[Illustration: Gateway of Ptolemy IX at Karnak.] [Illustration: PLATE XI. Columns in the Temple of Seti I, B.C. 1370, at Abydos.] [Illustration: Granite obelisks at Karnak. That on the right bears the name of Queen Ḥātshepset, and that on the left the name of Thothmes I. XVIIIth dynasty, B.C. 1550.] [Illustration: Pillars with ornamental capitals in the Temple of Isis at Philae. Ptolemaïc Period.] The temples of Egypt from the XVIIIth dynasty to the Roman Period vary greatly in detail, but the general plan is always the same. The great temples of Karnak (see =Plate XXX=), Luxor, Abydos (see =Plate XI=), etc., awe the spectator by their size and majestic dignity; the smaller temples of the Ptolemaïc and Roman Periods are less grand, but are much more graceful buildings. The severity of the interiors of the older buildings is moderated by the reliefs and inscriptions with which walls, pillars, pilasters, architraves, etc., are covered profusely, and the bright colours, reds, blues, greens, and yellows, in which many of the painted scenes were executed, added greatly to their general effect. The massive =square pillars= were replaced in later times by pillars with eight sides, and the whole character of the simple round column was changed when its shaft was made to resemble a =papyrus= or =lotus stalk=, and its upper part was sculptured in the form of the flower of either plant. Both pillars and =pilasters= were sometimes decorated with figures of Osiris, cut on the front face in high relief, as at Abû-Simbel, and the capitals were often sculptured in the form of the head of Hathor (the Cow-goddess), surmounted by a sistrum. The pillar with the Hathor-headed capital was suggested by the pole, or small tree trunk, surmounted by the head of a bull, ox, or cow, which the primitive Egyptians set up over the graves of their chiefs, a custom which survives to the present day among certain of the tribes of Central Africa. Every temple had a =sacred lake= within its precincts, just as every large house possessed a garden with an ornamental lake in it. Each temple also was surrounded by a =girdle wall=, which was usually made exceedingly strong and was provided with fortified gateways. The space between the temple buildings and this wall was occupied by gardens and storehouses for the property of the priests, and also by the dwellings of private folk. Thus the girdle wall of the temple actually enclosed a small city, which in cases of popular panic or invasion became a city of refuge. [Illustration: Painted portrait statue of Ȧn-kheft-ka, a royal kinsman. IVth dynasty, about B.C. 3700. [Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 1, No. 33.]]