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AMERICAN MONTHLY

MAGAZINE

Of Literature and Art.

EMBELLISHED WITH

MEZZOTINT AND STEEL ENGRAVINGS, MUSIC, ETC.

WILLIAM C. BRYANT, RICHARD H. DANA, JAMES K. PAULDING, HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, N.
P. WILLIS, J. R. LOWELL, HENRY W. HERBERT, GEO. D. PRENTICE.

MRS. LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY, MISS C. M. SEDGWICK, MRS. EMMA C. EMBURY, MRS. ANN S. STE-
PHENS, MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY, MRS. A. M. F. ANNAN, ETC.
PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS.

GEORGE R. GRAHAM, EDITOR.

VOLUME XXXIX.

PHILADELPHIA:

GEORGE R. GRAHAM, 134 CHESTNUT STREET.

1851.

A

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
SHELDON FUND

JULY 10, 1940

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THYATIRA was a city of Lydia, on the borders of [ Mysia: it is said to have been a Macedonian colony. During the wars of the Greek kings of Syria it underwent various changes, and finally surrendered to the Romans under Scipio. St. Luke informs us that Lydia was "a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira," (Acts xvi. 14;) and the discovery of an inscription here (among the very few remains which have survived the destroying hand of time) which makes mention of " the dyers," has been considered important in connection with this passage. At the present time this place is celebrated for dyeing.

Modern Thyatira, by the Turks called Ak-hissar, or the White Castle, is a large town, situated on a plain, about twenty-seven miles from Sardis. "The appearance of Thyatira, as we approached it," says the Rev. I. V. J. Arundell, was that of a very long line of cypresses, poplars, and other trees, amidst which appeared the minarets of several mosques. On the left a view of distant hills, the line of which continued over the town." The population is estimated at three hundred Greek houses, thirty Armenian, and about one thousand Turkish. There are nine mosques and two churches.

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RUINED TEMPLE OF ISIS, IN ETHIOPIA. ETHIOPIA Proper, which comprises the modern | a wall two-thirds of their height, forming a gateway, countries of Nubia and Abyssinia, lying to the south of Egypt, is frequently mentioned in the Prophetic Writings in conjunction with the latter country. This is particularly the case in the denunciation against both countries in Isa. xx., Ezek. xxx. 1-20, and in Ezek. xxix. 10, (marginal rendering,) in which last passage we read, "I will make Egypt waste from Migdol to Syene," or Assouan, on the confines of Ethiopia, which prediction was fulfilled by the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar: and the magnificent ruins which yet remain attest how literally Ethiopia has "fallen."

One of the most interesting memorials of ancient art in this country is the ruined Temple of Isis, at Ghertasher, which place is variously called Gortas, Gartaas, and Kardassy, or Khardassy, by different travelers, who have endeavored to transmit, by writing, the names of places as they were pronounced to them by the natives. The name Kardassy is applied to about six miles extent of country, throughout which (Sir Frederick Henniker states) are visible the foundations of many buildings, that would, if completed, have rendered it a city of temples. The remains of the temple delineated in our engraving are situated on the western bank of the Nile, not many miles above Assouan: they consist of six beautifully finished columns, with enriched capitals. Two of them, facing the north, which are seen on the right hand of our view, are engaged in

they have quadrangular capitals, supported by the head of Isis, represented with cows' ears, as at Denderah. The faces are well preserved, and have the peculiar form, the prominent eye, and soft expression of the lip, which generally characterize the Egyptian statues, and of which a living model may now and then be found among the Egyptian women of the present day. The other four columns, two on the west and two on the east, are also engaged in a wall half their height. The capitals vary, but are of the lotus form: two of them have the grape and wheat-ear in relief under their volutes. The columns stand on circular bases, and the foundation of the whole is partly seen. The architraves, entablature, and part of the cornice remain. The shafts are about three feet in diameter, and about ten feet apart. The north front is thirty feet, the east and west is thirty-six feet. On a column of the north front are characters, much defaced, of a Greek inscription; on the other column are characters, none of which could be traced by Captain Light. A little to the north of these ruins are quarries of sandy freestone, containing not fewer than one hundred Greek inscriptions, with busts placed in the niches which are cut in the face of the rock. The purport of these inscriptions is, that the individuals named therein had come there to worship, and had presented offerings for themselves, their wives and children, and their friends.

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