An Ancient Egyptian Shrine.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 94, 22 April 1893, Page 9

An Ancient Egyptian Shrine.

The British Museum has been enriched by a remarkable grey granite flhrine from the Island of Philas, south of the first cataract in Upper Egypt, presented by the Egyptian Govemmenb. This relic was originally in the Great Temple there, visited by Strabo, who says that he saw on a shrine a bird which the priest called a hawk, but, he adds, it wes larger than and different from the native hawks, and had a distinguishing plumage. The bird, too, was sick and nearly dead. There is no absolute proof as yebthab this was the very shrine, bub ib is highly probable, and the holes sunk in the side of the open part would have served for an iron or bronze bar grating such as would have been used tor the cage of a large hawk or eagle. The worship of Egyptian gods continued ab Philre until 450 a.d., or about 70 years after the edict of Theodosius, when he attempted to abolish the old gods of the country. About that time this shrine was thrown down, and afterwards dragged away by the Copts ; and turned on its side, was made to form the base of the altar in the succeeding Coptic Church. The second shrine of the old religion was thus embedded in the chief feature of the Christian Church which followed, it is interesting to remember that tho date of Strabo was about the beginning of the present era. The shrine is abouc lOfb or lift high, and weighs some six or sevan tons. It is an exceedingly valuable relic, as there is nothing like it in the British Museum collections. The colour of the stone would seem to indicate that ib had been specially brought from some distance, as the local granite and, indeed, all thab rock in the Assouan district;, is red. Ib is remarkable, too, thab the hieroglyphics are in relief, and nob sunk as is usual. The Ptolemies were the greab builders in the Phike Islands, especially the second, fifth, and seventh of those kings ; and the temple may, therefore, be of some date between 309 and 230 s.c.