DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0165
US DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
of greater length was given to the whole temple by a false per-
spective, each door being smaller and smaller as you approached
the sanctuary.
In older times the temple was not furnished with pyramidal
towers; these were first added for defence, as well as for archi-
tectural effect, by the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, and
each temple with its wall of enclosure then became a detached
fort. The city was therefore unwalled. The temple contained
the statues of the gods, the gold and silver utensils for religions
purposes, the treasury, and the abode of the king ; so that all
that was most precious was protected; and it required a smaller
number of men to garrison it than a walled town. And though
the fortresses on the frontier were still kept up, and a few
towns, in defiles at the edge of the desert, still continued to be
walled, none were then built in the interior of the country; nor
were the capitals — Thebes and Memphis — surrounded by
walls. "The hundred gates of Thebes" do not, therefore,
signify those of the city, but of the courts attached to its
numerous temples; which were certainly more likely to furnish
that number of gates than a city wall; and this is even stated
by Diodorus.
The origin of Egyptian architecture has been erroneously
derived from excavations made in the rock; but it is obvious
that men made for themselves huts long before they were
capable of hewing chambers in stone. They found no ready-
made caves, such as have been invented for the fabulous Tro-
glodyte ; and despite the authority of Bruce, I believe their low
mud huts, still common in Africa, led to their name, and to
the story. For were the Egyptians in the habit of living in
caves after they knew how to make them; and their excavations
in the rock were always intended for tombs or temples. They
were also invariablv imitations of constructed monuments.
of greater length was given to the whole temple by a false per-
spective, each door being smaller and smaller as you approached
the sanctuary.
In older times the temple was not furnished with pyramidal
towers; these were first added for defence, as well as for archi-
tectural effect, by the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, and
each temple with its wall of enclosure then became a detached
fort. The city was therefore unwalled. The temple contained
the statues of the gods, the gold and silver utensils for religions
purposes, the treasury, and the abode of the king ; so that all
that was most precious was protected; and it required a smaller
number of men to garrison it than a walled town. And though
the fortresses on the frontier were still kept up, and a few
towns, in defiles at the edge of the desert, still continued to be
walled, none were then built in the interior of the country; nor
were the capitals — Thebes and Memphis — surrounded by
walls. "The hundred gates of Thebes" do not, therefore,
signify those of the city, but of the courts attached to its
numerous temples; which were certainly more likely to furnish
that number of gates than a city wall; and this is even stated
by Diodorus.
The origin of Egyptian architecture has been erroneously
derived from excavations made in the rock; but it is obvious
that men made for themselves huts long before they were
capable of hewing chambers in stone. They found no ready-
made caves, such as have been invented for the fabulous Tro-
glodyte ; and despite the authority of Bruce, I believe their low
mud huts, still common in Africa, led to their name, and to
the story. For were the Egyptians in the habit of living in
caves after they knew how to make them; and their excavations
in the rock were always intended for tombs or temples. They
were also invariablv imitations of constructed monuments.