DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4656#0012
6
THE TEMPLE OF THE KINGS.
The three columns are 4-45 m. in circumference;
the west and east columns are spaced 4-20 m. and
4-30 m. respectively from the middle one, and the
middle one is 1 m. to the W. of the centre of the
chamber. This was probably arranged to allow a
clear passage-way from the entrance door, which is
2*50 m. across the door recesses. The doors were
double, opening to the South.
At the west end of the chamber are two door-
ways. The left-hand door is 1-90 between door-
posts, which project from buttresses built against the
side walls, apparently to produce the impression that
the door leads through a thick main wall at right
angles to the axis ; the right-hand buttress or door-
flank projects 60 cm. from the wall, and the door-
post 26 cm. from that. The left-hand buttress pro-
jects only 37 cm. from the wall, and its door-post is
only a shallow projection of 3 cm. The right-hand
door is 2-20 m. wide between the door-posts (which
are again irregular), and has no door-flanks at all. I
believe that the dividing wall between the chambers
tapers from 1 • 50 m. at the doors to 1-30 m. where it
meets the western main wall of the temple ; but the
roof here is intact, so I was unable to get at the top
of the wall to measure it. The left-hand chamber
(B) with the small thick door is 3-25 wide, and the
right-hand chamber (C) with the wider shallow door
is 2 • 54 wide. The curious arrangement of the door-
posts has the effect of making the wider chamber
10-6 m. long, as against 11-35 m- f°r the length of
the narrower chamber. The South and North walls
of these chambers do not coincide with S. and N.
walls of the main chamber. The right-hand wall of
the small right-hand chamber C stands 75 cm. to the
Southward of the right wall of the main chamber
A. The left-hand wall of the left chamber B stands
30 cm. to the Northward of the left wall of the main
chamber. On the south side of these chambers is a
long passage, but the dividing wall is 1*85 m. thick
opposite the small chambers, and only 1-55 m.
thick where it separates the main chamber from the
passage. All these irregular dimensions are taken
from the actual walls, not from the drawings.
14. The Chapels.—We can now go back into
the main Hypostyle Hall and notice the seven
chapels. Counting from the left there are four with
solid walls at the west end of them. They are all
10" 60 m. long, but they vary in width from 4-o,o m. to
5 -40 m. The second chapel is 10 cm. narrower at the
west end than at the east or door end. The diagonals
show the skewness very clearly. The third chapel from
N.W. to S.E. is 12-5 m, while from N.E. to S.W. it is
only 11*95 m., a difference of 55 cm. in a room i2-8o
X 5'40 m. The diagonal difference in the fourth
chapel is only 6 cm. The dividing walls vary from
2 ■ 75 to 2 • 30 m. The position of the doorways is very
eccentric, the amount of wall left between the corners
of a doorway and the wall on either side differing as
much as 25 cm.
The fifth chapel has a symmetrically placed door ;
and has besides another door at the west end of it,
which is also symmetrical. The sixth and seventh
chapels are rather longer than the others ; they have
solid walls at their west ends, and are 5.30 and 5 -o m.
wide respectively.
Professor Maspero in his Manual states that the
Sanctuary was arranged with four chapels on one side
of it and two on the other, and had a door at each
end of it ; but as the whole arrangement of the
columns is designed to make the axial passage wider
than the others, and the middle door is the largest in
the row, it seems natural to conclude that the axial
chapel was also the most important, and that the side
chapel with a door at each end was only a passage to
the western court.
The roofs of these chapels are all vaulted (see
Pl. XXIV). The top stone of the walls projected
slightly from the wall on both sides ; across the
chambers between these projecting stones were laid
enormous sandstone blocks 7 m. long, I ■ 14 wide and
1.52 deep. The under side of these roof blocks was
hollowed out and the curve continued on the pro-
jecting blocks on which they rested. These roof
stones must have weighed a little over 26 tons each
before being scooped out, and from 18 to 20 tons
when finished. The chapels alone would have
required nearly one hundred of them, and the only
materials at hand for shifting these blocks were sand,
fibre ropes and palm-tree levers.
The old Egyptian was a marvel. When he
wanted to carve a colossal statue, like the Rameses
at the Ramesseum at Thebes, he brought a 200 ton
block of granite from 300 miles away, and we don't
know how he did it; so that 20-ton blocks of sand-
stone must have been well within his day's work.
15. The West Hall.—The passage through the
fifth chapel leads into an oblong hall, 21 m. by
10 • 10 m., containing ten columns placed in two lines.
At the north end are three small chambers ; at the
south end a door that opens into a lesser square hall
in*
jeti
p along
'chamb'
th
ofl
iie
them
lead'
!colu*ns<
and t1
;,ana
s stand op
j the coui
Kfc<weL.Tt
,d IS p
, door
•,roofed
the narro
:3.67n
-ween
i The,
10 in.
:e, and
the colur
the cou;
being 3
:::ns has
the chan
..iing \\'£
;e halls:
art of t
rally bonded
t of this hall i
q almost like
: stems to hav
a'I it be sud
aid chapel; 2
'% and the
:riw or nich
^ iesign, as tl
:--ie end of tV
;:;%canbe
"•■ On the sout
.H N,
OR';
dl betv
■ the ch
^ cham
"* smallest
•Ae
ones ne;
THE TEMPLE OF THE KINGS.
