temple of a more elaborate
character than any that had preceded it, the remains of which are still
standing, and have attracted much attention from architects. Egyptian
temple-architecture is here seen tentatively making almost its first
advances from the simple cell of Usurtasen I. towards that richness of
complication and multiplicity of parts which it ultimately reached.
Pylons, courts, corridors supported by columns, pillared apartments,
meet us here in their earliest germ; while there are also indications of
constructive weakness, which show that the builders were aspiring to go
beyond previous models. The temple is cruciform in shape, but the two
arms of the cross are unequal. In front, two pylons of moderate
dimensions, not exceeding twenty-four feet in height, and built with the
usual sloping sides and strongly projecting cornice, guarded a doorway
which gave entrance into a court, sixty feet long by thirty broad. At
the further end of the court stood a porch, thirty feet long and nine
deep, supported by four square stone piers, emplaced at equal distances.
The porch led into the cell, a long, narrow chamber of extreme
plainness, about twenty-five feet long by nine wide, with a doorway at
either end. At either side of the cell were corridors, supported, like
the porch, by square piers, and roofed in by blocks of stone from nine
to ten feet long. These blocks have in some instances shown signs of
giving way; and, to counteract the tendency, octagonal pillars have been
introduced at the weak points, without regard to exact regularity or
correspondence. Behind the cell are chambers for the officiating
priests, which are six in number, and on either side of the porch are
also chambers, forming the arms of the cross, but of unequal
dimensions. That on the left is nearly square, about fifteen feet by
twelve; that on the right is oblong, twenty-seven feet by fifteen, and
has needed the support of two pillars internally, which seem, however,
to have been part of the original design. This chamber is open towards
the north-east, terminating in a porch of three square piers.

[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF TEMPLE AT MEDINET ABOU.]

The joint reign of Hatasu and Thothmes II. did not continue for more
than a few years. It is suspected that she engaged in a conspiracy
against him in order to rid herself of the small restraint which his
participation in the sovereignty exercised upon her, and was privy to
his murder. But there