palaces. There were also as many temples as there were gods in Egypt,
the number of which was prodigious, besides various other sacred
edifices, and four lofty pyramids at the angles of the walls. The
entrance was by vast halls, followed by saloons, which conducted to
grand porticos, the ascent to which was by a flight of ninety steps. The
interior was decorated with columns of porphyry and colossal statues of
Egyptian gods. The whole was surrounded by a wall, but the passages were
so intricate that no stranger could find the way without a guide. The
substructions of this famous labyrinth still exist, and Milizia says,
"as they were not arched, it is wonderful that they should have been so
long preserved, with so many stupendous edifices above them." The Cretan
labyrinth was built by Dædalus on the model of the Egyptian, but it was
only a hundredth part the size; yet, according to Diodorus Siculus, it
was a spacious and magnificent edifice, divided into a great number of
apartments, and surrounded entirely by a wall. What would the ancients
say, could they see our modern imitations of their labyrinths?




THE CATACOMBS OF EGYPT.


There are numerous catacombs in Egypt, the principal of which are at
Alexandria; at Sakkara, near Cairo; at Siut, near the ancient Lycopolis
or City of the Wolf; at Gebel Silsilis, on the banks of the Nile between
Etfu and Ombos, the site of one of the principal quarries of ancient
Egypt; and at Thebes. Many of these are of vast extent, and were
doubtless formed by quarrying the rocks and mountains for building
materials. They consist of grottos, galleries, and chambers, penetrating