21. Section of Palace of Thothmes III., Thebes.
When the original line was resumed, Meneptah commenced the building of the great hall, which he nearly completed. Rameses, the first king of the 19th dynasty, built the small temple in front; and the so-called Bubastite kings of the 22nd dynasty added the great court in front, completing the building to the extent we now find it. We have thus, as in some of our mediæval cathedrals, in this one temple a complete history of the style during the whole of its most flourishing period; and, either for interest or for beauty, it forms such a series as no other country, and no other age, can produce. Besides those buildings mentioned above, there are other temples to the north, to the east, and more especially to the south, and pylons connecting these, and avenues of sphinxes extending for miles, and enclosing-walls, and tanks, and embankments—making up such a group as no city ever possessed before or since. St. Peter’s, with its colonnades, and the Vatican, make up an immense mass, but as insignificant in extent as in style when compared with this glory of ancient Thebes and its surrounding temples.
22. Plan of Hypostyle Hall at Karnac. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
23. Section of central portion of Hypostyle Hall at Karnac. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
The culminating point and climax of all this group of building is the hypostyle hall of Meneptah. The plan and section of its central portion on the next page, both to the usual scale, will explain its general arrangement; but no language can convey an idea of its beauty, and no artist has yet been able to reproduce its form so as to convey to those who have not seen it an idea of its grandeur. The mass of its central piers, illumined by a flood of light from the clerestory, and the smaller pillars of the wings gradually fading into obscurity, are so arranged and lighted as to convey an idea of infinite space; at the same time, the beauty and massiveness of the forms, and the brilliancy of their coloured decorations, all combine to stamp this as the greatest of man’s architectural works; but such a one as it would be impossible to reproduce, except in such a climate and in that individual style in which, and for which, it was created.
24. Caryatide Pillar, from the Great Court at Medeenet-Habû.
On the same side of the Nile, and probably at one time connected with it by an avenue of sphinxes, stands the temple of Luxor, hardly inferior in some respects to its great rival at Karnac; but either it was never finished, or, owing to its proximity to the Nile, it has been ruined, and the materials carried away. The length is about 830 ft., its breadth ranging from 100 to 200 ft. Its general arrangement comprised, first, a great court at a different angle from the rest, being turned so as to face Karnac. In front of this stand two colossi of Rameses the Great, its founder, and two obelisks were once also there, one of which is now in Paris. Behind this was once a great hypostyle hall, but only the two central ranges of columns are now standing. Still further back were smaller halls and numerous apartments, evidently meant for the king’s residence, rather than for a temple or place exclusively devoted to worship.