Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

82 TOPOGRAPHY OF THEBES. [Chap. 1.

curiosity of chronologers the names of three succes-
sive kings,* and their predecessor Amunoph I.,
seated with his black queen.

The deity who presided over this valley, and the
mountain behind it, was Athor, " the guardian of
the west;" and many of the tombs have a statue of
the cow, which was sacred to her, whose head and
breast project in high relief from their innermost
wall.

The small t temple to the east, called Dayr el
Medeeneh, from having been the abode of the early
Christians, was erected by Ptolemy Philopator.|
Being left unfinished, it was completed by Physcon,
or Euergetes II., who added the sculptures to the
walls of the interior, and part of the architectural
details of the portico; the pylon in front bearing
the name of Dionysus. § The vestibule is orna-
mented with two columns, supporting the roof, but
it is unsculptured. The corridor is separated from
this last by intercolumnar screens, uniting, on
either side of its entrance, one column to a pilaster
surmounted by the head of Athor. || On the east

* In PI. L No. 7, of my " Extracts."

f Being only sixty feet by thirty-three.

% This monarch founded or repaired several buildings at Thebes,
previous to its rebellion and subsequent destruction; an event to
which a great part of the dilapidation of its temples is to be attri-
buted.

§ Neus Dionysus, or Auletes.

|| Athor was Aphrodite, or Venus. It will be scarcely neces-
sary to remind the reader that this was not the goddess of physical
beautv.