ook, and during the inundation the water flowing
into the courts, transformed them until recently into lakes, whither the
flocks and herds of the village resorted in the heat of the day to bathe
or quench their thirst. Pictures of mysterious events never meant for
the public gaze now display their secrets in the light of the sun, and
reveal to the eyes of the profane the supernatural events which preceded
the birth of the king. On the northern side an avenue of sphinxes and
crio-sphinxes led to the gates of old Thebes. At present most of these
creatures are buried under the ruins of the modern town, or covered by
the earth which overlies the ancient road; but a few are still visible,
broken and shapeless from barbarous usage, and hardly retaining any
traces of the inscriptions in which Amenothes claimed them boastingly as
his work.

[Illustration: 069.jpg THE PYLONS OF THUTMOSIS III. AND HARMHABI AT
KAKNAK]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato.

Triumphal processions passing along this route from Luxor to Karnak
would at length reach the great court before the temple of Amon, or, by
turning a little to the right after passing the temple of Maut, would
arrive in front of the southern facade, near the two gilded obelisks
whose splendour once rejoiced the heart of the famous Hatshopsitu.
Thutmosis III. was also determined on his part to spare no expense to
make the temple of his god of proportions suitable to the patron of
so vast an empire. Not only did he complete those portions which his
predecessors had merely sketched out, but on the south side towards
Ashiru he also built a long row of pylons, now half ruined, on which he
engraved, according to custom, the list of nations and cities which he
had subdued in Asia and Africa. To the east of the temple he rebuilt
some ancient structures, the largest of which served as a halting-place
for processions, and he enclosed the whole with a stone rampart. The
outline of the sacred lake, on which the mystic boats were launched on
the nights of festivals, was also made more symmetrical, and its margin
edged with masonry.

[Illustration: 070.jpg SACRED LAKE AKD THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TEMPLE
OF KARNAK.]

Drawn by Boucher, from a photograph by Boato: the building
near the centre of the picture is the covered walk
constructed by Thutmosis III.

By these alterations the harmonious proportion between the main
buildings and the facade had been destroyed,