lint the peculiar merit of this period is the creation of the grand type of temple architec t tire which was followed throughout the rest of Egyptian history. In it the Egyptians approxi mated closely to the type afterwards followed by the Greeks. This is so in the material ele ment of construction, in quarried blocks finished and laid in regular courses with the utmost care and accuracy. Among the Egyptians, they were sometimes attached by metal clamps or wooden dovetails. Equally Greek was the lavish use of columns supporting architraves. But there is no resemblance in the plan. Aside from a few exceptions, such as the quasi-Greek Temple of Amenophis 111. at Elephantine, with its peri style surrounding a eella, the usual type of Egyptian temple is the following: A road bor dered by colossal statues leads to the high walled inelosure which hides the temple. The single imposing gateway is flanked by two tower like pylons of very massive proportions; through it an open court is reached, surrounded by one or even two rows of columns, making it resemble an atrium. Through a gale in a solid wall the outer part of the sanctuary proper is reached. the hypostyle hall, divided into three aisles crosswise by row: of columns, and lighted from above. Finally comes the inner sanctuary frith an isolated shrine in a dark columnar hall, sur rounded by small chapels. The effectiveness of this arrangemenl, with its gradual transition from the brilliant sunlight of the court to the intense gloom of the farthest chapel, is in creased by an upward slant of the floor-level and the curving of horizontal lines. This simple scheme was usually complicated by additions made by succeeding monarchs in any great shrine like Karnak or l'hilte; court after court, each with its entrance pylons, were strung together or connected by avenues; and independent sanc tua•ies were placed side by side. The grouping on the island of Phil:, is the most picturesque in Egypt. Other important temples :ire that of Luxor, the P.amesseum, and thrie at Medinet-Alm. Edfu, Denderah. etc. Edfu is most symmetrical and well preserved, but the group at Karnak is the most nnnuatnental and artistic in Egypt, the work of many monarchs of the Middle and New Empires. Its hypostyle 50 X lOt) meters, had a central nave with twelve of the highest columns ever used in Egypt. and aisles formed of 1•2 columns in nine rows. The capitals were of many orders. In this hypostyle hall the bell shape was used in the centre. the lotus in the aisles, the proto-Doric plinth with sixteen-sided columns was used there in the colonnade of Thothines Ill. Many floral designs. like the palm. were used to vary the bell capital, and a similar variety of design appears in the lotus capital, which bears sometimes a clustered bundle of the stalks, sometimes the flower. Finally, the late so-called .Athor capital was dec orated with female heads on each side.
Besides these types of capitals, there was little design of an architectural character. The walls of every building, sloping inward as they rose, and thus giving a pyramidal effect to the structure, were crowned by a cavetto cornice: below it and around the openings and down the angles the clustered torus is used. No other moldings, no other cornice, no other details appear. On the other hand, the surface decora tion was wonderfully full and varied. The columns were covered with designs so was every inch of the walls. The favorite form was that of extremely low relief or incised sculp ture, brilliantly colored, and arranged in syste matic series of panoramie pictures. according to an elaborate mythological or historic system.
In this development of temple architecture we can only divine the share taken by the Middle Empire (Eleventh and Twelfth dynasties), be cause only fragments remain of this age, at Bu bastis, Karnak, etc. It was the great kings of the New Empire, the Thothmes, Amenhoteps, Setis, and Ho meses. the conquerors of the East, who were the greatest builders: and after them no revival comes until the Ptolemaic age. There were two classes of temples of different type, both of them connected with tomb architecture. One series is that of the roek-eut temples with sculptured faeades, of which the most famous are at Alm Simbel (q.v.), the work of Rameses 11., their facades decorated with colossal stat ues, and their halls an imitation of the free standing temples. Then come the royal tombs of the New Empire, dug deep into the mountain, as at Bab-el-Moluk, and the corresponding sepulchral temples. Of these the greatest is that of Queen 1L-tasu at Deir-el-Bahari, uniquely picturesque and new in type. partly excavated and partly built. Others approach more the usual type, as the Ramesseum, not far from it, and the Temple of Rameses Ill. at Medinet Halm.
