Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/175

 Monumental Details. i=;i the pylons, for instance, we often find that the cornice of the doorway was both deeper and of bolder projection than those upon the two masses of the pylon itself (Fig. 134). It was generally ornamented with the winged globe, an emblem which was afterwards appropriated by the nations which became connected w^ith Egypt. This emblem in its full development was formed of the solar disk supported on each side by the nrceus, the serpent which meant royalty. The sun was thus designated as the greatest of kings, ^f^;'■^^^^.:u:.^:T-^r Fig. 134. — Doorway, Luxor. Description, iii. 6. the king who mounted up into space, enlightening and vivifying the upper and lower country at one and the same time. The disk and its supporters were flanked by the two wide stretching wings with rounded, fan-shaped extremities, which symbolized the untiring activity of the sun in making its daily journey from one extremity of the firmament to the other. Egyptologists tell us that the group as a whole signifies the triumph of right over wTong, the victory of Horus over Set. x inscription at Edfou tells us that, after the victor}-, Thoth ordered that this emblem should be carved over every doorway in Egypt, and. in fact, there are very few