24 ANCIENT EGYPT. 



THE GREAT TEMPLE OF KARNAK. 



• This temple, of which the ground plan is before you, differs 

 from all others in the enormous period of time its erection 

 covers, and in the number of kings who have contributed to 

 its complex network of buildings, which were erected without 

 any uniform plan, though presenting a harmonized whole; 

 it grew up gradually. 



The general scheme of dedication is to the Theban trinity 

 of Ammon, Maut, and Khons, a perfect temple to each of the 

 three persons, but still one homogeneous temple. The grand 

 temple is dedicated to the supreme being, Ammon or Amen ; 

 and there is one towards the south, with Maut, the universal 

 mother, for its patroness ; while Khons, the son, is represented 

 in a small temple, jutting out from the Bubastite Court of the 

 temple of Ammon. The ground-plan will give you an idea of 

 the general scheme of the Great Temple, with that of Khons ; 

 but the Temple of Maut, which is connected with that of 

 Ammon by an avenue of four propylae, is too distant to be 

 given on the scale, and is, in fact, in a ruinous condition. 

 The first time I saw it was by moonlight, and the weird effect 

 produced by numerous colossal statues of the goddess Maut 

 or Mut among the ruins was very striking. 



The Temple of Anwioti. 



Fergusson, in his History of Architecture, describes this "as 

 the noblest effort of architectural magnificence ever produced 

 by the hand of man," and he by no means overstates its 

 grandeur; impressive as it is, not only for the beauty and 

 majesty of what remains, but also in the sad picture of 

 desolation it presents to-day : at once a marvel and a regret. 

 The sacrilegious hand of man has wrought even more 

 mischief than time itself, but the great earthquake of B.C. 27 

 is responsible for a great deal of the structural injury. 



The oldest cartouche found among the ruins is that of 

 Osertasen I., xiith, dynasty, about b.c. 3,000, and the latest 

 is that of Ptolemy Alexander II., b.c. 81, thus covering a 

 period of nearly three thousand years. 



