1911-1912.] Notes on a Visit to Egypt, 419 



ridor, and crypt is covered with bas-reliefs, and would afford 

 years of study to any one so inclined. 



Four hundred and fifty miles from Cairo is situated Luxor, 

 a small town of 12,000 inhabitants, renowned as the centre 

 for visiting the most famous ruins in Egypt. Here stood the 

 city of Thebes, at one time the greatest and grandest city of 

 the world. All that now remains are the ruins of several of 

 its temples, which are the wonder and admiration of to-day. 

 No sight in Egypt impressed me so much as the magnificent 

 Hypos tyle Hall of the Great Temple of Ammon at Karnak 

 (Plate XXXII., Fig. 2). How did the old Egyptians quarry 

 such immense blocks with the inferior tools of those days ? 

 On those pillars are coloured reliefs of great importance, 

 commemorating the wars of Sethos I. and his son the Great 

 Eameses. 



The various ruins at Karnak and Luxor cover many acres, 

 and a lengthened stay would be necessary to do them justice 

 (Plate XXXIIL, Eigs. 1, 2 ; Plate XXXIV., Fig. 1). 



In the Temple of Luxor there was a considerable amount of 

 vegetation, as the effect of the last inundation was still in evi- 

 dence. Acacias and tamarisks were common. I found two 

 grasses, Cynodon dactylon and Polypogon monspeliensis, the 

 only two grasses I saw, as the climate is much too dry for 

 pasture. 



On the western bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor, is the 

 Necropolis of Thebes, which comprises an immense stretch 

 of hilly country containing thousands of tombs, the most 

 famous of which are the tombs of the kings of the 18th, 

 19 th, and 20th Dynasties. 



We left Luxor in the morning, as it is a long ride through 

 the desolate defiles of the Libyan desert (Plate XXXIV., 

 Fig. 2). 



These mortuary chambers are hewn out of the solid rock, 

 and recede into the mountain, sometimes to the distance 

 of four or five hundred feet. Their walls and ceilings are 

 covered with sculptures and paintings, the colouring of which 

 is remarkably well preserved. 



The innermost recess is the Hall of the Dead, where lies 

 the granite sarcophagus containing the embalmed remains of 

 the monarch. 



