Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/478

 888 NORTH-EAST AFEICA. one of the richest and most beautiful structures of its class. It is supported by twenty-four columns, four deep, nearly 50 feet in height, and having a diameter of more than 7 feet at the thickest part. The capitals have sculptured on each of their four sides a fidl face of Athor, crowned by a small shrine or temple. The sculptures, which are of less merit than the architecture, represent offerings made by some of the early Cajsars; and on the ceiling are various mystical subjects, probably of an astronomical import, and the famous quadrangular zodiac, which is still in its original position. wall of the temple), the visitor enters a hall supported by three columns on each side, with cup-shaped capitals beneath those formed by the temple-crowned faces of Athor ; and then proceeding right onwards through two similar halls, he reaches the sanctuary, which is isolated by a passage running all round. " On each side of the temple are many small apartments, and two entrance- ways from the exterior, as well as singular inclined passages in the walls, two of Avhich arc entered from the sides of the portico. All the chambers and passages, except the two last mentioned, are profusely covered with sculptures and inscrip- tions of a religious character, chiefly depicting and narrating the piety of the sovereigns by whom the temple was erected. The royal names have not always been filled in ; but, where they have been sculptured, they are generally those of the last Cleopatra and Cajsarion, her son by Julius Caisar. " A staircase on the left-hand side of the second chamber behind the portico conducts to the roof of the temple. Here are a sort of chapel and some small chambers, one of which is very interesting, because its sculptures relate to the story of Osiris. The exterior of the temple is as completely covered with sculptures as the interior. Among the figures there represented are those of Cleopatra and Caesarion ; but they cannot be supposed to bear any resemblance, since they belong not alone to a conventional art, but also to its lowest period. " There are two smaller temples within the same inclosure as the great temple of Athor, one dedicated to Isis in the thirty-first year of Augustus, and the other usually known as the Typhonium, from the representations of Typhon on the capitals of its columns, but probably connected with the worship of Athor." * ThINIS — GiRGEH. In the broader part of the Nile Valley, below Denderah, the two hamlets of Harahdt-cl-Madfuneh, that is, " Harab^t the Buried," and El-Khargeh, still mark the site of Abydos. Till recently these ruins had been identified with the ancient This (Thinia), which at one time eclipsed the fame of Thebes and Memphis themselves. But according to Mariette the remains of this venerable place should be sought lower down, either at Girgch itself or in its immediate vicinity ,^nd in any case it is now certain that This and Abydos were two different places. At This was bom Mena, or Menes, the reputed founder of the Egj'^tian monarchy. Here • " Eocyclopsedia Britannica," ninth edition, art. Denderah.
 * Passing through the back wall of the portico (which was at one time the front