A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

PORTRAIT OF CLEOPATRA. 255
been; but, although somewhat heavy, it is un-
doubtedly handsome—the upper part especially
so. There are also portraits of Arsinoe and
Berenice, two other Ptolemaic Queens ; but
Cleopatra alone interested and rivetted my at-
tention.
On either side of the space, intervening- be-
tween the two proi)yla, is a lateral structure,
each having a colonnade, but presenting such
variances and absence of harmony in their archi-
tecture, that it is to be presumed they were
piece-meal additions of a later date than the
great temple. That on the western side pos-
sesses the number and disposition of chambers
required for the formation of an Egyptian temple
in miniature, and is highly decorated in the in-
terior with florid bas-reliefs, representing the
birth of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. Its
colonnade is supported by seven columns, with
square capitals, each side of which represents the
head of Isis, with cow's ears depending beneath
the sacred fillet that binds her forehead. It is
therefore to be presumed that this lateral build-
ing was a smaller temple—a sort of chapel of
ease to the great sanctuary—dedicated, like it,
to the tutelary goddess of the place. The op-
posite structure is faced by a colonnade of ten