Fig. 57.—Details of columns in Fig. 56.
Fig. 58.—Pavilion from Sakkarah, 6th dynasty.
Fig. 59.—Details of column in Fig. 58.
During the Ptolemaic period, the Egyptian architects made frequent use of the form of capital which is now called hathoric, in which a masque of Hathor, the cow-headed goddess, is the ruling principle. This capital is to be seen, in a rudimentary condition, in a pavilion dating from the fifth dynasty (Figs. [60] and [61]). It there occurs, as will be seen by referring to our illustrations, as the roughly blocked-out head of a cow.
In connection with the last two bas-reliefs, we must call attention to the fact that the structures from which they were imitated must have been erected in some kind of metal. Their forms are inconsistent with the use of any other material. The way in which the capital is connected with the member to which it acts as support, in Fig. [59], and the open-work of the architrave in Fig. [61], are especially suggestive. In the latter bas-relief the figures introduced are evidently behind a grille, and the whole structure is expressive of metal-work.
Fig. 60.—Bas-relief from the 5th dynasty; from Lepsius.
