Volume II Part 9 (1/2)

We have given a column fro a good type of the bell-shaped capital (Fig 80)

We also give an exa 92) It comes froyptian architecture perhaps at its best The profile of the capital corace with firmness of outline in theaof its curves than any of our predecessors Leaves and flowers are ed, and are painted also with an exquisite finish not to be found elsewhere The decoration as a whole is of extraordinary richness The royal ovals, with the disk of the sun and the uraeus, encircle the shaft; vultures with outspread wings cover the ceiling, and the architrave is carved on its visible sides, with long rows of hieroglyphs[103]

[103] The slabs of which the roof is forrooved on their upper surfaces at their lines of junction (see Fig 92), a curious feature which recurs in other Egyptian buildings, but has never been satisfactorily explained

[Illustration: FIG 86--Osiride pier; Medinet-Abou]

[Illustration: FIG 87--Hathoric pier from Eilithya Lepsius, part i, pl 100]

[Illustration: FIG 88--Hathoric pier from a tomb Boulak]

Of the derived and secondary forms of the campaniform capital there are but two upon which we need here insist The first is that which is exemplified by the colu 93) It is very like the one at Soleb already figured (Fig 82) The motive is the sae of development Its forms are fuller and more expressive, and the palm branches from which the idea is derived are n It is not an exact copy froood use has been etable forms

[Illustration: FIG 89--Column at Kalabche; from the elevation of Prisse]

The other variation upon the same theme is a much later one; it is to be found in the te

94) The simplicity of the Sesebi and Soleb capitals has vanished; the whole composition is iuished the Sait epoch The swelling base of the coluular leaves The anterior face of the colulyphs; its upper part is encircled by five s to Prisse, who alone gives particulars as to this little building, some of the capitals have no ornament beyond their finely-chiselled palm-leaves; others have half-opened lotus-flowers between each pair of leaves Finally, the square die or abacus which supports the architrave is her and more important than in the columns hitherto described, and it bears a mask of Hathor surmounted by a naos upon each of its four sides This unusual height of abacus, the superposition of the hathoric capital upon the bell-shaped one, and the repetition of the ns of the Ptolemaic style

[Illustration: FIG 90--Column of Thothmes III; from the Ambulatory of Thothmes, at Karnak From Prisse's elevation]

[Illustration: FIG 91--Base of a colureat hall of the Ramesseum, central avenue]

The capital from the Ambulatory of Thoth 95) Between our illustration and that of Lepsius there is a difference which is not without i to the German _savants_, the abacus is inscribed within the upper circumference of the bell; but if we may believe a sketch made by an architect upon the spot, the truth is that the upper circumference of the capital is contained within the four sides of the abacus, which it touches at their centres The four angles of the abacus, therefore, stand out well beyond the upper part of the capital, uniting it properly to the architrave, and giving a satisfactory appearance of solidity to the whole

[104] LEPSIUS, _Denkmaeler_, part i pl 81

This peculiar forenerally been referred to the individual caprice of so new[105] But the same form is to be found in the architectural shapes preserved by the paintings of the ancient e 59) which seems fatal to this explanation It is probable that if we possessed all the work of the Egyptian architects we should find that the type was by no means confined to Karnak It was, however, far less beautiful in its lines than the ordinary shape, and though ancient enough, never became popular

[105] WILKINSON, vol i p 40 In the _Description de l'egypte_ (_Antiquites_, vol ii p 474), we find this shape accounted for by opposition of two lotus-flowers, one above another Such an explanation could only be offered by one who had a theory to serve

The Egyptians were not always content with the paint-brush and chisel for the decoration of their capitals, they occasionally made use of metal also This has been proved by a discovery sch, who describes it in these teran with the part constructed by Aave some very unexpected results The capitals of the columns were overlaid with copper plates, to which the contour of the stone beneath had been given by the hae pieces of these plates were found still hanging to the capitals, while other pieces lay a _debris_ Thus a new fact in the history of Egyptian art has been established, namely, that stoneas sometimes covered with sch, published by Hittorf in the _Athenaeuenerally, nor even frequently, ee by the vast number of capitals painted in the most brilliant colours, which remain If the surface of the stone was to be covered up such care would not have been taken to beautify it The fact that the process was used at all is, however, curious; it seems to be a survival from the ancient wooden architecture in which metal was commonly used

[Illustration: FIG 92--Bell-shaped capital, from the hypostyle hall of the Ramesseum From the chief order]

[Illustration: FIG 93--Capital at Sesebi From the elevation of Lepsius, _Denkmaeler_, part i, pl 119]

[Illustration: FIG 94--Capital from the temple of Nectanebo, at Philae From the elevation of Prisse]

The architrave which was employed with all these varieties of capital was so 102)

Whenever the direat the stone beams which met upon the die or abacus had oblique joints Theuse of such a junction is obvious enough; it was calculated to afford greater solidity, and it was the most convenient way in which lateral architraves could be united with those disposed longitudinally Any other arrangement would have involved a sacrifice of space and would have left a certain part of the abacus doing nothing