At the present day the glory of Thebes consists in its ancient temples. Of these the best known are the El Kurna, the Rameseum and Medinet-Abu temples, founded by Seti I., Rameses II., and Rameses III. respectively. To Amenhotep III. are ascribed two temples on the west side of the city, as also the well-known temple at Luxor.
Luxor (luk´sor).—The present front of the latter temple was preceded, at the end of a great dromos of sphinxes leading to Karnak, by two beautiful obelisks of red granite, one of which still remains, and the other stands in the Place de la Concorde, Paris.
Before the large double gateway of the court are two colossal seated statues. The court is surrounded by a double range of columns. Beyond, the avenue to the buildings of Amenhotep makes a sharp angle and meets the gateway of the court, which is surrounded by a double colonnade. The buildings behind the court contain a great number of chambers and an isolated sanctuary, all profusely sculptured and colored.
Karnak (kär´nak).—The temple here originally founded in the twelfth dynasty, owes much of its magnificence to later kings. The Great Temple extends to a length of about twelve hundred feet from west to east, and is comparatively regular in plan. The double gateway of the great court is about three hundred and seventy feet wide; the court is colonnaded at the sides, and has an avenue of columns in the middle.
A second gateway follows, and opens on the famous hall, one hundred and seventy by three hundred and twenty-nine feet, with central avenue of twelve columns sixty-two feet high and eleven and one-half feet in diameter, and one hundred and twenty-two columns forty-two and one-half feet high at the sides. A narrow court follows, ornamented with figures and containing two obelisks.
Behind this building is another large open court, at the back of which stands the edifice of Thothmes III., an extensive building containing a large hall and many comparatively small halls and chambers.
The mural sculptures are vast in quantity, and highly interesting in character, particularly those which portray the racial characteristics of various conquered Asiatic peoples.
Suez (sōō-ez´).—A seaport of Egypt, situated at the head of the Gulf of Suez, is best known as the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It was the ancient Arsinoë and the terminus of an ancient canal built by the Egyptian king, Rameses II., between the Nile delta and the Red Sea. This, having been allowed to fill up and become disused, was reopened by Darius I. of Persia. It was once more cleared and made serviceable for the passage of boats by Arab conquerors of Egypt.
In 1841 the French diplomat Lesseps set himself to study the isthmus of Suez thoroughly, and in 1854 he managed to enlist the interest of Said Pasha, khedive of Egypt, in his scheme for connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.
Two years later the Porte granted its permission and the Universal Company of the Maritime Suez Canal was formed, receiving important concessions from the ruler of Egypt. The work was begun in 1859, and in 1869, the canal was duly opened for vessels. Between 1885 and 1889 the canal was enlarged and improved, and altogether over one hundred million dollars were spent in its construction. The total length is one hundred miles; the width of the water-surface was at first one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet, the width at the bottom seventy-two feet, and the minimum depth twenty-six feet. At Port Said two strong breakwaters, six thousand nine hundred and forty and six thousand and twenty feet long respectively, were run out into the Mediterranean; at Suez another substantial mole was constructed.