The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-01-15

own era varies according TO the system OF
chronology adopted. but we shall not 90 far
wrong II NO say that IL roughly correspondent
to 140O-1100 B. G.. Even within the period
covered BY this dynasty there was obviously
room for much development or change, since
1t was nearly as long as that which has elapsed
since the time Of Luther.
It was the Pharaohs OF the nineteenth dy-
nasty who made the most imposing additions
to the great temple at Karnsk. which had been
begun as carly as tho time Of Usurtasen L
Twelfth dynasty They added only Q bypo-
style hall and pylon. but the hypostyle hall
measured ITO feet in length by $40 feet in
breadth; contained 1856 columns. and was rs
feet high to the roof Of the great nave. the pylon
standing so feet higher still. To tho sam line
Of kings Is due the outmost and largest court
and pylon pertaining to the temple at Luxor.
The Pharaohs OF this dynasty are further cred
tied with completing, II they did not begin. the
avenue leading from Luxor to Karnak. a mile
and q quarter In length, and bordered on both
sides by andro-sphinxes, crio-sphinxes, and
couohant rams. AS to the architectural typo.
the interior arrangement and equipment Of the
temples to which they contributed, we must
refer the reader to Prot Maspero's book, and
we will only in this place remind them that tho
Inhabitants Of Thebes, under the nineteenth
dynasty. saw about as much Of their temples
as we see at the present day. The sanctuary
and the immediate surroundings were closed
against them: but they had access to the
facsdes, the courts. and the hypostyle halls,
and might admire the masterpieces OF their
architects as freely as We admire them now"
In a chapter on civil architecture we find col
lected all the Information yet obtainable with
regard to the houses Of the ancient Egyptians.
Those We re made, as the houses Of tho fellah-
Gems are now made, Of sun-dried bricks. The
ordinary Egyptian brick was, at the epoch Of
the nineteenth dynasty, rs 1t is to-day. an OBJ
long block Of black clay. mixed with chopped
straw and a little sand, and dried In the sun,
burnt bricks and tiles having been but seldom
used before the Roman period. On the other
hand. glazed bricks we're common in the Ra-
mesid ere. In the Boulak museum there Is a
specimen Of glazed green, inscribed In black
ink with the cartouches OF Rameses ILL.,: other
fragments are colored blue. red, yellow, or
white. The nature Of the soil does not allow OF
deep foundations; Prof, Maspero has never
seen any ancient house whose foundations
were more than four feet deep. and
even this depth was exceptional. The
slightness OF the foundations did not
prevent the builders from running up quite
lofty structures; in tho ruins Of Memphis there
are house walls still standing from thirty to
~ lC0t Ia n Al IL pOOlOI QuoEttTb
houses had seldom more than twelve to six
teen feet Of frontage. and consisted Of a ground
floor. with one or two living rooms above. The
middle class folk were better housed; their
dwellings were sometimes separated from the
street by q narrow court. beyond which the
rooms were ranged on either side Of o long
| passage. or else surrounded the court on three
sides. Still oftener the house fronted directly
on the street, the door being the only opening,
except, perhaps, a few small windows at irregu-
lar intervals. Having crossed the Threshold,
you passed successfully through two dimly
lighted entrance chambers into a central
court, around which were ranged the ground
floor offices. These were used as stables
for donkeys or cattle, as storerooms for grain
and provisions. and as cellars and Kitchens.
Thu family lived on the upper floors. which
reproduced the ground-ioor plan. and were
reached by an outside staircase, steep and
narrow, and divided at short intervals by small
square landings. The rooms were oblong and
lighted only from the doorway: the few win
dows opening on the street were mere air
holes near the ceiling, fitted with q lattice Of
wooden cross bars and secured by wooden
shutters. The walls were whitewashed and
occasionally painted with bright colors: the
floors were brioked or paved. or else were
layers OF rammed earth. The roof was fiat
and made apparently OF closely laid rows Of
palm branches covered with a coating Of mud
thick enough to withstand the rain. Gen
orally there was q small wash house on the
roof and q little chamber for the slaves
or guards to sleep In. In the domestic
life Of the ancient Egyptians. as OF the Baby
~lonians. "the terrace and the courtyard
played an important part; it was there that the
women g~ossiped, cooked and made their
bread there, also, the whole family was wont
to sleep In summer under the shelter OF mos
quito nets" The mansions of the rich covered
a largo space OF ground; they stood usually in
the midst OF a garden or OF an enclosed court
planted with trees; the battlemented walls of
the court turned q blank front to the street.
Inside the enclosure such q mansion was like
q small town divided into quarters, the gran
aries on one side, the stables on another. and
the dwelling house at the farther end. or the
many pictorial plans of Villas eXtant among
the tomb paintings, two are reproduced In this
book they certainly leave upon the mind the
impression that a rich Egyptian. In the fifteenth
century before Christ, was not only comfort
ably. but luxuriously lodged. 1t Is true that In
palaces. as well as the mid1Ie-class houses, the
sleeping rooms were probably small and dark.
but, on the other hand, the reception and liv-
Ing rooms were spacious.
In a discussion OF the military architecture Of
tIo dHclouL IkS DlluuS, FOL. nldSDeTO points OUT
that the so-called pavilion at Medinet- Haboo
was intended by its builder, Rameses Ill, to
have a military aspect. 1t e~xemplihes tho high
degree Of perfection to which fortresses were
carried by tho engineers OF the nineteenth dy-
nasty. The plan and detailed description of
this structure enable us to form an exact con-
copiion Of tho great frontier fortresses which.
after the Asiatic wars Of the eighteenth and
nineteenth dynasties. defended Egypt on the
northeast At this period stone was largely
used for fortilcations. whereas only crude brick
had been used by the earlier Egyptians, who had
no engines adequate to the demolition OF mas
slve walls, and who know Of but three ways of
forcing a stronghold, namely. by scaling tho
walls, sapping them, or bursting open the gates.
Owing partly to the new defensive works
erected on the Canaanite frontier. and partly
to the warlike and aggressive temper Of tho
sovereigns Of the eighteenth and nineteenth
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