EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. There is no reason to question the originality of Egyptian architecture, and the structures of Egypt are probably the oldest specimens known in the world. It is remarkable for its solidity. The great pyramid, erected by Cheops as a tomb for himself, was built of stones 30 ft. in length, quarried in the Arabian mountains, and conveyed by the Nile to a newly-constructed road f of a mile long, 60 ft. broad, and in a cutting of 48 feet. This road was of polished stone, elab orately carved, and required 10 years for its completion. The Egyptians attained great proficiency in the mechanical arts. Tney possessed not only the power of polishing and carving granite with great facility, but were able to quarry the hardest stone, and raise huge blocks that would task the ingenuity of modern engineers. Next in impor tance is the sphinx, on which an inscription has been found which seems to prove that it was sculptured before the time of the first pyramid. The tombs of 'the Egyptians were in the form of truncated pyramids, and built principally of well-squared stone. The grandest architectural efforts of the Egyptians were displayed in their temples, which were first built about the time Thebes became the capital, or 2000 B.C. They were often used as citadels, as few of the towns were fortified. The temple of Edfoo in Upper Egypt is more perfectly characteristic of the arrangement and style of the national temples than any other. The earliest forms of columnar architecture are found
in the rock-cut tombs and temples, the principal being that of the palm-tree column, resembling that tree with only the crown leaves. Burnt or sun-dried bricks, marble, granite, and many other materials were used in the construction of buildings. The roofs were of great masses of stone, requiring the use of interior columns; they were flat, but inclined so as to shed rain. The pyramid was the model for all buildings. Minarets and domes were unknown; rude arches were used in the 16th c. B. c., but huge stones were employed for covering lintels and doors, and the arch was neglected. The oldest houses had walls inclined inward, and were but one story high; they were venti lated by a wind-shaft over two screens, like large fans, bending each way to catch the air and direct it down the shaft into the house. 'The decorations were principally hiero glyphic and emblematic. In 1836, the authorities of New York planned a new prison, originally selecting a style to represent some of the discoveries made in Yucatan a few years before by the traveler John L. Stephens; but finally they decided upon the Egyptian style, and the result is now seen in the prison edifice on Center street known as "The Tombs "