The temples of Philae owe much of their beauty and picturesqueness to the island on which they are situated; their plans, and that of the long porticoes in front of the pylons of the great temple, being fitted to the irregularity of the site. In the first court is a well-preserved example of the Mammeisi temple (see [Temple]), the sanctuary and other rooms in which are entirely enclosed in a peristyle. It was built by Ptolemy Euergetes (247-222 B.C.). A second monarch of the same name (about 125 B.C.) built the pavilion on the north side of the island, known as “Pharaoh’s bed,” the roof of which was covered with stone slabs, resting on timber beams. In consequence of the building of the Assuan dam all these temples are submerged for the greater part of the year. The principal temples between Philae and the second cataract are:—Dabōd, of which little remains; Kartassi; Kalābsha, still preserving its pylon and great hall of columns; the Bēt el-Wāli, in which are two ancient polygonal columns; Gerf Husen, partially cut in the rock; Dakka; Wadi es-Sebū’a; and lastly Abū Simbel. Owing to the proximity of the ranges of hills to the Nile, there was no room for the ordinary type of temple at Abū Simbel, so that those founded here by Rameses the Great (c. 1300-1234 B.C.) were excavated in the rock. In the place of the pylon the side of the cliff was worked off, leaving in relief four immense seated figures, 66 ft. high. The first hall had three aisles, divided by four piers on each side, in front of which Osirid figures (18 ft. high) were carved; beyond was a second hall, vestibule and sanctuary. The long rectangular chambers on each side are provided with benches cut in the rock. The depth of the temple is 90 ft. There is a second temple of smaller size which faces the Nile.
| Fig. 5.—Plan of the Temple of Edfu. |
| AA, Pylon. B, Entrance door. C, Great Court. D, Hall of Columns. E, Second Hall. F, Hall of the Altar. G, Hall of the Centre. H, Sanctuary. KK, Storerooms. |
We have already referred to the lotus columns at Beni Hasan; these, when employed constructionally to carry stone roofs, assumed a far more solid appearance, and the stems of the lotus plant carved in the earlier examples were omitted in the later, in order to give more surface for intaglio carving. The capital and its neck still retain the lotus buds and the bands which tied them round the column. In the central avenues of the great halls the columns had bell capitals, the decoration of which was based on the flower of the papyrus. There are a few examples of the palm capital, often carved in granite, which date from an early period. Commencing with the Ptolemaic revival the capitals assume a much greater variety of form, their decoration being based on river plants; but here again the lotus plant, which seems still to be the favourite type, predominates, the buds in various degrees of their growth alternating one with the other. All these varieties of form are described in the article [Capital], but two or three may be mentioned here, as they depart from the usual type. The Hathor-headed capital, with faces on all four sides, and surmounted with a miniature shrine, is found at Dendera, Philae and other temples of the Ptolemaic or Roman periods; one of the earliest examples, but without the shrine, dates back to Tethmosis III. (1503-1449 B.C.). As a distinct type of pier decoration, the Osirid figures at Medinet Abu, at Karnak, Gerf Husen, Abu Simbel and other temples, constitute important features: the figure is carved in front of the pier and does not serve any constructive function.
With the exception of the great building in the rear of the temple at Karnak, built by Tethmosis III., and the pavilion of Medinet Abū on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes, no palatial residences of any importance have yet been found, from which it might be inferred that the king, being the head of the Egyptian religion, occupied with his family the sacred precincts of the temple; but large as these temple enclosures are, there would have been no room for the immense army of attendants and servants required in an Oriental court. Moreover, the darkness of the halls and the rigid enclosures would have made a residence in them anything but cheerful. There are two instances where, in consequence of the subsequent desertion of the site, remains have been found of ancient towns. At Tell el-Amarna, built by the heretic king, Akhenaton, portions of the houses remain, and at Kahun, in the Fayum, Petrie discovered the walls of a town which, erected for the overseers and workmen employed in the construction of the pyramid of Illahun, built by Senwosri (Usertesen) II. (2684-2666 B.C.), was abandoned when the pyramid was completed. The houses were all built in unburnt brick, and in those cases where the rooms exceeded 8 or 9 ft. in width, columns in stone or wood were employed to assist in carrying the roof, which was constructed of beams carrying smaller timbers covered over with a flat roof of mud. The plans of the houses were not unlike those found in Pompeii, with open courts and porticoes and no external windows. The streets ran at right angles to one another, and the houses varied in size from the workman’s hut, of one room, to the overseer’s house with several rooms and courts; the principal residence, in the centre, occupied by the governor of the town, being of still larger dimensions.
| Fig. 6.—Exterior of the Pylon of the Temple of Edfu. |
| Fig. 7.—Façade of the Great Hall of Columns of the Ptolemaic temple at Edfu. |
Further knowledge of the Egyptian dwellings is chiefly derived from the “soul-houses” recently discovered by Petrie, and from the paintings in the tombs, which suggest that they corresponded to that class of residence which in Rome was known as a villa, viz. a series of detached buildings built in immense enclosures, with porticoes round, groves of trees, artificial lakes, &c. The walls, gates and buildings were all built probably in unburnt brick, and the whole site, if on the borders of the river, raised on great mounds. In this respect they accord with the houses of the fellah at the present day, which are raised on the accumulation of centuries, for when, owing to the rise of the Nile, the houses succumb to the moisture creeping up, another house is built on the top. The representations in paintings show that the houses were chiefly built in unburnt brick, and they sometimes were of two or three storeys with windows in the upper floors, and a flat roof with a kind of dormer known as the Mulhuf, turned towards the north-west to ventilate the house. The paintings frequently represent the store-rooms, or granaries; and the preservation of those built by Rameses the Great, in the rear of the Ramesseum at Thebes, as granaries to hold corn, enables us to follow their construction. These granaries consist of a series of long cellars, about 12 to 14 ft. wide, placed side by side, and roofed over with elliptical barrel vaults. The reason for the elliptical form and the method of their construction is given in the article [Vault] (q.v.).
The pavilion of Medinet Abū was built in stone, and consequently has been preserved more or less complete to our day. It consisted of three storeys with a flat roof and battlement round, said to be in imitation of those on a Syrian fortress, as they are quite unlike anything else in Egypt. The floors were in wood, but there are traces of a stone staircase. The windows, of large size, were filled with thin stone slabs pierced with vertical slits, like those of the hall of columns at Karnak.
(R. P. S.)
Assyrian Architecture