ped out of the
political life of any of the great European nations during the last
century.

The impressiveness of the temple of Luxor depends mainly upon the rows
of columns, nearly sixty feet in height, which give one a vivid idea of
the majesty of Egyptian architecture in its best estate. These columns
show few traces of the destroying hand of time, although they were
carved from soft limestone. Probably the escape of this temple from the
ruin that befell Karnak and Thebes was due mainly to its sheltered
position and also to the fact that a Coptic church and the houses of
peasants were built among the columns. The refuse that aided to preserve
these remains of Ancient Egyptian architecture was fully twenty feet
deep when the work of excavation was begun. Hence Luxor satisfies the
eye in the perfect arrangement of the columns and in the massiveness of
the work. Here also on the pylon and the walls of the court may be seen
some beautiful reliefs and inscriptions which depict scenes in the
campaigns of Rameses II against the Hittites, sacrificial processions
and hymns to the gods.

From ancient Luxor to Karnak, a distance of a mile and one-half, the way
was marked in the time of the Pharaohs by a double row of small
sphinxes, many of which still remain in a half-ruined condition. This
avenue leads to the small temple of Khons, the moon-god, made noteworthy
by a beautiful pylon. This pylon is one hundred and four feet long,
thirty-three feet wide and sixty feet high and is covered with
inscriptions and reliefs. This small temple serves as an introduction to
the great temple of Ammon, the chief glory of Karnak, to which most of
the Pharaohs contributed. This temple is difficult to describe, as it
covers several acres and is a mass of gigantic masonry, full of majesty
even in its ruin. What it was in the days of its builders, with its vast
courts lined with beautiful designs in brilliant colors, the imagination
fails to conceive. Its greatest features are the main pylon (three
hundred and seventy feet wide and one hundred and forty-two and one-half
feet high), the great hypostyle hall of Seti I and Rameses II, the
festival temple of Thotmes III and the obelisk of Queen Hatasu. From the
pylon a superb view may be gained of the ruins of Karnak.

The hypostyle hall is justly ranked among the wonders of the world, as
it is no less than three hundred and thirty-eight feet in breadth by one
hundred and seventy feet in depth a