Egyptian Archaeology - Gaston Maspero

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founder. The architect, therefore, distributed in width those portions of the edifice which he could not carry out in length; and he even threw out a wing. Some years later, when Rameses II. constructed a monument to his own memory, about a hundred yards to the northward of the older building, he was careful not to follow in his father's footsteps. Built on the top of an elevation, his temple had sufficient space for development, and the conventional plan was followed in all its strictness.

      Most temples, even the smallest, should be surrounded by a square enclosure or temenos.30 At Medinet Habu, this enclosure wall is of sandstone– low, and embattled. The innovation is due to a whim of Rameses III., who, in giving to his monument the outward appearance of a fortress, sought to commemorate his Syrian victories. Elsewhere, the doorways are of stone, and the walls are built in irregular courses of crude bricks. The great enclosure wall was not, as frequently stated, intended to isolate the temple and screen the priestly ceremonies from eyes profane. It marked the limits of the divine dwelling, and served, when needful, to resist the attacks of enemies whose cupidity might be excited by the accumulated riches of the sanctuary. As at Karnak, avenues of sphinxes and series of pylons led up to the various gates, and formed triumphal approaches. The rest of the ground was in part occupied by stables, cellarage, granaries, and private houses. Just as in Europe during the Middle Ages the population crowded most densely round about the churches and abbeys, so in Egypt they swarmed around the temples, profiting by that security which the terror of his name and the solidity of his ramparts ensured to the local deity. A clear space was at first reserved round the pylons and the walls; but in course of time the houses encroached upon this ground, and were even built up against the boundary wall. Destroyed and rebuilt century after century upon the self-same spot, the débris of these surrounding dwellings so raised the level of the soil, that the temples ended for the most part by being gradually buried in a hollow formed by the artificial elevation of the surrounding city. Herodotus noticed this at Bubastis, and on examination it is seen to have been the same in many other localities. At Ombos, at Edfû, at Denderah, the whole city nestled inside the precincts of the divine dwelling.

Fig 94.--Crio-sphinx from Wady Es Sabûah.

      Fig 94.–Crio-sphinx from Wady Es Sabûah.

      At El Kab, where the temple temenos formed a separate enclosure within the boundary of the city walls, it served as a sort of donjon, or keep, in which the garrison could seek a last refuge.

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      1

      More striking than these are the towns of Tell Atrib, Kom Baglieh, Kom Abû Billû, and Tell Nebesheh, the houses of which may be traced without any special excavations.

      2

      There is much skill needed in mixing the mud and sand in such proportions as to dry properly; when rightly adjusted there is no cracking in drying, and the grains of sand prevent the mud from being washed away in the rains.

      3

      In the Delta, at least, the sizes of bricks from the Twenty-first Dynasty down to Arab times decrease very regularly; under the Twe

1

More striking than these are the towns of Tell Atrib, Kom Baglieh, Kom Abû Billû, and Tell Nebesheh, the houses of which may be traced without any special excavations.

2

There is much skill needed in mixing the mud and sand in such proportions as to dry properly; when rightly adjusted there is no cracking in drying, and the grains of sand prevent the mud from being washed away in the rains.

3

In the Delta, at least, the sizes of bricks from the Twenty-first Dynasty down to Arab times decrease very regularly; under the Twenty-first Dynasty they are about 18 x 9 x 5 inches; early in the Twenty-sixth, 16-1/2 x 8-1/4 x 5; later 15 x 7- 1/2; in early Ptolemaic times, 14 x 7; in Roman times, 12 x 6, in Byzantine times, 10 x 5; and Arab bricks are 8 x 4, and continue so very generally to our times. The thickness is always least certain, as it depends on the amount placed in the mould, but the length and breadth may in most cases be accepted as a very useful chronological scale.

4

They are found of Ramesside age at Nebesheh and Defenneh; even there they are rare, and these are the only cases I have yet seen in Egypt earlier than about the third century A.D.

5

This system was sometimes used to raise a fort above the plain, as at Defenneh; or the chambers formed store-rooms, as at the fort at Naukratis.

6

Many of the rooms at Kahun had vaulted ceilings.

7

Seventeenth to Twentieth Dynasties.

8

At Medinet Habû.

9

The bas-relief sculpture from which the illustration, fig. 42, is taken (outer wall of Hypostyle Hall, Karnak, north end) represents Seti I. returning in triumph from one of his Syrian campaigns. He is met at Zarû by the great officers of his court, who bring bouquets of lotus-blossoms in their hands. Pithom and other frontier forts are depicted in this tableau, and Pithom is apparently not very far from Zarû. Zarû, Zalu, is the Selle of the Roman Itineraries.–A.B.E.

10

See The Store City of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus, by Ed. Naville, with 13 Plates and 2 Maps; published by the Egypt Exploration Fund. First edition 1885, second edition 1885. Trübner & Co., London. –A.B.E.

11

For an account of the explorations at Daphnae (the "Tahpanhes" of the Bible, the Tell Defenneh of the present day) see Mr. Petrie's memoir, entitled Tanis, Part II, (including Nebesheh, Gemayemi, Defenneh, etc.), published by the Egypt Exploration Fund.–A.B.E.

12

The remains of this gigantic work may yet be seen about two hours' distance to the southward of Medûm. See Herodotus, book II.; chap. 99.–A.B.E.

13

See The Fayûm and Lake Moeris. Major R.H. Brown, R.E.

14

Officially, this temple is attributed to Thothmes III., and the dedicatory inscription dates from the first year of his reign; but the work was really that of his aunt and predecessor, Queen Hatshepsût.

15

See also an exact reduction of this design, to scale, in Mr. Petrie's work A Season in Egypt, 1887, Plate XXV.

16

Chenoboscion.– A.B.E.

17

In the fine early work at Gizeh they sawed the paving blocks of basalt, and then ground only just the edges flat, while all the inside of the joint was picked rough to hold the mortar.

18

A usual plan in early times was to dress the joint faces of the block in the quarry, leaving its outer face with a rough excess of a few inches; the excess still remains on the granite casing of the pyramid of Menkara, and the result of dressing it away may be seen in the corners of the

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Temenos, i.e., the enclosure wall of the Temple, within which all was holy ground.–A.B.E.