Pollard, Joseph: The land of the monuments: notes of Egyptian travel (London, 1896)

304 THE LAND OF THE MONUMENTS

I was a boy on his lap, and he spake thus, ' I will
cause him to be crowned king, for I will behold his
excellence while I am alive . . . Place the regal
circlet upon his brow.' Thus spake he with kind
intention in his very great love for me; yet he left
me in the house (if the women. He chose for me
women among the maidens, who wore a harness of
leather. ... It was the Home of the Women that
took care of and nourished me."*

We spent a considerable time examining the most
interesting records of this little temple. On leaving
we are charmed with the splendid prospect obtained
from its portal. The Great Temple lies immediately
below the hill in which Beit-el-Wallee is excavated.
Us entire plan can be seen from the pathway. It
resembles Edfou, being enclosed with double lofty
walls, which proceed from the pylons at the entrain e,
and entirely surround the temple, forming a wide
passage between tin- group of buildings which
contain the Hall <>f Columns, pro-naos, sanctuary,
and surrounding chambers. The hill side between the
two temples is strewn with fragments of rock from
the quarries through which the footpath has been
cleared. The contrast between the two temples is
most striking in every way in the proportions, style,
and decoration. The Great Temple was erected
during the reign of Augustus Caesar, 1400 years after

the small one had been dedicated. A temple st.....I

here in the time of Thothmes III. ; stones bearing his
name are to be seen in the lower part of the present
structure. The walls arc- covered with illustrations
and inscriptions, but the designs are of a much coarser
type, the heavy muscular forms of the Roman taking
* " Egypt under the Pharaohs," vol. ii. p. ,n.