The original part of this great group was, as before mentioned, the sanctuary or temple built by Osirtasen, the great monarch of the 12th dynasty, before the Shepherd invasion. It is the only thing that seems to have been allowed to stand during the five centuries of Shepherd domination, though it is by no means clear that it had not been pulled down by the Shepherds, and reinstated by the first kings of the 18th dynasty, an operation easily performed with the beautiful polished granite masonry of the sanctuary. Be this as it may, Amenhotep, the first king of the restored race, enclosed this in a temple about 120 ft. square. Thothmes I. built in front of it a splendid hall, surrounded by colossi, backed by piers; and Thothmes III. erected behind it a palace or temple, which is one of the most singular buildings in Egypt. The hall is 140 ft. long by 55 in width internally, the roof is supported by two rows of massive square columns, and two of circular pillars of most exceptional form, the capitals of which are reversed, and somewhat resembling the form usually found in Assyria, but nowhere else in Egypt. Like almost all Egyptian halls, it was lighted from the roof in the manner shown in the section. With all these additions, the temple was a complete whole, 540 ft. in length by 280 in width, at the time when the Sun-worshippers broke in upon the regular succession of the great 18th dynasty. [Illustration: 21. Section of Palace of Thothmes III., Thebes.] When the original line was resumed, Meneptah commenced the building of the great hall, which he nearly completed. Rameses, the first king of the 19th dynasty, built the small temple in front; and the so-called Bubastite kings of the 22nd dynasty added the great court in front, completing the building to the extent we now find it. We have thus, as in some of our mediæval cathedrals, in this one temple a complete history of the style during the whole of its most flourishing period; and, either for interest or for beauty, it forms such a series as no other country, and no other age, can produce. Besides those buildings mentioned above, there are other temples to the north, to the east, and more especially to the south, and pylons connecting these, and avenues of sphinxes extending for miles, and enclosing-walls, and tanks, and embankments—making up such a group as no city ever possessed before or since. St. Peter’s, with its colonnades, and the Vatican, make up an immense mass, but as insignificant in extent as in style when compared with this glory of ancient Thebes and its surrounding temples. [Illustration: 22. Plan of Hypostyle Hall at Karnac. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.] [Illustration: 23. Section of central portion of Hypostyle Hall at Karnac. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]