EXCAVATIONS AT ABYDOS—NAVILLE, 581 
is a large edifice evidently built at the time of the pyramids; that is, 
belonging to the first dynasties. It is very much ruined, but it was 
constructed of massive materials, the largest that have been found 
in Egypt in like quantity. It is an edifice unique among those | 
numerous temples and tombs that one finds in the Valley of the 
Nile. 
It is rectangular in shape inclosed by a wall 6 meters thick made 
in two layers, the outer layer of roughly dressed limestone, and 
the inner layer of great blocks of very hard red sandstone, bound with 
dovetails of gray granite. The area thus inclosed is 30 meters long 
by 20 wide and divided into three parallel naves which are separated 
by enormous monolithic granite pillars supporting architraves which 
are mostly 5 meters long. The two side naves had a ceiling of granite 
monoliths that one could hardly call slabs, for they are more than 2 
meters thick. The middle nave was probably open to the sky. 
These gigantic colonnades must have produced a very wonderful 
effect. Even now one is struck with admiration before that majestic 
simplicity, although very little of the whole edifice remains. There 
is nothing intact but the corner of the north colonnade. All the rest 
has been ruthlessly destroyed. It is very probable that the one who 
set the example was Rameses himself, for he had little respect for 
the work of his predecessors. Several heavy blocks of granite or 
sandstone used in the sanctuary of his temple located a little farther 
along, show by their shape and dimensions where they were obtained. 
But since Rameses, and perhaps even recently, the destruction has 
been even more ruthless. These majestic colonnades have become 
quarries where millstones of all sizes have been cut. Everywhere 
one sees the trace of wedges which have served to split the granite. 
Many of these millstones, nearly finished, are still there and weigh 
several tons. We are obliged to remove these as well as a great 
number of still larger fragments. This is what noticeably retards the 
work of excavation. We have not yet reached the flagstones of the 
flooring. We shall then judge better of the effect of those great 
monolithic columns and of the architraves which they support. 
In the wall of these colonnades there is a series of recesses or cells, 
6 of which we have already discovered, and there should be at least 
16. They are not large. A man can just stand upright in them, and 
they were closed by doors probably of wood. One can still see the 
place for the hinges. I firmly believe that these cells are the exact 
duplicates of those.described in the Book of the Dead as belonging to 
the celestial dwelling of Osiris. Outside of these cells we find nothing 
at all in the colonnades; neither an object nor a hieroglyphic sign. 
This complete absence of ornamentation characterizes the monu- 
ments of the period of the pyramids, as also does the style of con- 
struction and the enormous materials then employed. 