A great deal more of the civil and military architecture of Egypt has been preserved than in any other ancient civilization until late Hellenic times. At Thebes, Memphis. Bubastis, and =11V other cities, whole quarters remain; and the fortresses of Abydos, El-Kali, and Sem nwit, though of early date, are in excellent pres ervation. as are also the fortified walls of many
cities. sigh as Stin. Sail, and Thebes. The New Empire at once adopted the Asiatic type of fortifications with which its wars had famil iarized it, and substituted stone for bricks. In all private houses of any size the inner court and the flat roof were prominent features. The largest 'acre hidden away in a garden or park, surrounded by high walls, and, besides the main residence, had many subordinate buildings, often as complete as those of a medif•val monastery. Sca7LrrunE. While it seems probable that Babylonian architecture produced works of monumental importance at a much earlier date than did the architecture of Egypt, it was quite the reverse with sculpture. The religious beliefs of the Egyptians led their early artists carefully to observe and copy the human figure in order to accurately each individual after death, so that the spirit and soul, the ba and the ka, should recognize their earthly tenement and be reunited to it. Consequently the best early Babylonian sculptures (those of Tello) seem lifeless and hard compared with the early Egyp tian statuary. The sculptors were extremely prolific. The greatest collection is, of in the museum at Ilhizeh; others of first im portance are those of the Louvre, the British Museum, the Vatican, Florence, Turin, The Hague, and Berlin. A large proportion. however, of the works remain in situ, in the temples and tombs, both colossal statuary and series of teliefs, especially in the temples of Abydos, Edfu, Ipsambul. Phil:'. and Thebes, and in the tombs at and near Beni-llassan, Memphis, and Thebes, All the sculptures of the Old Empire have been found in tombs and have some funerary nection or significance. They are far more istic than later works, and often have able value as portraits. The colossal and official style does not arise until the Middle Empire in connection with temple architecture, reaching its climax under the and Setis of the New Empire. Front the beginning plastic art was used to illustrate the daily life of the people. Each tomb eontained a faithful detailed sentation of the possessions, occupations, person. and family of the deceased, as well as scenes of his future life. In the inner chamber were al statues as he or she appeared in life; in the chamber of offerings were other statues, the table of offerings, and especially a series of scenes in low relief, usually colored quite liantly on a stucco ground. not shaded, but laid on in broad masses and with strong contrasts. In the New Empire two other forms besides the low relief lieeame popular - sunken relief relicro) and outline relief (sl lucent )—with the result of making sculpture even more rial in effect. There was never much work done in high relief. and that was nearly all during the Ohl Empire. The methods of quarrying. transporting, blocking out, carving, finishing, and polishing sculptures, whether in relief or in the F01111(1. are among the scenes sented. It is interesting that the Greek tion of the use of wood by Egyptian sculptors in the earliest times slimild be borne out by the covery of a number of wooden statues of the Ohl Empire, chief of which is the famous standing figure of an official nicknamed the Sheik-ebb( fed ((Mizell Aeaeia and sycamore were aniong the woods used; rently a sacred .significance was attached to this as. later. among the Greeks. Basalt, diorite, and red granite were the favorite stones for statuary, while reliefs were mostly in softer varieties as limestone and sandstone. At a late period red porphyry became popular. of the ancient quarries have been rediscovered. The element of color seems to have been considered necessary in sculpture: when it was not given by the stone itself—as in basalt, diorite. :laid red granite—it was obtained by stuccoing and paint ing the softer stones, and even wood. The methods of representation were purely convec tional. and for the purpose of conveying an idea, not of producing an illusion (except in the ease of the portrait statues of deceased persons). The main attempt was to show as much as pos sible to the beholder. Therefore in relief. figures were spread out as on a map: the head in profile (but the eve in front view), the shoulders full front. the arms and hands in profile, the trunk three-quarters, the legs and feet in profile In scenes where several planes of figures are given, there is no attempt at perspective. but the rows are raised, one above the other, toward the back ground. In a garden the plants and trees are stacked horizontally on both sides: around a pond. on all four sides. In suell eases nothing stands upright. Egyptian sculptors, undaunted by inability to reproduce scenes realistically, were prodigal with details. This inability does not become apparent in the simpler processional or other scenes, where only one plane is required. as in most Assyrian and all Greek reliefs. In such details the execution is surprisingly deli cate and highly finished.