388 NOETH-EAST AFRICA. 



one of the richest and most beautiful structures of its class. It is supported by 

 twenty-four columns, four deep, nearly 50 feet in height, and haying a diameter of 

 more than 7 feet at the thickest part. The capitals have sculptured on each of 

 their four sides a full face of Athor, crowned by a small shrine or temple. The 

 sculptures, which are of less merit than the architecture, represent offerings made 

 by some of the early Cœsars ; and on the ceiling are various mystical subjects, 

 probably of an astronomical import, and the famous quadrangular zodiac, which is 

 still in its original position. 



" Passing through the back wall of the portico (which was at one time the front 

 wall of the temple), the visitor enters a hall supported by three columns on each 

 side, with cup- shaped capitals beneath those formed by the temple- crowned faces 

 of Athor ; and then proceeding right onwards through two similar halls, he reaches 

 the sanctuary, which is isolated by a passage running all round. 



" On each side of the temple are many small apartments, and two entrance- 

 ways from the exterior, as well as singular inclined passages in the walls, two of 

 which are entered from the sides of the portico. All the chambers and j)assages, 

 except the two last mentioned, are profusely covered with sculptures and inscrip- 

 tions of a religious character, chiefly depicting and narrating the piety of the 

 sovereigns by whom the temple was erected. The royal names have not always 

 been filled in ; but, where they have been sculptured, they are generally those of 

 the last Cleopatra and Ca)sarion, her son by Julius Caesar. 



" A staircase on the left-hand side of the second chamber behind the portico 

 conducts to the roof of the temple. Here are a sort of chapel and some small 

 chambers, one of which is very interesting, because its sculptures relate to the 

 story of Osiris. The exterior of the temple is as completely covered with 

 sculptures as the interior. Among the figures there represented are those of 

 Cleopatra and Cœsarion ; but they cannot be supposed to bear any resemblance, 

 since they belong not alone to a conventional art, but also to its lowest period. 



" There are two smaller temples within the same inclosure as the great temple 

 of Athor, one dedicated to Isis in the thirty-first year of Augustus, and the other 

 usually known as the TypJionium, from the representations of Typhon on the capitals 

 of its columns, but probably connected with the worship of Athor." * 



ThINIS — GiRGEH. 



In the broader part of the Nile Yalley, below Denderah, the two hamlets of 

 Harahut-cl-Madfunch, that is, " Harabât the Buried," and El-Khargch, still mark 

 the site of Abydos. Till recently these ruins had been identified with the ancient 

 This {Thinis), which at one time eclipsed the fame of Thebes and Memphis 

 themselves. But according to Mariette the remains of this venerable place should 

 be sought lower down, either at Girgeh itself or in its immediate vicinity, and in any 

 case it is now certain that This and Abydos were two different places. At This 

 was born Mena, or Menés, the reputed founder of the Egyptian monarchy. Here 

 * " Encyclopaedia Britannica," ninth edition, art. Penderah. 



