94 ARCHITECTURE OF EGYPT. PART II.
pins, turning in grooves, in the lintel, and thres-
hold; and secured by bolts, and by a bar which
crossed from one side to the other. The doors
were of wood, sometimes covered with metal, and
occasionally ornamented with gold, or gilding. The
doorways had two projecting jambs, against which
the doors shut; and, when open, the valves fitted
into a recess, flush with the wall.* A remarkable
arrangement of the doorways, and their propor-
tions, may be observed in the large temples ; the
object of which was to increase the apparent length
of the building, by an artificial effect of perspective.
For this purpose, each successive doorway was
smaller than the one before it, the smallest being
the farthest from the entrance, which was that of
the adytum. Over each doorway was the globe
(generally winged) and asps, the emblem of
Agathodaemon, or the Good Genius.
The roofs were always flat, and composed of
long blocks of stone, resting upon the entablature,
or upon the architrave, over the columns ;-j~ or
reaching from wall to wall, in the smaller cham-
bers.^: Though rain was rare, they took every pre-
caution to prevent the water penetrating through
the roof, lest the colours on the ceiling should be
injured, by the water finding its way between the
seams; and for this purpose long strips of stone
were let into a groove, so as to overlay the well-
adjusted sides of the blocks ;§ the ends of which
* Vide Plate i, figs. 51, 52. t Plate i, %. 53.
t Plate i, fig. 49. § Plate i, tig. 54.
pins, turning in grooves, in the lintel, and thres-
hold; and secured by bolts, and by a bar which
crossed from one side to the other. The doors
were of wood, sometimes covered with metal, and
occasionally ornamented with gold, or gilding. The
doorways had two projecting jambs, against which
the doors shut; and, when open, the valves fitted
into a recess, flush with the wall.* A remarkable
arrangement of the doorways, and their propor-
tions, may be observed in the large temples ; the
object of which was to increase the apparent length
of the building, by an artificial effect of perspective.
For this purpose, each successive doorway was
smaller than the one before it, the smallest being
the farthest from the entrance, which was that of
the adytum. Over each doorway was the globe
(generally winged) and asps, the emblem of
Agathodaemon, or the Good Genius.
The roofs were always flat, and composed of
long blocks of stone, resting upon the entablature,
or upon the architrave, over the columns ;-j~ or
reaching from wall to wall, in the smaller cham-
bers.^: Though rain was rare, they took every pre-
caution to prevent the water penetrating through
the roof, lest the colours on the ceiling should be
injured, by the water finding its way between the
seams; and for this purpose long strips of stone
were let into a groove, so as to overlay the well-
adjusted sides of the blocks ;§ the ends of which
* Vide Plate i, figs. 51, 52. t Plate i, %. 53.
t Plate i, fig. 49. § Plate i, tig. 54.