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fop however, presents a somewhat different appearance,botjj • t ' le abacus and base remain as before, the shaft isto r Clrc ular and fluted, the rounding of the angles seemingfluti n e been effected as a matter of convenience, and theas of ornament. We have already alluded to the notkelp ?7 l . ent occurrence of polygonal shafts, and we cannott) 0 ty j° ln hing that these, as well as the fluted examples justfyfij^^ribed, find a common origin in the square pier, oftiij e . e y are all improvements. We are inclined to coin-get] er 'T lt; k Mr. Barry in the following remarks : —- “ TheG reci a res emblance of the fluted columns to those of theoth er an E>°ric order, is manifest, and, in addition to manypojut^^rkable indications in the Egyptian temple, clearlyat chi, *° %P» as the source of both Greek and Kornan
Jj a ®?ture.” See Doric Order , Column.the ele' n ° Dow before the reader a general description of''’ell mentar y P arts and details of Egyptian architecture,*t i 8 a ® of the usual form and distribution of their temples,the ^ r ln tention to give some more particular account ofca 6 not;e< ^ erections, and, in following out this scheme,*U tl " ot do better than give the accounts of the variousTh e * * es . * n their own words.
)a th e J )rill cipal remains are to be found in Upper Egypt ,Hieh t), tleS ^’* n g on both sides of the Nile , but the spot inkou r i hey are most numerous and imposing is in the neigh-^Ples • Thebes . The following is a list of the larger
4 Poll >le of Jupiter, at Karnac ; of Jupiter Ammon; ofu at -^-Pollinopolis Magna ; of Osiris, at Tentyra ;hern] Us > of Thebais, at Knubis. Temples at Luxor ,7 Edfou, Esneh, or Latopolis, Hermopolis, Ombos ,ar u| ’ yoeron, Ipsambul; Caryatic temple, at Rhamesseion,
1 add'!-* 118 temples in the islands of Philoe and Elephantina.
vrint) l0n to w hich, we have the tombs and pyramids, the1>0f ks an d various monuments, obelisks, and other isolated
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{e the pre-eminence ; they form two separate erec-8 t , hin Xea ut are connected together by a long avenue ofH ject > a s hereafter mentioned. We select these two as? r the first description, the authorities being DenonI’o, J inson.
r(; a general description of the temple at Karnac, welatT t0 ^ lu French traveller, M. Denon, who, writingt <l ^ J s 6 , r en d °f the last century, (1798-9,) says :—
0 b® ^ the sumptuousness alone of the Egyptians which is
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j, ave already stated, that the grandest monuments areand at Thebes , and, of such, those of Karnac and
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yhs, are n at Karnac, where not only quarries, but moun-t's, th e together, and hewn out into massive propor-
cl u h'aits of which are as feebly executed, as the partsa °hth conn ected ; and these masses are loaded withan( l tasteless hieroglyphics, by which the.i ? Suijjj Pture is disgraced. Tlie only objects there which'h 'vhi^ 16 ’ both with regard to their dimensions and the•a 6 ' v of tl ^ le ’ r workmanship displays, are the obelisks, andjJ ^'hirai i* 6 ornam ents of the outer gates, the style of whichy chaste. If in the other parts of this edifice the
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t}, e a Ppear to us to be giants, in these latter produc-er su^j- ai ' e geniuses. I am accordingly persuaded thatt|j ° s sal ^ llne embellishments were posteriorly added to the0 pi° ,1Uments of Karnac. It must, however, be granted,
°f the temple is noble and grand. ... To thea 0.d ec j ^'bptions of this great edifice of Karnac should
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it was but a temple, and could be nothing
tly^s to a lat ex ‘ sta at present, in a somewhat entire state,t , Ver y small sanctuary, and had been disposed ininspire a due degree of veneration, and to become
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a kind of tabernacle. On beholding the vast extent of theseruins the imagination is wearied with the idea of describingthem. Of the 100 columns of the portico alone of thistemple, the smallest are 7^ feet in diameter, and the largest12. The space occupied by its cireumvallation contains lakesand mountains. In short, to be enabled to form a competentidea of so much magnificence, it is necessary that the readershould fancy what is before him to be a dream, as he whoviews the objects themselves rubs his eyes to know whetherhe is awake. With respect to the present state of this edi-fice, it is, however, necessary, at the same time, to observe,that a great part of the effect is lost by its very degradedstate. The sphinxes have been wantonly mutilated, witha few exceptions, which barbarism, wearied with destroying,has spared, and, on examining which, it is easy to distin-guish, that some of them had a woman’s head, others that ofa lion, a ram, a bull, &c.”
For the following more particular description of this temple,we are indebted to Sir I. G. Wilkinson.
“ The principal entrance of the grand temple lies on thenorth-west side, or that facing the river. From a raised plat-form commences the avenue of Criosphinxes, leading to thefront propyla, before which stood two granite statues of aPharaoh. One of these towers retains a great part of itsoriginal height, but has lost its summit and cornice. In theupper part, their solid walls have been perforated throughtheir whole breadth, for the purpose of fastening the timbersthat secured the flag-staffs usually placed in front of thesepropyla ; but no sculptures have ever been added to eitherface, nor was the surface yet levelled to receive them. Passingthrough the pylon of these towers, you arrived at a largeopen court, 275 feet by 329, with a covered corridor oneither side, and a double line of columns down the centre.Other propyla terminate this area with a small vestibulebefore the pylon, and form the front of the grand hall, 170feet by 329, supported by a central avenue of 12 massivecolumns, 66 feet high (without the pedestal and abacus), and12 in diameter ; besides 122 of smaller, or rather lessgigantic, dimensions, 41 feet 9 inches in height, and 27 feet6 inches in circumference, distributed in seven lines on eitherside of the former. Other propyla close the inner extremityof this hall, beyond which are two obelisks, one still standingon its original site, the other having been thrown down andbroken by human violence. A small propylon succeeds tothis court, of which it forms the inner side ; the next con-tains two obelisks of larger dimensions, being 92 feet highand 8 square, surrounded by a peristyle, if I may be allowedthe expression, of Osiride figures. Passing between twodilapidated propyla, you enter another smaller area, orna-mented in a similar manner, and succeeded by a vestibule, infront of the granite gateway of the pyramidal towers, whichform the facade of the court of the sanctuary. This last is alsoof red granite, divided into two apartments, and surroundedby numerous chambers of small dimensions, varying from 29feet by 16, to 16 feet by 8. A few polygonal columns, of theearly date of Osirtesen I., the contemporary of Joseph,appear behind these in the midst of fallen architraves of thesame era, and two pedestals of red granite crossing the lineof direction in the centre of the open space to the south-east, are the only objects worthy of notice, until you reachthe column or edifice of the third Thothmes. The exteriorwall of this building is entirely destroyed, except on thenorth-east side, to it succeeds a circuit of thirty-two pillars,and within this square are twenty columns, disposed in twolines, parallel to the outer walls, and to the back and frontrow of pillars. Independent of the irregular position of thelatter with regard to the columns of the centre, an unusual