Nubia and Abyssinia of the Present Day

RULES and REGULATIONS. 1.—The Library shall be open each Tue.«(iay and Friday Evening from 6J to S fi'clock. during which time only. Books will be given out or taken in by the Librarian. 2.—Xo member shall be permitted to take out more than one book afa time— and no book shall be kept out longer than four weeks, under a tine of5 cents for the first week, and 10 cents for each succeeding week, until four weeks beyord the time .allowed have expired; after which titr.e any fnriher de- tention should render the holder liable to be sued for the first I cost of such volume—or the whole set if the work crmprises more than one volum.e— together with the accumulated fines. 3.—Members shall be held responsible for the loss, soiling? tearing or defacing of books while in their care, and ^hal pay for such damage or loss as the Library Committee shall de- cide—no penalty to exceed the first cost of the booker series of books as the case may be. 4.—The Librarian has autbtrity to refuse to receive any book presented to him. which he has reason to suppose has been in any way damaged in the hands of the bolder—until the Library Committee shall have investigated and reported on the case to the General Committee. No member in arrears for fines, or whose case is being considered by the Library Committee in regard to the loss or damaee of a book, shall be allowed to take any volume from the Library. 5.—Any member returning a book, after bavins had it for four weeks, may asain take it out provided that no other member of the Institute desire the same volume. " observer" PRINT. ''~g I ^. ( NUBIA AND ABYSSYNIA. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 1854. > NUBIA / / AND ABYSSINIA: COMPRBBEMDINa THSIJl CIVIL HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, ARTS, RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND NATURAL HISTORY. BY THE REV. MICHAEL RUSSELL, LL.D., AUTHOR OF " View of Ancient and Modem Egypt," " Palestine, or the Holy Land," &c. ILLUSTRATED BT A MAP, AND SEVERAL ENGRAVINGS. 9-11^ ^t)^ NEW-YORK: \^* Harper &> Brothers, Publishers. 1854 ' #1 ff^'cê/X FKEFACE There is no countiy in the world more interest ing to the antiquary and scholar than that which was known to the ancients as "Ethiopia above Egypt," the Nubia and Abyssinia of the present day. It was universally regarded by the poets and philosophers of Greece as the cradle of those arts which at a later period covered the kingdom of the Pharaohs with so many wondeiful monuments, as also of those religious rites which^ after being slightly modified by the priests of Thebes, were adopted by the ancestors of Homer and Virgil as the basis of their mjrthology. A description of this remarkable nation, therefore, became a necessary supplement to the "View of Ancient and Modem Egypt," which has been some time before the pubhc* In tracing the connexion of the primitive people who dwelt on the Upper Nile, with the inhabitants of Arabia and of the remoter east, I have availed my- self of the latest information that could be derived from Continental authors, as well as from the volumes of such of our own travellers as have ascended above the Second Cataract. The work of Heeren on the * No. XXni. of the Family Library. 8 PREFACE. Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, possesses considerable value, not less on account of the ingenious riews which it unfolds, than for the happy application of ancient literature to the illustration and embellish- ment of the main hypothesis. The reader will be surprised at the extent and magnificence of the architectural remains of Nubia, which, in some instances, have been found to rival, and, in others, even to surpass the more celebrated buildings of Egypt. It will no longer be denied by any one who has seen the splendid work of Gau, that the pattern or type of those stupendous erections, which continue to excite the admiration of the tourist at Karnac, Luxor, and Ghizeh, may be detected in the numerous monuments still visible- between the site of the famed Meroe and the falls of Es Souan. The more learned among professional artists are now nearly unanimous in the opinion that the principles of architecture, as well as of rehgious belief have descended from Ethiopia to Egypt ; receiving improvement in their progress downward, till at length their triimiph was completed at Diospolis, in the palace of Osj^mandias and the temple of Jupiter Ammon. The late expedition of Ishmael Pasha into Sen- naar and the other countries bounded by the two great branches of the Nile has added materially to our topographical knowledge of that portion of Af- PREFACE. 