Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in EgyptMaspero, G. (Gaston)
History
Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Art -- Egypt; Egypt -- Antiquities
This is merely a
temple in miniature; but the parts, though small, are so well proportioned
that it would be impossible to conceive anything more delicate or graceful.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.--Plan of temple of Hathor, Deir el Medineh.]
[Illustration: Fig. 78.--Plan of temple of Khonsû, Karnak.]
[Illustration: Fig. 79.--Pylon, with masts, from a bas-relief in the temple
of Khonsû at Karnak.]
[Illustration: Fig. 80.--The Ramesseum restored, to show the rising of the
ground.]
[Illustration: Fig. 81.--Crypts in the thickness of the walls, round the
sanctuary at Denderah.]
[Illustration: Fig. 82.--The pronaos of Edfû, as seen from the top of the
eastern pylon.]
We cannot say as much for the temple which the Pharaohs of the Twentieth
Dynasty erected to the south of Karnak, in honour of the god Khonsû (fig.
78); but if the style is not irreproachable, the plan is nevertheless so
clear, that one is tempted to accept it as the type of an Egyptian temple,
in preference to others more elegant or majestic. On analysis, it resolves
itself into two parts separated by a thick wall (A, A). In the centre of
the lesser division is the Holy of Holies (B), open at both ends and
isolated from the rest of the building by a surrounding passage (C) 10
feet in width. To the right and left of this sanctuary are small dark
chambers (D, D), and behind it is a hall of four columns (E), from which
open seven other chambers (F, F). Such was the house of the god, having no
communication with the adjoining parts, except by two doors (G) in the
southern wall (A, A). These opened into a wide and shallow hypostyle hall
(H), divided into nave and aisles. The nave is supported by four lotus-
flower columns, 23 feet in height; the aisles each contain two lotus-bud
columns 18 feet high. The roof of the nave is, therefore, 5 feet higher
than that of the sides. This elevation was made use of for lighting
purposes, the clerestory being fitted with stone gratings, which admitted
the daylight. The court (I) was square, and surrounded by a double
colonnade entered by way of four side-gates and a great central gateway
flanked by two quadrangular towers with sloping fronts. This pylon (K)
measures 105 feet in length, 33 feet in width, and 60 feet in height. It
contains no chambers, but only a narrow staircase, which leads to the top
of the gate, and thence up to the towers. Four long grooves in the façade,
reaching to a third of its height, correspond to four quadrangular openings
cut through. the whole thickness of the masonry. Here were fixed four
great wooden masts, formed of joined beams and held in place by a wooden
framework fixed in the four openings above mentioned. From these masts
floated long streamers of various colours (fig. 79). Such was the temple of
Khonsû, and such, in their main features, were the majority of the greater
temples of Theban and Ptolemaic times, as Luxor, the Ramesseum, Medinet
Habû, Edfû, and Denderah. Though for the most part half in ruins, they
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