761 



EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. 



EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. 



762 



and to which the magnificence and colossal grandeur of all the rest 

 served merely as preparation and prelude. 



Such was the general disposition and distribution of an Egyptian 

 temple. But, as was said above, in the older temples the hypostyle 

 hall is a much larger and more important feature. That of the great 

 temple of Karnak is 338 feet by 170 in extent, and has 134 columns 

 disposed in nine parallel rows one way and sixteen the other. The 

 hall consequently has the appearance of a grove of pillars ; and their 

 being so numerous and set so close together would have been no small 

 inconvenience, had they not been of such prodigious bulk. But the 

 smaller pillars of this hall are 9 and the larger 11 feet in diameter, 

 and the intercolunmiations are consequently equal to 134 anc ' 1^4 feet. 

 The central pillars are 70 feet high, to the under side of the architrave. 

 The area of this vast hall is 57,629 square feet; or with its two 

 pylons, upwards of 80,000 feet an area, as has been pointed out, 

 greater than that of Cologne Cathedral, the largest of the Gothic 

 cathedrals of Northern Europe, whilst four such churches as that of 



St. Martin's-iu-the-Fields, London, would stand side by side within the 

 hall without occupying its entire area. The effect of this vast grove 

 of columns is spoken of by all who have seen it, as being surpassingly 

 grand. The length of the entire building is upwards of 1200 feet ; 

 its breadth varies from 321 to 360 feet. It has twelve principal 

 approaches, each of which has lofty doorways placed between enor- 

 mous pylons, and before them have stood colossal statues, whilst 

 avenues of sphinxes lead from them in various directions, one being 

 continued the whole way across the plain to the temple at Luxor. 



The engraving of the front of the great temple of Denderah (fy. 3), 

 the most perfect of the existing monuments of Egypt, will serve to 

 show the character of Egyptian architecture at a somewhat later date 

 than that of the temple at Edfou. The temple, which is of vast 

 extent, is enclosed within a square wall, the side of which is 1000 feet, 

 and which is in parts 35 feet high and 15 feet thick. In general form 

 this temple resembles that at Edfou, but it has no forecourt or pro- 

 pylon. This fa?ade from its perfectness exhibits very distinctly the 



[fig. 3. Front of the Temple at Denderah. 



sloping profile of the walls, the peculiar entablature, and the hiero- j of the sandstone rock, each cut to resemble the front of a temple, 

 glyphio carvings, all of which are so characteristic of Egyptian archi- I while the temple itself penetrates 180 feet into the mountain. The 

 tecture, as well as a remarkable form of capital. Later temples show 

 more irregularity of plan. 



In Upper Egypt and Nubia occur temples hewn out of the solid 

 rock ; but, like all excavations, they are copies of structural temples. 

 The most remarkable is the great rock-temple of Ipsambul, or Abou- 

 sambul, constructed by Rameses III. It has two faces formed out 



front of the temple is nearly 100 feet high and 117 feet wide, and is 

 adorned with four enormous colossi each 70 feet high, which produce 

 a wonderfully impressive effect. The interior is in general plan like 



that of the structural temples ; the first apartment is a pronaos 57 feet 

 long and 52 feet wide, supported by two rows of large square carya- 

 tide pillars, in a line with the door of the sakos ; beyond this is a 



[Fig. 4. Smaller Temple at Abou-Sambnl.] 



smaller hall, supported by four columns ; the aakos, or sanctuary, is | there are in all fourteen different chambers. A smaller rock-cut 

 23 feet long by 1 2 feet wide, with a pedestal in the centre, and at the . temple at Abou-sambul| is greatly inferior in design, but has a richly 

 end four colost-al seated figures. With the side or priests' rooms, | carved front 90 feet long, in which are six colossal figures hewn out of 



