We now emerge from this somewhat complicated part of
the temple into an open court where the 12th dynasty temple
originally stood . The scanty fragments which remain are mostly flush with the
ground . Beyond the ruined walls on the left hand ( north ) of this court, and
between them and the series of walls which enclose the temple to the north are
two wells, one of them approached by a stair .
Before us, as we look across the site of the Middle
Kingdom temple, lies the Festival Hall of Tuthmosis III . We enter this great
building ( 144 feet wide, 52 feet deep ) by a door in its south-west side, and
find ourselves in a hall which, in some respects, is unique in Egyptian
architectural practice . It has three central aisles, and two side ones, which
are lower than the central three . The central aisle of the whole building has
its roof supported by two rows, each of ten columns of the shape of an ancient
Egyptian tent-pole . The effect is singular, as the capitals of the columns
seem to be inverted, and the shafts have a slight taper downwards instead of
upwards . The inverted capitals, however, simply represent the knobs on the
upper ends of the tent-poles . This curious experiment of representing the
royal tent in stone does not appear to have caught on, and was never repeated .
The two aisles on either side of this bit of freak construction are bordered by
square pillars, of the same height as the outer walls of the hall, and
therefore lower than the tent-pole columns .
This difference was made up by impost-blocks, which
brought the architraves up to the level of the central columns, so that they
could take the outer ends of the roofing-blocks from the central two rows . The
two lower side-aisles had their roofs supported partly by the outer walls of
the hall and partly by the square columns beneath the impost-blocks . The
greater height of the three central aisles enabled the architect to light the
building by a clerestory ( a row of windows in the upper part of the wall that
divides the nave from the aisle, set above the aisle roof ) . Several ruined
statues are to be seen in the hall, in particular a kneeling quartzite figure
of Meneptah, the son and successor of Ramses II .
In the little chamber at the south-west corner of the
hall was found the famous Karnak Table of Kings, which was removed in 1843 to
the Bibliothèque National at Paris .
Leaving the hall by the north-east corner, we pass
through several chambers, more or less ruined, into a small hall, which had its
roof supported by four fine clustered papyrus-bud columns . These are well
preserved and still bear their architraves . The walls of this little chamber,
though much damaged, still retain some of the delicate of plants and animals
which Tuthmosis III caused to be placed here on his return from the campaign of
his twenty-fifth year . Flowers, fruit, birds, cattle, and various animals are
represented with great care and accuracy ; and it is curious to find, in a
Pharaoh of more than three thousand years ago .
Opening off the Festal Hall on the south side is a
small hall which once had eight fine sixteen-sided columns, of which seven
still stand .
The Sanctuary is adjoined on the south by the
Alexander Chamber, built by Tuthmosis III and adorned by Alexander the Great .
The reliefs are of no great interest .
Part ( 16 ) .. The Temple Of Ramses III .. Coming SoOoOon .....
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