the
same account can be given of the disposition of the built temples.
They possess one front, which the spectator approaches, and they are
disposed so as to produce varied and impressive interiors, but not to
give rise to external display. The supports, such as walls, columns,
piers, are all very massive and very close together, so that the only
wide open spaces are courtyards.

The circle, or octagon, or other polygonal forms do not appear in the
plans of Egyptian buildings; but though all the lines are straight,
there is a good deal of irregularity in spacing, walls which face one
another are not always parallel, and angles which appear to be right
angles very often are not so.

The later buildings extend over much space. The adjuncts to these
buildings, especially the avenues of sphinxes, are planned so as to
produce an air of stately grandeur, and in them some degree of
external effect is aimed at.

_Walls._

The walls are uniformly thick, and often of granite or of stone,
though brick is also met with; _e.g._ some of the smaller pyramids are
built entirely of brick. In all probability the walls of domestic
buildings were to a great extent of brick, and less thick than those
of the temples; hence they have all disappeared.

The surface of walls, even when of granite, was usually plastered with
a thin fine plaster, which was covered by the profuse decoration in
colour already alluded to.

The walls of the propylons tapered from the base towards the top, and
the same thing sometimes occurred in other walls. In almost all cases
the stone walls are built of very large blocks, and they show an
unrivalled skill in masonry.

_Roofs._

The roofing which remains is executed entirely in stone, but not
arched or vaulted. The rock-cut tombs, however, as has been stated,
contain ceilings of an arched shape, and in some cases forms which
seem to be an imitation of timber roofing. The roofing of the
Hypostyle Hall at Karnak provides an arrangement for admitting light
very similar to the clerestory of Gothic cathedrals.

_Openings._

The openings were all covered by a stone lintel, and consequently were
uniformly square-headed. The interspaces between columns were
similarly covered, and hence Egyptian architecture has been, and
correctly, classed as the first among the styles of trabeated
architecture. Window-openings seldom occur.

_Columns._

The columns have been already described to some extent. They