A Mirror both for Saints and Sinners, Treatise · Chapter 107
CHAP. CVII. Hyspaan described.
THe City of Hyspaan in Persia was formerly called Hecatompolis by reason of its hundred gates; It's compassed with a strong wall, and is in circuit as much as a man may well ride on horseback in a day: It's a very strong City, and is excellently watered with deep channels of running springs conveyed into it from the Coronian Mountaines which are as a wall inaccessible about it. On the North side is a very strong Castle which is compassed about with a wall of a thousand, and seven hundred yards in compasse. On the West side of the City are two Seraglio's, one for the King, the other for his women: Palaces of great State, and Magnificence, the Walls whereof glister with polished Marble, and pargeting of divers colours, and all the Palaces are paved with curious checkered work, and covered with curious Carpets wrought with Silk, and Gold; the windowes are made of Marble, Porphery, and Alabaster; the Posts and Doores of Massie Ivory, checkered with glistering black Ebonie so curiously wrought in winding knots, as may easilier stay then satisfie the wondering eye of the spectator. Near the Palace is a stately Garden, spacious, and large, beautifully adorned with a thousand sundry kinds of Fruit-trees, plants, and flowers of all sorts to delight the beholders. There are in it a thousand Fountains, and a thousand Brooks, and as the Father of them all a pretty River which with a mild stream, and delightful murmur divides the Garden from the Kings Palace.
Casan described.
Casan is the chiefest City in Parthia; It is seated in a goodly plain, having no Mountaines within a daies joutney of it: It wanteth neither Fountaines, Springs, nor curiously pleasant Gardens: It aboundeth with all necessaries for the life of man; It's greatly frequented with all sorts of Merchandize, especially out of India. The Citizens are very industrious, and curious in all manner of Sciences, especially in weaving girdles, and shashes; in making Velvets, Satins, Damasks, excellent Persian Carpets of a wonderful finenesse: Here you may buy all manner of Drugs, and Spices; as also Turkesses, Diamonds, Rubies, and Pearles; as also all sorts of Silk raw, and wrought: For there is more silk brought into Casan in one year, then there comes broad cloth into London. This City is much to be commended for Civil Government: For an idle person is not suffered to live amongst them; the child that is but six years old is set to labour: no ill rule, disorder, or riot is suffered there. They have a Law amongst them whereby every person is compelled to give his name to the Magistrate, withal declaring by what course he liveth: and if any tell untruly, he is either well beaten on the feet, or imployed in publick slavery.
The Grand Cairo described.
The Grand Cairo in Egypt is accounted one of the greatest Cities in the world. It is situated upon a most beautiful plain near unto a certain Mountain called Mucatun, about two miles from the River Nilus: It's invironed with stately walls, and fortified with Iron gates. In it are built most stately, and admirable Palaces, and Colledges, and most sumptuous Temples. There are also many Bath-stoves very artificially built: It aboundeth with all sorts of Merchandise out of all parts of the world. There is in it a famous Burse [Exchange] called Canen Halili, wherein the Persian Merchants dwell; It's built very stately in the manner of a King's Palace of three stories high: Beneath it are many roomes whither Merchants resort for the exchange of their costly wares; as all sorts of Spices, precious stones, Cloth of India, &c. There is also a stately Hospital, the yearly revenues whereof amount to two hundred thousand pieces of gold called Saraffi. The Suburbs are very large, wherein also are many stately buildings, especially a Colledge being of a wonderful height, and great strength: Besides many other Palaces, Colledges, and Temples. Here they have great store of Poultry: For in certain Ovens built upon sundry lofts they put abundance of Egs; which Ovens being kept in a moderate heat will in seven daies hatch all those eggs into chickens. P. Pil.
The Egyptian Pyramids described.
In Egypt are divers stupendious structures called Pyramids, the greatest whereof is situated on the top of a rocky hill which riseth above the plain about an hundred feet, with a gentle, and easie ascent, the height of the situation adding beauty to the work, and the solidity of the rock giving the superstructure a permanent, and stable support: each side of this Pyramid is six hundred ninety three feet according to the English Standard; so that the whole Basis contains four hundred eighty thousand two hundred, and fourty nine square feet, or eleven English acres of ground. The height is the same with the breadth, viz. six hundred ninety three feet. The ascent to the top is contrived in this manner: From all the sides without, the ascent is by degrees; the lowermost step or degree is about four foot in height, and three in breadth which runing about the Pyramid in a level, makes on every side of it a long but narrow Walk; the second row is like the first, retiring inward from the first three feet, and so runs about the Pyramid. In the same manner is the third row placed above the second, and so in order the rest like so many staires rising one above another to the top, which containes about nine foot square. The degrees by which men ascend are not all of an equal depth, for some are about four foot, others scarcely three, and the higher they ascend the more they diminish both in breadth, and thicknesse: so that a right line extended from any part of the Basis to the top, will equally touch the outward angle of every degree.
