Fig. 118.—Medinet-Abou; second court.
In the temple of Khons the peristyle is continued past the doorway in the pylon (Fig. [119]), and the inclosure is reached through one of the intercolumniations.[122] At Luxor, on the other hand, the portico was brought to an abrupt termination against the salient jambs of the doorway (Fig. [120]).
Fig. 119.—Portico of the Temple of Khons, looking towards pronaos.
Fig. 120.—Portico of first court at Luxor.
The Egyptian architect, like his Greek successor, made frequent use of the anta, that is, he gave a salience to the extremities of his walls which strengthened his design and afforded structural members, akin to pilasters or quadrangular pillars, which were combined in various ways with columns and piers. Sometimes the anta is nothing but a slight prolongation of a wall beyond the point where it meets another (Fig. [121]); sometimes it is the commencement of a returning wall which appears to have been broken off to give place to a row of columns (Fig. [122]); a good instance of the latter arrangement is to be found on the façade of the temple at Gournah. Sometimes, as at Medinet-Abou, it is a reinforcement to the extremity of a wall, and serves to form a backing for colossal Osiride statues (Fig. [123]), sometimes it gives accent and strength to an angle, as in the Great Hall at Karnak (Fig. [124]). At the Temple of Khons the terminations of the two rows of columns which form the portico are marked by antæ on the inner face of the pylon (Fig. [126]), while the wall which incloses the pronaos is without any projection except the jambs of the door. This arrangement has an obvious raison d'être; if the columns were brought close up to the pylon their outlines would not combine happily with its inclined walls. At the other extremity of the court, the wall being perpendicular, there was no necessity for such an arrangement.[123] A glance at Fig. [126] will make this readily understood. At Medinet-Abou the portico is terminated laterally by two antæ, one corresponding to the row of columns, the other to the row of caryatid piers. In another court of the same temple the antæ on either side vary in depth, at one end of the portico there is a bold pilaster, at the other one which projects very slightly indeed (Fig. [128]). This is another instance of the curious want of symmetry and regularity which is one of the most constant characteristics of Egyptian architecture.
Fig. 121.—Anta, Luxor; second court. Description, iii. 5.
