n
1861, but later Egyptologists rather incline to the belief that this
was a tomb and not a temple, as in one of the chambers of the interior
a number of compartments were discovered one above the other which
were apparently intended for the reception of bodies. This singular
building is close to the Great Sphinx; its plan is cruciform, and
there are in the interior a number of rectangular piers of granite
supporting very simple architraves, but there are no means of
determining what kind of roof covered it in. The walls seem to have
been faced on the interior with polished slabs of granite or
alabaster, but no sculpture or hieroglyphic inscriptions were found on
them to explain the purpose of the building. Leaving this
building--which is of a type quite unique--out of the question,
Egyptian temples can be generally classed under two heads: (1) the
large principal temples, and (2) the small subsidiary ones called
Typhonia or Mammisi. Both kinds of temple vary little, if at all, in
plan from the time of the twelfth dynasty down to the Roman dominion.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.--GROUND-PLAN OF THE PALACE AT KARNAK.]

The large temples consist almost invariably of an entrance gate
flanked on either side by a large mass of masonry, called a pylon, in
the shape of a truncated pyramid (Fig. 18). The axis of the
ground-plan of these pylons is frequently obliquely inclined to the
axis of the plan of the temple itself; and indeed one of the most
striking features of Egyptian temples is the lack of regularity and
symmetry in their construction. The entrance gives access to a large
courtyard, generally ornamented with columns: beyond this, and
occasionally approached by steps, is another court, smaller than the
first, but much more splendidly adorned with columns and colossi;
beyond this again, in the finest examples, occurs what is called the
Hypostyle Hall, _i.e._ a hall with two rows of lofty columns down the
centre, and at the sides other rows, more or less in number, of lower
columns; the object of this arrangement being that the central portion
might be lighted by a kind of clerestory above the roof of the side
portions. Fig. 17 shows this arrangement. This hypostyle hall stood
with its greatest length transverse to the general axis of the temple,
so that it was entered from the side. Beyond it were other chambers,
all of small size, the innermost being generally the sanctuary, while
the others were probably used as reside