9 Hca,—one of the least frequented by EuropeanR. Cailliaud, English, and Linant have supplied to the geographer some important notices relative to the position of certain towns and mountains, of which only the names had formerly been conveyed to our ears. The Publishers have taken the utmost pains to imbody in the map prefixed to this volume the results of the latest discoveries accomplished by British, French, and American travellers, under the protection of the Turkish army. But no consideration associated with the history of Ethiopia is more interesting than the fact that the Christian religion, received about fifteen hundred years ago, continues to be professed by the great majority of the people. In regard to the mixture of Jewish rites with the institutions of the gospel, still observable among the Abyssinians, I have suggested some reflections which seem calculated to throw a new light on that obscure subject. Of the literature of the same nation, so far as the relics could be col- lected from their chronicles and books of devotion, a mitable account has been given : connected in some legree with the brighter prospects which may yet be entertained by the friends of theological learning as arising from the well-directed efibrts of certain be- nevolent associations in this country. For some valuable information, not hitherto pub- lished, I am indebted to William Erskine, Esq., of Blackburn, late of Bombay, who kindly placed in my 10 PREFACE. hands two large manuscript volumes, containing Travels and Letters written in the East. Among these is a number of communications from Mr. Na- thaniel Pearce, during his residence in Abyssinia, addressed to several Bntish residents at Mocha and Bouibay, and embracing the more prominent events of his historj^ between the years 1810 and 1818. In like manner, I have to express my obligations to Captain Armstrong of the Royal Artillery, who, in the course of his travels in Nubia, made drawings and measurements of the principal temples as far south as Wady Haifa. By means of these I have been ena- bled to ascertain the exact dimensions of several of those structures, the views of which have been given by some recent tourists with more attention to ele- gance than to professional accuracy in the details. In order to render this little volume as complete as possible, the Publishers obtained the assistance of two eminent naturalists, Mr. Wilson and Dr. Gre- viLLE ; to the former of whom the reader owes the instructive chapter on Zoology, while to the latter he is under a similar obligation for the Botanical outline, in which are ably described the vegetable produc- tions of the Abyssinian provinces. To complete the plan entertained with respect to Africa, there remains yet one volume, which will ap- pear in due time, on the History, Antiquities, and Present Condition of the Barbary States. EoiKBUKOB, March, 183S. — CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Difficulties to be encountered by the Historian of Ethiopia—Record of Monuments ; their Uncertainty—Obstacles which opposed the Know- ledge of the Ancients—Supposition that Civilization descended the Nik—Progress of Oriental Emigration—Resemblance of Nubian Tem- ples to those of India—Fame of Ancient Ethiopians—Ambiguity of the Term—Two great Classes of Africans—Mixture of Arabians—Opinion of Heeren as to Language—Discoveries of Hornemann and Lyon Tuaricks and Tibboos—Nubians—Abyssinians—Hypothesis of Hee- ren—Connexion of Commerce and Religion—Chain of Temples Similar Connexion among Jews and Christians—Early Improvement of Ethiopians mentioned in Scripture—Defence of the Opinion that i^ypt derived Learning and Science from the Upper Nile. Page 15 CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES OF NUBIA AND ABYSSINIA. Plan to be followed in this Chapter—Nubian Valley—Sterility—Former Cultivation—Dondour—Derr—Ibrim—Wady Haifa—Second Cataract —Beauty of Country in Dongola—Benefits of the Nile—Temple of SolebÊlegance of the Building—Kingdom of Merawe—Gebel el Berkal—El Belial—Hypothesis in regard to Meroe—Opinions of Ptolemy, Herodotus, Strabo—Sheygyans—Ishmael Pasha—Third Cataract—Berber—Shendy el Garb—Shendy—Junction of the White and Blue Rivers—Sennaar—Climate—Inhabitants—Manufactures Expeditions by the Troops under the Pasha—Bravery of the Natives —Description of the City of Sennaar—Advance of Egjrptian Army into Fazoglo—El Queribyn—Kilgou—Singueh—Conflicts with the Natives at Taby and Gassi—Reception at Fazoglo—Return to Sennaar Aquaro—River Toumat—Quamamyl—Ishmael disappointed as to Gold and Slaves—Poncet's Account of Sennaar—Âbyssinia—Its Extent —Political Geography—Kingdoms and Prorincei—Andnura—-Tifr*— Bfaoa, and &n Saatern Ooavt. 81 —— XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER in. CIVIL HISTORY OF NUBIA AND ABT9SINIA. Variety of Opinion in regard to Ethiopians—Aboriginal and mixed with Arabians—Queen of Sheba—Book of Axum—Abyssinians conyerted to Christianity—Extent of their Dominions—Wars in Arabia—Arrival of Portuguese—History of Nubia—Cambyses—Macrobians—Table of the Sun—Explanation by Heeren—Ptolemy Euergetes—War with Candace—Success of Petronius—Period of Darkness respecting Ethio- pia—Prester John—Mission of Covilham—Of Matthew—Alvares Camp of the Abyssinian Monarch—Interview with David III.

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