Chapter VI: Section V: Antiquities of Siwah

As we approached the spot destined for our encampment in the Vale of Siwah, I descried to the westward some ruins of an extensive building, a few miles distant from the road, and concluded them to be the same as noticed by a late English traveller, (Mr. Brown,) of whose discoveries I heard first in London, and afterwards, when in Egypt. Circumstances rendered it necessary for me to be particularly on my guard, and to defer any visit to, or actual inspection of, these antiquities, until I had retrieved the confidence of the natives, who, on my very first appearance, (as I was informed,) had taken me and my interpreter, for Christians; and to this supposition they were induced, from our fairer complexion, from our gait and manners, and from our Turkish dresses. When I took advantage of the disturbances at Cairo and its environs, to get introduced as a Mahomedan to the caravan, I could not indeed speak readily, either Turkish or Arabic; but in this, I flattered myself, the assumed character of a young Mameluke might be my excuse; and I further derived confidence from the experience and abilities of my interpreter, who (a German by birth,) had been forced, twelve years past, to embrace the Mahommedan religion at Constantinople, and whose address and knowledge, I hoped, might preclude, or extricate me from, any consequences of jealousy or suspicion.

Considering the importance of my mission, and the great purpose of exploring the whole of Northern Africa, with which I was entrusted, perhaps it had been more wise and prudent on my part, not to have exposed myself to general intercourse, until better qualified to sustain the character I had assumed; had I so done in the present instance, and abstained from visiting the curiosities of Siwah, and exposing myself in the novelty of the attempt, to examinations and suspicions, I might have avoided a danger which (as will appear in the sequel) nearly proved fatal to myself, and therewith to the object of my voyage.

Making such candid admission of not having the requisite forbearance, with objects of so just curiosity in view, I proceed to state the course of my inquiries, and the result.

I first visited the ruins of the extensive edifice before observed. I accosted some men working in the gardens near, and questioning them as to what they knew of this building, they answered, “that in former times Siwah was inhabited by infidels, most of whom lived in caves, but some inhabited these buildings.” One spokesman, pointing to a building in the centre, said, “tradition tells us, _that edifice_ was the hall in which the divan used to assemble; at time of its construction men were stronger than I am; for those huge stones serving as a roof to the fabric, were lifted up and placed there by two men only: there is much gold buried under the walls.” When I then entered into the ruins, I was followed by all the people near, and thus prevented examining the place with any accuracy. On a second visit I was not more successful; and when, after a few days, I returned thither again, some Siwahans directly said to me, “thou undoubtedly art yet a Christian in thy heart, else why come so often to visit these works of Infidels.” In order to maintain the character I had assumed, I was thus necessitated to abandon any further project of nice examination or admeasurement, and restrict myself to general observations, such as I now submit in detail as they occurred.

_Ummebeda_ (the name given to the site of those ruins by the natives) lies near a village called _Scharkie_ or _Agrmie_, between that place and an isolated mountain, on which a copious spring of fresh water is said to rise. The buildings are in such a state of delapidation, that a plain observer, who forms an opinion only from what he sees, and does not accommodate the object in application and conjecture to preconceived notions of a particular structure which he is to look for, and trace out, could scarcely, (I think) from these rude heaps, and mouldered and disjointed walls, suggest the precise form or original purpose of the building when first raised. Its materials might suggest, that it was built in the rudest ages, and when the Troglodytæ[7] of these parts first left their caves, and in their first attempt of building, took their scheme and plan of architecture from their old mansions, heaping rock on rock, in imitation of the dwelling places which nature had before furnished.

I ascertained the general bearings of the building by my compass, and found the outward walls constructed with aspects facing the four cardinal points, the aberration being only of twelve degrees, and which might have occurred from variation of the needle. The total circumference may be several hundred yards, and is to be traced out and followed by the foundations of a wall, in most parts visible, and which, from the masses remaining, appears to have been _very strong_. The outward wall, in most places, has been thrown down, and the materials carried away, and the interior ground has been every where turned up, and dug, in search of treasure.

In the centre of this extensive area, are seen the remains of an edifice, which perhaps may be regarded as the principal building,[8] and to which all around may have been mere appendage, and subordinate.

The northern part of this building stands on a native calcareous rock, rising above the level of the general area, within the outer walls, about eight feet. The height of the edifice appears to be about twenty-seven feet; its width twenty-four, and its length ten or twelve paces. The walls are six feet in thickness, the exterior of which within and without is constructed of large free stones, filled up in the interstice with small stones and lime. The ceiling is formed by vast blocks of stone, wrought and fitted to stretch over and cover the entire building. The breadth of each such mass of stone is about four feet, and the depth or thickness three feet. One of these stones of the roof has fallen in, and is broken; the entire southern wall of the building hath likewise tumbled, and the materials have mostly been carried away. But the people have not been able to remove the large fragments fallen from the roof, which their ancestors were enabled to bring from the quarry, and to raise entire to the summit of the edifice. Such are the vicissitudes of art, of knowledge, and of human powers and means, as well as of human happiness and fortunes!

The stones that have fallen, lie sunk, with their surface lower than the base of the yet standing part of the building, and their bottom almost on a level with the area of the great inclosure. The appearance of these fallen stones of the southern wall, leads to a conjecture, that this extremity of the original edifice had its floor or base _lower than that of the northern part_. The entrances to this building are three, the principal one to the north, and the others to the east and west. The inside walls (beginning at half their height from the ground) are decorated with hieroglyphics sculptured in relief, but the figures seem not to have been sufficiently engraved in _alt_, or _salient_, to resist the ravages of time and weather; and in some places they are wholly mouldered and defaced, and especially on the ceiling.

