Lyons, Henry G.: A report on the island and temples of Philae (London, 1896)

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were all moist, but no water was found in sinking, since it had all drained off' on the falling of the Nile. No deterioration of the stone whatever
could be detected which might have resulted from the annual wetting it is subjected to. This material filled the space between the walls up to
within -40 to '50 metre of the under surface of the roofing blocks, every one of which was cracked through, but were held in their places by
their own weight jamming the broken portions together. It would seem as though the builder of the West Colonnade did not know what was
below the pavement, for all the southern part is erected on these roofing blocks, and in many cases the columns (for instance,. No. 9) have been built on
one of these roofing blocks, the ends of which rest on the vertical walls, with no other support beneath them (Plan VII., fig. 2). The walls themselves
are continued under the colonnade up to the quay wall, and no doubt the supporting walls of the other blocks south of the part described
are similarly constructed, except that under the Temple of Nectanebo (A) they run north and south. The section actually described is five metres
south of the west stairway (T), and, as this is constructed in a projecting quay older than the remainder of this portion of the quay wall, it may
be that this form of construction, having been first used to form the quay, was afterwards extended to carry the pavement when this part of the
island was required for buildings. The walls where they could be examined showed no sign whatever of cracking or yielding in any way. The
granite rock crops out also at the foot of stairway (T). The next deep section is at the western end of the southern face of the great pylon of
the Temple of Isis (M), where the foundations descend to a depth of 31)0 metres below the surface of the ground; below this is 35 metre of stone
chip, which rests on the earth deposit of the island. A metre south of it was another wall, which may be the remains of some earlier construction,
and which, since the courses of masonry composing it are almost exactly at the same levels as those of the walls under the colonnade pavement,
in all probability formed some part of the river-side structures on the west bank of the island before the present quay wall was built enclosing
them, especially as it leads directly on a point where the quay wall (X) changes direction slightly and where there is a vertical joint in the masonry, as may
lie seen in Photograph No. 31. This detached wall is not so well built as the pylon foundations, since shorter and less regular blocks are used,
whereas the latter is solidly constructed, and though of no great depth, shows no trace of any cracking or settlement. The base of the detached
wall was not seen, and apparently the top courses of it had been removed. It may possibly have been the proximity of this old wall which induced
the builders of the pylon to stop at a depth of only 3'00 metres, instead of going down to 4'50 metres for the pylon foundations, as they have done
elsewhere. (Plan VII., figs. 3, 4 and 5.)

On the south side of the eastern half of this pylon another hole was sunk, and here no trace of the detached wall was found, but the
pylon foundations consisted of eight courses of sandstone blocks, each having an average thickness of "48 metre. The lower courses project
slightly, and below the bottom course is the Nile earth deposit of the island. In front of the six upper courses there was a mass of sandstone
chip, derived from the dressing and decoration of the face of the pylon. There was no indication of cracking or settlement anywhere, and no
wetting or decomposition of the stone could lie seen, though all the earth below the first metre and a half was quite moist from infiltration.
(Plan VII., fig. 4.)

The centre gateway of this pylon is of much earlier date than the two pylon towers which have been built up against it, bearing as
it does the cartouches of Nectanebo II., and therefore the junction of its foundations with those of the pylon was examined, as being a point
where any settlement would lie readily seen. In Plan VII. fig. 5 is shown a section of the gateway foundations, with those of the east pylon tower
in elevation behind them, as when looked at from the west: they both consist of the same number of courses (nine), which do not coincide in
level, having been built at different periods, and the original pavement level of the gateway was '39 metre below the top of the projecting course
at the base of the pylon. The two foundations have been built close together, and even the small space of t or 2 centimetres visible between the gate
and pylon above the ground level does not show below it. As in other parts of the pylon, the foundation courses were solid, and undamaged either
by settlement or decay, while no difference in this respect could be detected between the foundations of the gateway and these of the pylon,