founder. This court, which is usually large, and open to the sky, was
designed to accommodate the large concourse of people which would so
often assemble to witness some gorgeous temple service, and beyond,
through the gloomy but impressive hypostyle[7] hall, lay the shrine of
the god or goddess to whom the temple was dedicated and the dark
corridors and chambers in which the priests conducted their mystic
rites.

[Footnote 7: One with a roof supported by columns.]

In a peculiar way the temple of Dendereh impresses with a sense of
mystic dignity, for though the pylons and obelisks have gone, and its
outside precincts are smothered in a mass of Roman débris, the
hypostyle hall which we enter is perhaps more impressive than any
other interior in Egypt. The massive stone roof, decorated with
illumination and its celebrated zodiac, is supported by eighteen huge
columns, each capped by the head of the goddess Hathor, to whom the
temple is dedicated, while columns and walls alike are covered with
decorative inscriptions.

Through the mysterious gloom we pass through lofty doorways, which
lead to the shrine or the many priests' chambers, which, entirely
dark, open from the corridors.

Though it has been partially buried for centuries, and the smoke of
gipsy fires has blackened much of its illuminated vault, enough of the
original colour by which columns and architraves were originally
enriched still remains to show us how gorgeous a building it once had
been. There are a great many temples in Egypt of greater importance
than Dendereh, but though Edfu, for example, is quite as perfect and