On different parts of the wall appear marks of paint, and the colour seems to have been green. I could no where discover traces of the edifice having in any part been lined or inlaid with a finer stone or material. A few paces from the chief entrance, I observed two round stones, of about three feet diameter, each indented, as if to receive the base of some statue or other ornament. The general material of which the building is constructed, is a lime-stone, containing petrifactions of shells and small marine animals; and such stone is to be found and dug up in the vicinity.

On examining the country around these ruins, I found the soil contiguous to the foundations of the outward wall on the south to be marshy, and was informed that it contained salt springs. I asked if no considerable spring of fresh water was to be seen near; and was shewn a fine rivulet of sweet water, about half a mile from the ruins, which takes its rise in a grove of date trees, and in a most romantic and beautiful situation: it is not, however, its delightful scene that recommends it to the native of Siwah, but an opinion that it is a specific against certain diseases.

I am conscious that the above description of the remains of antiquity near Siwah, is by far too cursory and incomplete, for any purpose of just and accurate inference; and that it must yet remain a mere conjecture, whether these ruins are those of the famous _Temple of Jupiter Ammon_. It must be obvious, from many points I have adverted to in my description, that I had the site of this renowned temple in view, and that it was a principal object of my research. Circumstances I was under, and of which the reader is already apprised, prevented my pursuing this great subject of just and learned curiosity with the nicety of inspection, and care in the consideration, which I could have wished to employ. Supposing, on reference to ancient writers, the comparison of the buildings not to bear me out in the idea which I entertain; yet on many other grounds I should contend, that Siwah had been a residence of the ancient Ammonites. I draw my conclusion from the relative situation of the country; from the quality of the soil, from its fertility; from the information of its inhabitants, that no other such fruitful tract is to be found any where near; and, in addition to the certainty, at least, that some great and magnificent building once here stood, I derive a further conclusion from the numerous catacombs to be found in the vicinity, and which I shall have occasion more particularly to notice. In regard to the memorable Temple of Ammon, should even my own description of the existing vestiges of building not accurately agree with general accounts of that edifice, yet, notwithstanding, I must continue to hold an opinion, from the general appearance and from the situation of those ruins, that they _may be_ remains of the _Temple of Jupiter Ammon_. A delineation and decipher of the hieroglyphic figures, which adorn the inner walls of the building, might be conclusive on this question.

I will further add on this subject, that on inquiry after _Edrisi’s Santrich_, no one knew it even by name; but I was told that at a distance of seven days journey from _Siwah_, six from _Faiume_, and two or three[9] from _Biljoradec_, there exists a country, similar to that of Siwah, its inhabitants less in number, and speaking the same language. That region I should take to be the _Minor Oasis_ of the ancients. I speak of this place from mere report, and could gain no more accurate, or further account; perhaps it lies among the mountains which traverse the great Desert near _Ummesogeir_, extending towards the south.

I come now to the subject of the _various catacombs_, to be found in the territory of Siwah, and which I was enabled more fully to examine, as lying in more sequestered spots, and where I was less liable to observation.

If I well understood my companion, an inhabitant of Siwah, there are four principal places, where catacombs are found. The first, _Belled-el-Kaffer_; the second, _Belled-el-Rumi_; both these terms, denote one and the same thing, namely, “place or town of infidels;” the third is, _El-Mota_, or place of burial; the fourth, _Belled-el-Chamis_, or _Gamis_. My inquiries were in particular directed to _El-Mota_, situated at the distance of about one mile north-east from Siwah. It is a rocky hill, with a number of catacombs on the declivity, but the most remarkable, are on the summit. There is a separate entrance to each, and the descent inwards is gentle and gradual. The passage from the aperture, leads to a door-way, from which the space of the room is enlarged, and on each side, are smaller excavations for containing the mummies. The stones rising from the threshold are cut in a form that shews a door to have been formerly hung, and to have closed the entrance. The catacombs are of different extent, and each is wrought with great labour and neatness of work, and especially the uppermost, which contains no traces of any mummy. In others are found various remains. I long, but in vain, searched for an entire head: I found fragments, and especially of the _occiput_ in abundance, but none with any investiture remaining; and even in the _occiputs_ most entire I could not discover any stain or mark of their once having been filled with _resin_. The cloth still adhered to some _ribs_, but so decayed, that nothing could be further distinguished, than that the stuff in which the mummy had been wrapt, was of the coarsest kind.

The ground in all these catacombs has been dug and explored in search of treasure, and I was told, by my guide, that in every one of these sepulchres gold has been, and is yet sometimes, found.

There is every probability that entire mummies might be discovered in the catacombs at a greater distance to _westward_ of Siwah. I was credibly informed, that besides the open catacombs on the mountains, there are others under ground, and the entrance of which is to be found at no great depth; and that _Biut-el-Nazari_, (houses of Christians, synonymous here to Infidels,) exist on both sides of a long subterraneous passage, forming a communication, between two catacomb-mountains. The catacombs met with on _Gibel-el-belled_, being the hill on which _Siwah_ is built, are small, and consist of a little antichamber, leading generally to two caverns where the mummies were deposited. Of these the two most remarkable are two large and high caverns on the north side; the one is twenty, the other sixteen feet square, and both are open to the north.

There are likewise two other caverns, of similar dimensions, but not so lofty, to be seen westward of _Siwah_, and leading to _Augila_; their entrance is low and narrow, and the two excavations are so near, that the partition, as appears from a small perforation, is only ten inches thick.

Quitting the subject of antiquities in the territory of Siwah, I have only to add, that in the nearest plain west of the town, there are other massive remains of some building, but which bear no token or note of remote antiquity, such as may be attributed to the ruins I first described.