Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/102

 8o A HisroRV OF Art in Ancient Egypt. few verge slightly towards the pointed form (see Fig. 47), others are elliptic (Fig. 48). The latter are composed of four courses, and their inner surfaces show a curious arrangement of the bricks ; their vertical joints are not parallel to either axis of the vault. The ends of the courses are slightly set off from its face (see Fig. 48). l'"iG. 46.— Arch in El-Assassif, restored from the plans and elevations of Lepsius.^ A tomb near the Valley of the Queens, at Thebes, has a strongly marked elliptical vault (Fig. 49).^ Finally, the inverted segmental arch is not unknown. It is found employed in a fashion which, as described by Prisse, made a great Impression upon Viollet-Ie-Duc. " The foundations of certain boundary walls," says the former, "are built of baked bricks to a height of one-and-a-half metres (about four feet ten ^ Denhnceler^ part i. pi. 94.
 * Ramef., Histoire ghilrale de V Anliitecture, vol. i. p. 262.