We now enter the Great Forecourt, sometimes known as
the Court of the Bubastites, from the fact that is was mainly erected by the
Pharaohs of the Libyan or 22nd dynasty, whose capital was at
Bubastis .
Its enormous size is scarcely realized until we compare its measurements with those of the more famous Great Hypostyle Hall to which it gives access; but it measures 276 feet in depth and 338 feet in width, so that its area is over 93000 square feet, as against the 54000 square feet of the Great Hypostyle Hall ( The Great Hypostyle Hall are contains of 134 column in sandstone . Columns in the central nave about 22 m high, and 13 m in circumference .. the others about 13½ m high, and 9 m in circumference .. breadth of hall about 105 m, depth about 55 m . Thus; the Great Hypostyle Hall was the largest hall in the world ) .
Its enormous size is scarcely realized until we compare its measurements with those of the more famous Great Hypostyle Hall to which it gives access; but it measures 276 feet in depth and 338 feet in width, so that its area is over 93000 square feet, as against the 54000 square feet of the Great Hypostyle Hall ( The Great Hypostyle Hall are contains of 134 column in sandstone . Columns in the central nave about 22 m high, and 13 m in circumference .. the others about 13½ m high, and 9 m in circumference .. breadth of hall about 105 m, depth about 55 m . Thus; the Great Hypostyle Hall was the largest hall in the world ) .
Another feature which should be realized at once is
the extraordinary complication of periods and builders in the work of this
single court . Generally speaking, the court is of the 22nd dynasty
; but the pylon through which we entered it, and which forms its west wall, is
of the Ethiopian period .
On the left hand, as we enter, is a shrine dedicated
by Seti I of the 19th dynasty, to the Theban triad, Amûn, Mût, and
Khonsu ( attributed by most authorities to the Seti II ) .
Before us stand the remains of a colonnade which once
consisted of two rows of five columns each . only a single column is now
standing . It was the work, like most of the rest of the colonnade, of Taharqa,
the Ethiopian Pharaoh of the 25th dynasty ; but it also bears the
names of Psammetichus II, of the 26th dynasty, and of Ptolemy IV (
Philopator ) . The screen-walls which unite the columns also bear the name of
Philopator .
Between this colonnade and the row of columns on the
north side of the court stands a row of ram-headed sphinxes of Ramses II, which
once formed part of an avenue which led up to the pylon ( No. II ) of Ramses I,
which was then the west front of the temple, these were moved to their position
when the new court was being made .
Part ( 10 ) .. The Great Temple Of Amen-Rê .. Coming SoOoOon ....
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