BENON* 
197 
the villages of Carnac and Luxor. The temple 
at the former place is undoubtedly the largest in 
Egypt, and its piles suggested the idea of sculp- 
tured mountains. The portico, attached to a 
very inferior part of it, contains a hundred co- 
lumns, from seven to twelve feet in diameter. 
Its architecture, however, is very inferior, in 
point of elegance and beauty, to that of the tem- 
ples at Dendera and Edfu. It appears to have 
been built at that early period when magnitude 
was considered as the sole constituent of subli- 
mity. From Carnac to Luxor there extends, for 
about half a league, a road, both sides of which 
are covered with statues, of which the sphinxes are 
by far the most numerous. The temple at Lux- 
or, though large, is considerably inferior to that 
of Carnac, but built in a much better taste. The 
entrance is particularly beautiful, being compos- 
ed of two obelisks seventy feet high, and covered 
with hieroglyphics. 
At another visit Denon examined excavations 
near Carnac, which were used as houses by the 
Arabs, but which appear to have been tombs of 
Egyptian kings. He found them variously adorn- 
ed with painting and sculpture, and exhibiting in 
the latter art a perfection far exceeding what he 
had seen on any of the temples. The figures 
were not formed on so stiff a model ; they pos- 
sessed more of ease and nature , and groups 
