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CHAP.

V.

Mexican
Pyramids.

them'. In AMERICA, pyramids were built in this manner by the antient inhabitants of that great continent. That those pyramids were also temples, is true; because all antient sepulchres were objects of worship, and tombs were the origin of temples. The Spaniards, when they first arrived in Mexico, found pyramids as temples there; but they were SEPULCHRES. Gage describes one of these': "It was," says he, "a square mount of earth and stone, fifty fathoms long every way, built upwards like to a pyramid of Egypt, saving that the top was not sharp, but plain and flat, and ten fathoms square. Upon the west side were steps up to the top." By the account Gemelli gives of the Mexican Pyramids at Teotiguacan (signifying, in the language of the country, a Place of Gods, or of Adoration), they were erected, like the EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS, for sepulchres. The first he saw was a Pyramid of the Moon, about one

(1) See Vol. III. of these Travels, p. 73. Octavo edit. A dog is often represented upon the sepulchral Stélæ, as a type of the Egyptian Mercury. This Deity appears upon Egyptian monuments, represented by a human figure with a dog's head.

(2) See Vol. II. of these Travels, p. 75. Octavo edit.

(a) Survey of the West Indies, Chap. XII.

(4) Travels, lib. ii. c. 8. Part 6.

Lond. 1677.

"It was

CHAP.

V.

hundred and fifty feet in height.
made," he says, "of earth, in steps, like the
Pyramids of Egypt;" and on the top of it was a
great stone idol of the Moon. The Pyramid of
the Sun was about forty feet higher, and upon
the top of it a vast statue of the Sun: And as
these pyramids were erected for devotion, so
were they for sepulchres. The same author
further informs us, that within the Pyramid of
the Moon were vaults where their kings were
buried, for which reason the road to them is
called MICAOTLI, that is to say, The Way of the
Dead. Precisely, too, after the manner in which
the Pyramids of Egypt are surrounded by sepul-
chres of a more diminutive form, the Mexican
Pyramids have, as Gemelli tells us, "about them,
several little artificial mounts, supposed to be
burying-places of lords." Another instance of a
similar nature, and more remarkable for the
similitude it bears to the principal pyramid of
Egypt, was found in the same country, about
thirty years ago, by some hunters. This is the
great Pyramid of Papantla, mentioned by Hum-
boldt; for, in this, mortar may be discerned in the
interstices between the stones. It is an edifice of
very high antiquity, and was always an object
of veneration among the Mexicans. Humboldt

V.

CHAP. says "they concealed this monument, for cen turies, from the Spaniards;" and that it was discovered accidentally, in the manner that has been mentioned.

(1) Travels in New Spain, vol. II. p. 259.

[graphic]

Antient Peribolus of Saïs, formed by High Mounds of Earth, as seen from the Nile.

CHAP. VI.

GRAND CAIRO TO ROSETTA.

Monastery of the Propagandists - Marriage ProcessionVisit to the Reis Effendi-First Intelligence concerning the Alexandrian SOROS-Preparation for DepartureArrival of the Covering for the Caaba at Mecca Escape of four Ladies-Passage down the NileChemical Analysis of the Water and Mud of the River-Remains of the City of SAïs-Antiquities· Bronze Relics-Aratriform Sceptre of the Priests and Kings of Egypt-Hieroglyphic Tablet-Enumeration of the Archetypes-Curious Torso of an antient Statue -Triple Hierogram with the Symbol of the Cross-its meaning explained-Mahallet Abouali - Berinbal Ovens for hatching Chickens - Tombs at Massora Shibrecki

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VI.

Monastery

pagandists.

Shibrecki- Birds - Arrival at Rosetta- Mr. Hammer sails for England-State of Rosetta at this season of the year.

CHAP. AFTER our return to CAIRO, we visited the library of the Propaganda Society, in a monasof the Pro- tery belonging to the Missionaries, and found a collection of books as little worth notice as that of the Franciscans at Jerusalem. It consisted wholly of obscure writings on points of faith, the volumes being mixed together in a confused manner. From their appearance, it was evident they had not been opened by their present possessors. We were shewn some drawings of the Costumi of Caïro, which had been made by one of the Monks, very ill done, but worth seeing, as they contained a representation of every thing remarkable in the manner of the inhabitants of this city. The church belonging to the convent is kept in very neat order. The Copts have a place allowed them for baptism, near to the altar. The Coptic language is now preserved only in their manuscripts. We purchased a folio manuscript copy of the Gospels, finely written, which had the Arabic on one side, and the Coptic on the other. In the Coptic service of the church, the prayers are read in

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