-western coasts of Africa, it must lay generally by the way of Nyffé and Jerba, and be twelve times greater than that between Fezzan and Soudan.

“I recommend myself to your remembrance, and assuring you of my great esteem, am

“SIR,

“Your most obedient,

“FREDERICK HORNEMAN.”

_Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, K. B. President of the Royal Society, &c._

Mr. Horneman, previous to setting out for Bornou, had availed himself of the intimacies he had formed with intelligent pilgrims and merchants of the Egyptian caravan, and with others at Mourzouk, who were natives of, or had traded to, different regions of Africa, to collect every possible information respecting the countries he was about to visit; and, together with his Journal, transmitted the following result of his enquiries.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 12: It never came to hand.]

INTELLIGENCE
CONCERNING THE
INTERIOR PART OF NORTH AFRICA.

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