In Denderah we have an example of the second group, in which the massive pylon is omitted. In these the front is entirely changed; instead of the pylon we have now an open front to the temple with columns—the Greek form of temple is approached.
GREAT COURT OF HEAVEN, AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE HATHOR TEMPLE AT DENDERAH.
Associated with many of the temples, frequently but not universally in close proximity to the propylon, were obelisks, often of gigantic proportions, exceeding one hundred feet in height and many hundreds of tons in weight, which it has since been discovered were hewn out of the syenite quarry at Aswân, and floated down the river to the various places where they were to be erected.
It is not necessary to go to Egypt to see these wonderful monoliths, for they have been carried away from their original temple sites at Thebes and Heliopolis to adorn more modern cities in the Western world. London, Paris, Rome, and Constantinople are thus embellished. It is obvious to anyone acquainted with astronomical history and methods, that some of these structures, at all events, may have served as gnomons.
TEMPLE GATE WITH PROPYLON AND OBELISKS.
Sometimes these temples, instead of being entirely constructed of stone on a level surface, were either entirely or partly rock-hewn. Of the former class, the temple of Abu Simbel is the most striking example; of the latter, the temple of Dêr el-Bahari at Thebes.
HATHOR TEMPLE OF DÊR EL-BAHARI. (As restored by M. Brune.)