1:96 DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
veller a full idea of Egyptian art, was the temple 
at Dendera. It is in the purest style of the archi- 
tecture of that ancient people, which is peculiarly 
characterized by the walls sloping inward ; a 
structure which Denon extols as at once the 
most natural and durable, though it seems doubt- 
ful if it does not rather recal the infancy and 
debility of the art. The aspect of the whole is 
remarkably simple ; for, though it be entirely 
covered with hieroglyphics, these, at a little dis- 
tance, do not break the unity of the general 
effect. Some of these hieroglyphics are large, 
represent living objects, and may rather be con- 
sidered as sculptures ; others are smaller. They 
are generally divided by Denon into three kinds. 
The first are merely incisions without relief; the 
second is in relief, but slight ; the third in full 
relief, on a lower level than the general outline 
of the building. These last, undoubtedly the 
most perfect, are nowhere seen in such perfec- 
tion as at Dendera. The capitals of the columns 
consist of a head of Isis, surmounted with hiero- 
glyphics, which is said to produce a very beauti- 
ful effect. 
The next great ruins surveyed by Denon were 
those of Thebes. The whole army is said to have 
made a pause at the view of the stupendous mo- 
numents of this " city of the hundred gates.*' 
The two great masses of ruins are on the sites of 
