INUNDATION]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato.

[Illustration: 067.jpg PART OF THE AVENUE OF RAMS, BETWEEN THE TEMPLES
OF AMON AND MAÛT]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato.

At Luxor Amenôthes demolished the small temple with which the sovereigns
of the XIIth and XIIIth dynasties had been satisfied, and replaced it by
a structure which is still one of the finest yet remaining of the times
of the Pharaohs. The naos rose sheer above the waters of the Nile,
indeed its cornices projected over the river, and a staircase at the
south side allowed the priests and devotees to embark directly from
the rear of the building. The sanctuary was a single chamber, with an
opening on its side, but so completely shut out from the daylight by the
long dark hall at whose extremity it was placed as to be in perpetual
obscurity. It was flanked by narrow, dimly lightly chambers, and was
approached through a pronaos with four rows of columns, a vast court
surrounded with porticoes occupying the foreground. At the present time
the thick walls which enclosed the entire building are nearly level
with the ground, half the ceilings have crumbled away, air and light
penetrate into every nook, and during the inundation the water flowing
into the courts, transformed them until recently into lakes, whither the
flocks and herds of the village resorted in the heat of the day to bathe
or quench their thirst. Pictures of mysterious events never meant for
the public gaze now display their secrets in the light of the sun, and
reveal to the eyes of the profane the supernatural events which preceded
the birth of the king. On the northern side an avenue of sphinxes and