[375] The temple of Kerdasch or Gartasse in Nubia resembles the Eastern Temple at Philæ in plan; its date appears to be unknown.
[376] We have omitted to speak of those little temples known since the time of Champollion as mammisi or places for accouchement, because the existing examples all belong to the Ptolemaic period. The best preserved is that of Denderah. It is probable, however, that the custom of building these little edifices by the side of those great temples where a triad of gods was worshipped dated back as far as the Pharaonic period. The mammisi symbolised the celestial dwelling in which the goddess gave birth to the third person of the triad. The authors of the Description called them Typhonia, from the effigy of a grimacing deity which figures in their decoration. This deity has, however, nothing in common with Set-Typhon, the enemy of Osiris. We now know that his name was Bes, that he was imported into Egypt from the country of the Aromati, and that he presided over the toilette of women. (Ebers, L'Égypte, etc., p. 255.)
[377] Mariette, Itinérare, pp. 13-16, 157-159; Karnak, p. 19; Voyage dans la Haute-Égypte, vol. i. pp. 15, 16.
[378] The canal figured in front of the Chariot of Rameses, in [Fig. 254] was, according to Ebers, the oldest of the Suez Canals, the one dug by Seti I. This canal was defended by fortifications, and is called in inscriptions the Cutting (L'Égypte, etc.).
[379] To follow these processions was an act of piety. Upon a Theban stele we find the following words addressed to Amen-Ra: "I am one of those who follow thee when thou goest abroad." The stele of Suti and Har, architects at Thebes, translated into French by Paul Pierret, in Recueil de Travaux, p. 72.
Transcriber's Note:
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Archaic and inconsistent spelling and punctuation retained.
Most of the coloured plates were too faded to resolve colours.
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