The three columns are 4-45 m. in circumference;
the west and east columns are spaced 4-20 m. and
4-30 m. respectively from the middle one, and the
middle one is 1 m. to the W. of the centre of the
chamber. This was probably arranged to allow a
clear passage-way from the entrance door, which is
2*50 m. across the door recesses. The doors were
double, opening to the South.
At the west end of the chamber are two door-
ways. The left-hand door is 1-90 between door-
posts, which project from buttresses built against the
side walls, apparently to produce the impression that
the door leads through a thick main wall at right
angles to the axis ; the right-hand buttress or door-
flank projects 60 cm. from the wall, and the door-
post 26 cm. from that. The left-hand buttress pro-
jects only 37 cm. from the wall, and its door-post is
only a shallow projection of 3 cm. The right-hand
door is 2-20 m. wide between the door-posts (which
are again irregular), and has no door-flanks at all. I
believe that the dividing wall between the chambers
tapers from 1 • 50 m. at the doors to 1-30 m. where it
meets the western main wall of the temple ; but the
roof here is intact, so I was unable to get at the top
of the wall to measure it. The left-hand chamber
(B) with the small thick door is 3-25 wide, and the
right-hand chamber (C) with the wider shallow door
is 2 • 54 wide. The curious arrangement of the door-
posts has the effect of making the wider chamber
10-6 m. long, as against 11-35 m- f°r the length of
the narrower chamber. The South and North walls
of these chambers do not coincide with S. and N.
walls of the main chamber. The right-hand wall of
the small right-hand chamber C stands 75 cm. to the
Southward of the right wall of the main chamber
A. The left-hand wall of the left chamber B stands
30 cm. to the Northward of the left wall of the main
chamber. On the south side of these chambers is a
long passage, but the dividing wall is 1*85 m. thick
opposite the small chambers, and only 1-55 m.
thick where it separates the main chamber from the
passage. All these irregular dimensions are taken
from the actual walls, not from the drawings.
14. The Chapels.—We can now go back into
the main Hypostyle Hall and notice the seven
chapels. Counting from the left there are four with
solid walls at the west end of them. They are all
10" 60 m. long, but they vary in width from 4-o,o m. to
5 -40 m. The second chapel is 10 cm. narrower at the
west end than at the east or door end. The diagonals
show the skewness very clearly. The third chapel from
N.W. to S.E. is 12-5 m, while from N.E. to S.W. it is
only 11*95 m., a difference of 55 cm. in a room i2-8o
X 5'40 m. The diagonal difference in the fourth
chapel is only 6 cm. The dividing walls vary from
2 ■ 75 to 2 • 30 m. The position of the doorways is very
eccentric, the amount of wall left between the corners
of a doorway and the wall on either side differing as
much as 25 cm.
The fifth chapel has a symmetrically placed door ;
and has besides another door at the west end of it,
which is also symmetrical. The sixth and seventh
chapels are rather longer than the others ; they have
solid walls at their west ends, and are 5.30 and 5 -o m.
wide respectively.
Professor Maspero in his Manual states that the
Sanctuary was arranged with four chapels on one side
of it and two on the other, and had a door at each
end of it ; but as the whole arrangement of the
columns is designed to make the axial passage wider
than the others, and the middle door is the largest in
the row, it seems natural to conclude that the axial
chapel was also the most important, and that the side
chapel with a door at each end was only a passage to
the western court.
The roofs of these chapels are all vaulted (see
Pl. XXIV). The top stone of the walls projected
slightly from the wall on both sides ; across the
chambers between these projecting stones were laid
enormous sandstone blocks 7 m. long, I ■ 14 wide and
1.52 deep. The under side of these roof blocks was
hollowed out and the curve continued on the pro-
jecting blocks on which they rested. These roof
stones must have weighed a little over 26 tons each
before being scooped out, and from 18 to 20 tons
when finished. The chapels alone would have
required nearly one hundred of them, and the only
materials at hand for shifting these blocks were sand,
fibre ropes and palm-tree levers.
The old Egyptian was a marvel. When he
wanted to carve a colossal statue, like the Rameses
at the Ramesseum at Thebes, he brought a 200 ton
block of granite from 300 miles away, and we don't
know how he did it; so that 20-ton blocks of sand-
stone must have been well within his day's work.
15. The West Hall.—The passage through the
fifth chapel leads into an oblong hall, 21 m. by
10 • 10 m., containing ten columns placed in two lines.
At the north end are three small chambers ; at the
south end a door that opens into a lesser square hall
in*
jeti
p along
'chamb'
th
ofl
iie
them
lead'
!colu*ns<
and t1
;,ana
s stand op
j the coui
Kfc<weL.Tt
,d IS p
, door
•,roofed
the narro
:3.67n
-ween
i The,
10 in.
:e, and
the colur
the cou;
being 3
:::ns has
the chan
..iing \\'£
;e halls:
art of t
rally bonded
t of this hall i
q almost like
: stems to hav
a'I it be sud
aid chapel; 2
'% and the
:riw or nich
^ iesign, as tl
:--ie end of tV
;:;%canbe
"•■ On the sout
.H N,
OR';
dl betv
■ the ch
^ cham
"* smallest
•Ae
ones ne;