DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0174
AN AVENUE OF SPHINXES. 163
Lie arm. At the farthest extremity he is sitting
on a throne as a conqueror, with a sceptre in his
hand, a row of the principal captives before him,
each with a rope around his neck ; one with out-
stretched hands imploring pity, and another on his
knees to receive the blow of the executioner, while
above is the vanquished monarch, with his hands
tied to a car, about to grace the triumph of the
conqueror.
Passing this magnificent entrance, the visiter
enters the dromos, or large open court, sur-
rounded by a ruined portico formed by a double
row of columns covered with sculpture and hiero-
glyphics ; and working his way over heaps of rub-
bish and Arab huts, among stately columns twelve
feet in diameter, and between thirty and forty feet
in height, with spreading capitals resembling the
budding lotus, some broken, some prostrate, some
half buried, and some lofty and towering as when
they were erected, at the distance of 600 feet
reaches the sanctuary of the temple.
But great and magnificent as was the temple
of Luxor, it served but as a portal to the greater
Carnac. Standing nearly two miles from Luxor,
the whole road to it was lined with rows of
sphinxes, each of a solid block of granite. At this
end they are broken, and, for the most part, buried
under the sand and heaps of rubbish. But, ap-
proaching Carnac, they stand entire, still and sol-
emn as when the ancient Egyptian passed be-
tween them to worship in the great temple of Ara-
mon. Four grand propylons terminate this ave-
Lie arm. At the farthest extremity he is sitting
on a throne as a conqueror, with a sceptre in his
hand, a row of the principal captives before him,
each with a rope around his neck ; one with out-
stretched hands imploring pity, and another on his
knees to receive the blow of the executioner, while
above is the vanquished monarch, with his hands
tied to a car, about to grace the triumph of the
conqueror.
Passing this magnificent entrance, the visiter
enters the dromos, or large open court, sur-
rounded by a ruined portico formed by a double
row of columns covered with sculpture and hiero-
glyphics ; and working his way over heaps of rub-
bish and Arab huts, among stately columns twelve
feet in diameter, and between thirty and forty feet
in height, with spreading capitals resembling the
budding lotus, some broken, some prostrate, some
half buried, and some lofty and towering as when
they were erected, at the distance of 600 feet
reaches the sanctuary of the temple.
But great and magnificent as was the temple
of Luxor, it served but as a portal to the greater
Carnac. Standing nearly two miles from Luxor,
the whole road to it was lined with rows of
sphinxes, each of a solid block of granite. At this
end they are broken, and, for the most part, buried
under the sand and heaps of rubbish. But, ap-
proaching Carnac, they stand entire, still and sol-
emn as when the ancient Egyptian passed be-
tween them to worship in the great temple of Ara-
mon. Four grand propylons terminate this ave-