Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/166

 134 EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. Roman art in the buildings of this age. So little, however, is this the case, that before the discovery of the reading of the hieroglyphic signs, the learned of Europe placed the Ptolemaic and Roman temples of Den- dera and Kalabsche before those of Thebes in order of date ; and could not detect a single moulding in the architectural details, nor a single feature in the sculpture and painting which adorned their walls, which gave them a hint of the truth. Even Cleopatra the beautiful is repre- sented on these walls with distinctly Egyptian features, and in the same tight garments and conventional forms as were used in the portrait of Nophre Ari, Queen of Rhamses, or in those of the wives of the possessors of tombs in the age of the pyramids, 3000 years before. Egypt, in fact, conquered her conquerors, and forced them to adopt her customs and