Manual of Egyptian archæology and guide to the study of antiquities in EgyptFor the use of students and travellers . iful. This was the case with the temple ofAmenhotep III. on the island of Elephantine, ofwhich drawings were made by members of the Frenchexpedition at the end of the eighteenth century,before its destruction in 1822 by the Turkish governorof Assiian. The best preserved of these, the southernone (fig. 80), had only one hall, in sandstone, 14 feethigh, 31 feet wide, and 39 feet long. The walls,which were straight and surmounted with the usualcornice, stood on a stone basement som
Manual of Egyptian archæology and guide to the study of antiquities in EgyptFor the use of students and travellers . iful. This was the case with the temple ofAmenhotep III. on the island of Elephantine, ofwhich drawings were made by members of the Frenchexpedition at the end of the eighteenth century,before its destruction in 1822 by the Turkish governorof Assiian. The best preserved of these, the southernone (fig. 80), had only one hall, in sandstone, 14 feethigh, 31 feet wide, and 39 feet long. The walls,which were straight and surmounted with the usualcornice, stood on a stone basement some 8 feet high. THE SIMPLER TEMPLES. 83 This platform was surrounded by a parapet breast-high. Round the temple was a colonnade, composedof seven square pillars on each side without capitalor base. At each end were two lotiform and columns rested on the parapet, except atthe east end, where a set of ten or twelve stepsenclosed between walls the same height as theparapet led up to the cella. The two columnsat the head of the steps were more widely spacedthan those at the other end, and in the wide. Fig. So. —Southern terfjple of Amenhotep III. at Elephantine. opening a richly decorated doorway was was a second door at the other end underthe colonnade. Later, during the Roman period,advantage was taken of this arrangement to modifythe plan. The intercolumnar spaces at the end werefilled up, and thus an additional chamber was ob-tained, rough and without decoration, but sufficientfor the requirements of the cult. The temples ofElephantine recall the peripteral temples of theGreeks, and this resemblance to one of the well-known forms of classical architecture perhaps ex- 84 RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE. plains the admiration manifested by the Frenchsavants on first seeing them. The temples of Mesheikh, El Kab (fig. 8i), andSharona are more elaborate. At El Kab there isa hall of four columns (a), a chamber (b), supportedb} four Hathor pillars, and in the en
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