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

HYPOSTYLE OF KARNAK. 305
nades, iieristyles, and obelisks, following each
other in almost endless succession, and terminated
by a distant perspective of the Arabian hills,
seen as through a magnificent frame of sculptured
stone. You enter, and, on either side, prostrate
columns, mutilated colossi, headless sphinxes,
and huge fragments of stone, that have toppled
down from the lofty roofs, and carried destruc-
tion in their fall, lie scattered around ; and then
the hypostyle, the giant hall of Osirei, bursts
upon you, like a forest of columns, each one,
and there are now a hundred and twenty-eight of
them standing — measuring thirty- four feet in
circumference, lofty in proportion and covered
with a lavish profusion of painted sculptures, re-
presenting the deities and the sacred animals of
Egyptian Pantheism mingled with the ovals of
the greatest among the Pharaohs. In the centre
runs a double row of columns, still larger and
loftier than the lateral ones, surmounted by
graceful lotus-flower capitals, and embellished
with the same sacred subjects. The bas-reliefs
and sculptures on the walls of the palace of Kar-
nak are descriptive of the campaigns of its
founder, Osirei, in Asia, and are executed in the
best style of the best period of Egyptian art ; in
short, all that meets the eye is of surpassing
VOL. I. X
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