[6] For an account of the explorations at Daphnae (the “Tahpanhes” of the
    Bible, the Tell Defenneh of the present day) see Mr. Petrie’s
    memoir, entitled Tanis, Part II, (including Nebesheh, Gemayemi,
    Defenneh, etc.), published by the Egypt Exploration Fund.—­A.B.E.

[7] The remains of this gigantic work may yet be seen about two hours’
    distance to the southward of Medum.  See Herodotus, book II.; chap.
    99.—­A.B.E.

[8] See The Fayum and Lake Moeris.  Major R.H.  Brown, R.E.

[9] Officially, this temple is attributed to Thothmes III., and the
    dedicatory inscription dates from the first year of his reign; but the
    work was really that of his aunt and predecessor, Queen Hatshepsut.

[10] See also an exact reduction of this design, to scale, in Mr. Petrie’s
    work A Season in Egypt, 1887, Plate XXV.

[11] Chenoboscion.—­A.B.E.

CHAPTER II.

RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE.

In the civil and military architecture of Ancient Egypt brick played the principal part; but in the religious architecture of the nation it occupied a very secondary position.  The Pharaohs were ambitious of building eternal dwellings for their deities, and stone was the only material which seemed sufficiently durable to withstand the ravages of time and man.

I.—­MATERIALS AND PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION.

It is an error to suppose that the Egyptians employed only large blocks for building purposes.  The size of their materials varied very considerably according to the uses for which they were destined.  Architraves, drums of columns, lintel-stones, and door-jambs were sometimes of great size.  The longest architraves known—­those, namely, which bridge the nave of the hypostyle hall of Karnak—­have a mean length of 30 feet.  They each contain 40 cubic yards, and weigh about 65 tons.  Ordinarily, however, the blocks are not much larger than those now used in Europe.  They measure, that is to say, about 2-1/2 to 4 feet in height, from 3 to 8 feet in length, and from 2 to 6 feet in thickness.

Some temples are built of only one kind of stone; but more frequently materials of different kinds are put together in unequal proportions.  Thus the main part of the temples of Abydos consists of very fine limestone; but in the temple of Seti I., the columns, architraves, jambs, and lintels,—­ all parts, in short, where it might be feared that the limestone would not offer sufficient resistance,—­the architect has had recourse to sandstone; while in that of Rameses II., sandstone, granite, and alabaster were used.  At Karnak, Luxor, Tanis, and Memphis, similar combinations may be seen.  At the Ramesseum, and in some of the Nubian temples, the columns stand on massive supports of crude brick.  The stones