These are all made of Massie, and polished stones, hewen out of the Arabian Mountaines which bound the upper part of Egypt, being so vast, that the breadth and depth of every step is one single, and intire stone, so that in most of them is contained thirty feet of stone: The number of these steps is two hundred and seven.
On the North side ascending thirty eight feet upon an artificial bank of earth there is a square, and narrow passage leading into the inside of this Pyramid containing in length ninety two feet, and an half: The structure of it hath been the labour of an exquisite hand, as appears by the smoothnesse and evennesse of the work, and by the close knitting of the joynts: it is now an habitation for great ugly batts of about a foot long: At the end of this entrance you must climb up a massy stone, eight or nine foot in height, where you enter into a Gallery, the pavement consisting of smooth, & polished white Marble; the breadth is about five foot, and the height the like: the length of this Gallery is an hundred, and ten feet: At the end whereof begins a second Gallery, a very stately piece of work, and not inferiour either in respect of the curiosity of Art, or richnesse of materials, to the most sumptuous or magnificent buildings: It's divided from the former by a wall; At the end whereof is a Well about three feet in the diameter, the sides whereof are lined with white Marble, it's eighty six Cubits in depth, hewen through the rock on which the Pyramid stands: Beyond the Well about fifteen foot is a square passage, the stones whereof are exceeding massie, and exquisitely joyned, which containes one hundred and ten feet, at the end whereof is an arched Vault, or little Chamber, the length about twenty feet, the breadth seventeen, the height about fifteen. The length of this second Gallery before mentioned is 154 feet, of white, and polished Marble both roof, walls, and bottom; the joynts are so well knit that they are scarce discernable: The height of this Gallery is twenty six feet, the breadth six feet, bounded on both sides with two banks, like benches of polished Marble; At the end of this gallery you enter into a square hole which brings you into a little room lined with rich, and speckled Thebaick Marble, out of which through another passage being all of Thebaick Marble most exquisitely cut, you land at the North end of a very sumptuous, and well proportioned room wherein art seems to contend with nature, the curious work being not inferiour to the rich materials: It stands in the heart, or center of the Pyramid, equidistant from all the sides, and in the middest between the Basis, and the top: The floor, sides, and roofe are all made of vast, and exquisite tables of Thebaick Marble: From the top to the bottom are but six ranges of stone, all of an equal height. The stones which cover this room are of a strange, and stupendious length, like so many huge beams lying flat, and traversing the room, and bearing up that infinite weight, and masse of the Pyramid above. Of these there are nine which cover the roof; the length of this room is thirty four English feet: the breadth somewhat above seventeen feet, the height nineteen feet and a half. In the middest of this glorious room stands the Tomb of Ch…ops of one piece of Marble, hollow within, and sounding like a bell, but empty: For (saith Diadorus) although the Egyptian Kings intended these for their Sepulchres, yet it happened that they were not buried therein: For the people being exasperated against them by reason of the toilsomnesse of these works, and for their cruelty, and oppression, threatned to tear in pieces their dead bodies, and with ignominy to throw them out of their Sepulchres, wherefore they commanded their friends when they were dead to bury them in some obscure place. The Tomb is cut smooth, and plain, without any sculpture, and ingraving: the outsides contain in length seven foot, three inches, and a half. In depth it's three foot, and almost four inches, and the same in breadth: The hollow part within is something more then six foot long, the depth is somewhat above two feet: whereby it appears that mens bodies are now as big as they were 3000 years ago: For it's almost so long since this Tomb was made. This Pyramid was 20 years in making, and yet there were three hundred threescore, and six thousand men continually working about it, who onelyonly in Radishes, Garlicks, and Onions are said to have consumed eighteen hundred Talents. Collected out of Mr: Greaves, a curious observer of it.
The Egyptian Mummi's described.
Not far from this Pyramid in Egypt are the Mummi's which were the graves of the ancient Egyptians into which are descents not unlike to the narrow mouths of Wells, some neer ten fathoms deep leading into long vaults hewen out of the Rock with pillars of the same. Between every Arch lie the corpses rank'd one by another of all sizes, which are innumerable, shrowded in a number of folds of Linnen, and swathed with bands of the same, the breasts of divers being stained with Hierogliphical Characters: The Linnen being pulled off, the bodies appear solid, uncorrupt, and perfect in all their dimensions; whereof the musculous parts are of a brown colour, hard as stone-pitch, and hath in Physick the like operation, onelyonly more sovereign. To keep these from putrefactions, they drew the brains out at the nostrils with an iron instrument, replenishing the head with preservative spices: then cutting up the belly with an AEthiopian stone, they took forth the bowels, cleansed the inside with Wine, and so stuffing it with a composition of Myrrhe, Cassia, and other odours they closed it up again: The like the poorer sort effected with Bitumen fetched from the Lake of Asphaltites in Jury, whereby they have been preserved till this day, having lyen there for about three thousand years.
