Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/128

 io6 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. Fig. 84.— Comer pier from the temple at Lle])hautinc ; from the elevation in the Dcnriptioii, i. 36. The next illus- tration (Fig. 87) shows the upper part of a poly- gonal column with a hathoric capital of the oldest and most simple form. In later ages, during the Sait dynasties, the mask of the god- dess was re- peated upon the four sides of the column, and sometimes super- imposed upon a bell-shaped cap- ital. In this in- stance, where there is but one mask, the vertical band of hiero- glyphs below it serves to show that the face where it occurs is the principal one. This capital is one of the most singular achieve- ments of Egyp- tian art. Why, out of all the multitude of Egyptian gods and goddesses,