GRAND COURT-YARD OF THE TEMPLE.
"These one hundred and twenty-two columns are each 42 feet high and 9 feet in diameter. Altogether there are one hundred and thirty-four columns in the hall of the temple, and they are all closely covered with sculptures. They once supported a roof, but it is nearly all gone now, and some of the columns have fallen. The stones used in building the temple were of great size, and they lie around us in all directions; they do not appear very large till you come close up to them, and then you seem dwarfed into nothing by their greatness. Everything is on so grand a scale that you forget the dimensions of individual things until you are side by side with them.
"Some writers have said that there is as much stone here as in the Great Pyramid at Gizeh. Certainly there is a vast amount; but it is so scattered, and in such irregular masses, that you cannot easily make an estimate of it. At any rate, it is a much finer work than that of building the Great Pyramid, as the whole of the walls, the columns, the sides of all the rooms, in fact everywhere that a plain surface was presented, is covered with sculpture or painting. The pyramid impresses you with its vastness, and so does Karnak; but the latter has another impression—that of beauty and artistic effect—which the pyramid has not. The stones used in the construction of Karnak are many of them much larger than those in the pyramids; they show that the builders must have been very skilful engineers, and that their work covered a long period of years.
A BODY OF ARCHERS.
"We looked at the sculptures till our eyes were weary. At every step something new was revealed, and we seemed to be living in the days of the great kings of Egypt. The most of the sculptures represent battle scenes and kindred subjects; and the deeds of the kings are so well illustrated that anybody who has time and patience to study them can easily make out the whole history of a campaign. Here the king is marching out with his army, some on foot, and others on horseback or in chariots, and bearing the swords, spears, and other weapons in use at that time. Next we see him attacking a fortress or crossing a river; next he is putting the enemy to flight and securing the captives; and, finally, he is returning in triumph, and coming to the temple to offer thanks to the divinity who has protected and favored him.