The Lake of Maeris described.
Maeris, one of the Egyptian Kings, undertook, and finished that most admirable Lake, which for greatnesse, and colour is like a Sea: It's about six hundred furlongs from the City of Memphis, the circumference of it contains CD. CD. CD. DC: furlongs; the depth of it is fifty fathom, or three hundred feet; many myriads of men were imployed for many years about it. The benefit of it to the Egyptians, and the wisdom of the King cannot be sufficiently commended: For seeing the rising of Nilus is not alwaies alike, and the Countrey is more fruitful by the moderatenesse thereof: He digged this Lake to receive the superfluity of the water, that neither by the greatnesse of the inundation it should cause Marshes, or by the scarcity of water the earth should not yield her strength, he therefore cut a ditch from the River to this Lake of 80 furlongs, and three hundred feet in breadth, by which sometimes receiving in, and sometimes diverting the River he gave a sufficient quantity of water to the husbandmen. After the Kings name it's called the Lake of Maeris. In the middest of it he built a Sepulchre, and two Pyramids each of them of an hundred fathoms high, placing upon them two Marble Statues sitting on a Throne, one for himself, the other for his wife, seeking hereby to get an immortal memory. The Revenues of the fish of this Lake he gave to his wife for to buy her unguents, and other ornaments: the fishing being worth to her a Talent a day: For it was mightily replenished with Fish of twenty two sorts; so that very many were continually imployed in salting of them. Diod. Sic. Herod.
Porsennah's Tomb described.
Porsenna King of Hetruria, not far from the City of Clusium built for himself a Monument of square stone, each side of it was three hundred foot broad, and fifty foot high; within which square Basis there was an inextricable labyrinth, into which whosoever adventured without a clue could find no passage out. Upon this square he erected five Pyramids, four in the corners, and one in the middest; in the bottom they were seventy five foot broad, and each of them one hundred and fifty foot high, on the top was one brasse circle, and covering for them all, from which there hung bells fastned with chains, which being moved with the wind, gave a sound afar off: Upon this brazen circle stood other four Pyramids, each of them one hundred foot high; and upon them (being covered with another plain) were again erected five other Pyramids, the height whereof my Author was ashamed to name: so foolishly did he waste the wealth of his Kingdome, that in the end the commendation of the Artificer should be the greatest. Pliny out of Varro; and Greaves out of him.
The Great Mogol's Palace described.
In the City of Agra the Great Mogol hath a Palace wherein are two large Towers, at least ten foot square, which are covered with plates of the purest gold. Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 1474.
The Rhodian Colossus described.
In the Isle of Rhodes stood one of the worlds seven Wonders, which was a huge Colossus made of Brasse in the form of a man standing with his two leggs striding over an haven under which ships with their Masts and Sailes might passe, it was threescore, and ten Cubits high with all the parts proportionable, and all gilt over. When Muani the fifth Caliph of Babylon overcame Constance the Emperour in a Sea-fight, and had taken the Isle of Rhodes, this Image being formerly thrown down by an earthquake, was sold by him to a Jew, who loaded nine hundred Camels with the Brasse of it. Theoph. Pez. Mel. Hist.
Admirable Works done by the Art of man.
Protogenes the Rhodian an exquisite Painter bestowed seven yeares in drawing a most curious picture, which when Apelles beheld, he stood amazed at the excellency of the workmanship, so that for a while he could not speak, but afterwards he said, This is an admirable work, and of huge labour, yet he wants an Orator to extol his workmanship to the skies. When King Demetrius besieged the City of Rhodes, he took the Suburbs, and in them this picture, whereupon the Citizens sent to him, requesting him not to deface it; to whom he answered, That he would sooner burn the picture of his Father, then hurt a piece of such admirable workmanship. Diod. Sic. Plut.
Anno Christi 1610. amongst other rare Presents sent from the Sophy of Persia to the King of Spain, were six drinking glasses so exquisitely tempered, that they could not be broken. Turk. Hist. pag. 1273.
About six miles from Salisbury upon the plaines is to be seen a huge, and monstrous piece of work, such as Cicero calleth insanam substructionem. For within the circuit of a ditch there are erected in the manner of a Crown, in three ranks, or courses one within another, certain mighty, and unwrought stones, whereof some are twenty eight foot high, and seven broad; upon the heads of which others like overthwart pieces do bear, and rest crossewise with tenents, and mortesses, so as the whole frame seemeth to hang, whereof it's commonly called Stone-henge. Camb. Brit.
In Westmer land hard by Shape there be huge stones in form of Pyramids, some of them nine foot high, and fourteen foot thick, ranged directly as it were in a row for a mile in length with equal distance almost between them. Camb. Brit. p. 762.