That nearly all
the monuments of Thebes belong to a period anterior to the Persian
conquest, B.C. 525, and that among them we must look for the oldest
and most genuine specimens of Egyptian art, is clear, both from the
character of the monuments themselves and from historical records; nor
is this conviction weakened by finding the name of Alexander twice on
part of the buildings at Carnak, which will prove no more than that
a chamber might have been added to the temple and inscribed with his
name; or that it was not unusual for the priests to flatter conquerors
or conquerors' deputies by carving on stone the name of their new
master. Thebes was the centre of Egyptian power and commerce, probably
long before Memphis grew into importance, or before the Delta was made
suitable to the purposes of husbandry by the cutting of canals and the
raising of embankments.
[In a note to this passage, it is stated that "Herodotus has given
no description of Thebes. Denon several times quotes Herodotus
for what is not in that author. But this is so common, even with
people who have claims to scholarship, that it has become almost
a fashion to say that any thing is in Herodotus." So that the
audience of Lord Goderich with the late King, as described in the
_Edinburgh Review_, in the Herodotean (or _says_ he and _says
she_) dialect, is no great license.
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