Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/157

 Bk. I. Ch. IV. KINGDOM OF THE PHARAOHS. 125 to be found anywhere. This distinction may hereafter lead to ini- ]»urtant historical deductions, inasmuch as on the Avestern side of India there are an infinite number of rock-cut temples, but no tombs of any sort. Every circumstance seems to point to the fact that, if there was any connection between Africa and India, it was witii the prov- inces in the ujiper part of the Valley of the Nile, and not with Egy))t Proper. Tliis, however, is a subject that can hardly be entered on here, though it may be useful to bear in mind the analogy alluded to. Like all rock-cut examples all over the world, these Nubian temjiles are co])ies of structural buildings, only more or less modified to suit the exigencies of their situation, which did not admit of any very great development inside, as light and air could only be intro- duced from the one opening of the doorway. The two princi])al exami)Ies of this class of monuments are the two at Ipsamboul, the largest of which is the finest of itr. class known to ^a?«sm- V - 5^ ■.iK. Plan and Section of Rock-cut Temple at Ipsamboul. Scale for plan 100 ft. to 1 in.; section 50 ft. to 1 in. exist anywhere. Its total depth from the face of the rock is 150 ft., divided into 2 large halls and 3 cells, with passages connecting them. Externally the fa5ade is about 100 ft. in length, and adorned by 4 of the most magnificent colossi in Egypt, each 70 ft. in height, and re])resenting the king, Rhamses II., who caused the excavation to be made. It may be because they are more perfect than any others now found in that country, but certainly nothing can exceed their calm majesty and beauty, or be more entirely free from the vulgarity and