The finest excavated grottos are found at Beni Hassan and in the neighborhood of Thebes. Those at Beni Hassan follow the type of the “mastabah,” having the assembly hall, the well, and the chamber beneath, all being hollowed out of the rock. The sides are decorated with columns, architraves, and cornices, in imitation of constructive architecture, and the ceilings are cut out to represent vaults, the uncarved surfaces being adorned with paintings and hieroglyphics. The columns are especially interesting, as having evidently furnished the Greeks with the model for their Doric temples, and the order has in consequence been called the proto-doric. They have a diameter of five feet and are sixteen feet high; the shaft has sixteen sides with flutings and is surmounted by a tile or abacus. Besides these, there are other columns with capitals in the form of a lotus or papyrus bud, which are more commonly found in Egyptian temples. The tombs of the kings at Thebes are arranged on a different principle; they consist of long sloping corridors opening into chambers and halls, and penetrating in a continuous line into the mountain rock. There are several groups, the most important of which is situated in the valley of Biban-el-Molook, or the “Gates of the Kings.” The tomb of Sethi I., the father of Rameses II., discovered by the explorer Belzoni in the earlier part of the century, is the finest example, the sculpture and paintings which it contains being very remarkable for their execution and of great historical interest, as they illustrate very completely the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians. Every effort had evidently been made to conceal the tomb, for not only was the entrance closed and covered with loose rock, but the first chamber, reached by a succession of passages and steep staircases, had been walled up and the four sides painted, so as to have the appearance of being the limit of the extent of the tomb. The hollow sound, caused by hammering on the walls at one point, led the explorer to continue his efforts, which were rewarded by the discovery of several more halls and chambers, terminating in a great vaulted chamber, thirty feet long, containing an alabaster sarcophagus. It has been conjectured that many of these excavated grottos were occupied as residences by the kings and great personages of the empire during their lifetime, and converted into sepulchres after death. The custom of relatives meeting at intervals in an assembly hall connected with the tomb does not seem to have prevailed here as at Memphis, but it is not improbable that the great Theban temples were used, if indeed they were not erected for this purpose.