DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0261
242 THE MONUMENTS OF UPPER EGYPT.
by square pillars, against which leant statues of
the king. Roughly hewn shafts of sandstone
columns encumber the centre of the court, while
five of the same columns still remain upright.
These are memorials of the time when, Medinet-
Abou being a Coptic town, this magnificent
court had been converted into a church. The
pictures which cover the inner walls of the
galleries are so numerous that it is impossible
to describe them all. To the left on entering is
a battle scene. The visitor must now be famil-
iar with these gigantic figures of the king gallop-
ing in his chariot over enemies who fly in
disorder. This time the enemies are the Libou
(Libyans) ; low down in the picture, with a
simplicity more surprising than pleasing, the
artist has represented them tumbling one over
the other. On the southern wall a second scene
shows us Egyptian princes and generals leading
prisoners before the victorious monarch. The
prisoners, says an inscription, number one thou-
sand, and there were three thousand slain. By the
side is an inscription, unfortunately in a bad state
of preservation, which refers to the same cam-
paign. In the third picture, the king returns to
Egypt. He is preceded by several groups of
by square pillars, against which leant statues of
the king. Roughly hewn shafts of sandstone
columns encumber the centre of the court, while
five of the same columns still remain upright.
These are memorials of the time when, Medinet-
Abou being a Coptic town, this magnificent
court had been converted into a church. The
pictures which cover the inner walls of the
galleries are so numerous that it is impossible
to describe them all. To the left on entering is
a battle scene. The visitor must now be famil-
iar with these gigantic figures of the king gallop-
ing in his chariot over enemies who fly in
disorder. This time the enemies are the Libou
(Libyans) ; low down in the picture, with a
simplicity more surprising than pleasing, the
artist has represented them tumbling one over
the other. On the southern wall a second scene
shows us Egyptian princes and generals leading
prisoners before the victorious monarch. The
prisoners, says an inscription, number one thou-
sand, and there were three thousand slain. By the
side is an inscription, unfortunately in a bad state
of preservation, which refers to the same cam-
paign. In the third picture, the king returns to
Egypt. He is preceded by several groups of