The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1883-08-23

ground formerly occupied by the "Iseum
ct Serapeum" of the ninth region. Every
time excavations have been made on
either side of the lane, to build or to re.
store the houses which line it, some
beautiful specimens of Egyptian work
manship have been brought to light.
Considering that no excavations had
ever been made underneath the public
ground, and considering there was no
reason why, in the very center of such
promising land, other relics of the ia
nous sanctuary should not exist, asked
the Archaeological Municipal commits.
sion to try the experiment, and my pro-
posal was accepted at once. The works
began on Monday, the 11th-hard and
difficult works, because we had to dig to
depth of twenty feet between houses of
very doubtful solidity, propping every
thing on every side. First to appear, at
the end of the third day, was mag
nificent sphinx in black basalt, the por.
trait of King Amasis. 1t is a chief
d'euvre of the Saitic period, brought to
perfection in the smallest details, and
still more interesting for its historical
connection with the conquest of Egypt
by Cambyses. The cartouches bearing
the kings name appear to have been
hammered, although not so completely
as to render it unintelligible. The nose,
likewise, and the ureus, the symbol of
royalty, were injured at the same time.
The explanation of such circumstances
is given by Herodotus. When Cam
byses occupied SAILS, Amasis has just been
burned. The conqueror caused the body
to be removed from the tomb, TO be
hogyed and otherwise insulted, and
finally to be burned, the maximux of
proclamation from on Egyptian point of
view. His name was erased from the
monuments which bore it, d natural con-
sequence of the "memorI~ damnatio.
This sphinx is the surviving testimonial
of that eventful catastrophe. When, six
or seven centuries later, a Roman gov
ernor of Egypt. or Roman merchant
from the same province, singled out this
work of art to be shipped over to Rome
as votlve offer to the Iseum Campense,
ignorant of the historical value of its
mutilations, he had the nose and
"ureus" carefully restored. Now both
are gone again; there is no danger OF
second restoration. 1 may remark, as
curious coincidence, that as the name OF
Amasis is erased from the sphinx, so the
name of Hophries, his predecessor, is
erased from the obelisk of Minerva found
in the same Iseum. In these two monu-
ments we possess synopsis of Egyptian
history between 595 and 526 B. G.
The second work, discovered on June
18th, is an obelisk of red granite, in
scribed with hieroglyphics. The lower
portion only appears on the side of the
trench, and we are still anxious to ascer-
tain whether it is broken or not If the
monolith is entire, it will be of the same
size as the one in the Piazza della Ro-
fonda. The car-touches show the name
of Ramses H., the Sesostris OF the
Greeks. We thought at first that the
obelisk, like that Of the Pantheon, was a
Roman imitation, but Professor Schia-
parelli, the eminent Psychologist. who
came over from Florence at the first 10
tice of these extraordinary findings, con-
siders it to be an original work, which
would belong, accordingly. to the four
tenth century before the Christian era.
-Rodolfo Lanciani. in the Athen@um,
June 30th.