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
en c lo surean d 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
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