pted; but the Pharaohs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
succeeded in achieving still more. They added only a hypostyle hall (fig.
85) and a pylon; but the hypostyle hall measured 170 feet in length by 329
feet in breadth. Down the centre they carried a main avenue of twelve
columns, with lotus-flower capitals, being the loftiest ever erected in the
interior of a building; while in the aisles, ranged in seven rows on either
side, they planted 122 columns with lotus-bud capitals. The roof of the
great nave rose to a height of 75 feet above the level of the ground, and
the pylon stood some fifty feet higher still. During a whole century, three
kings laboured to perfect this hypostyle hall. Rameses I. conceived the
idea; Seti I. finished the bulk of the work, and Rameses II. wrought nearly
the whole of the decoration. The Pharaohs of the next following dynasties
vied with each other for such blank spaces as might be found, wherein to
engrave their names upon the columns, and so to share the glory of the
three founders; but farther they did not venture. Left thus, however, the
monument was still incomplete. It still needed one last pylon and a
colonnaded court. Nearly three centuries elapsed before the task was again
taken in hand. At last the Bubastite kings decided to begin the colonnades,
but their work was as feeble as their, resources were limited. Taharkah,
the Ethiopian, imagined for a moment that he was capable of rivalling the
great Theban Pharaohs, and planned a hypostyle hall even larger than the
first; but he made a false start. The columns of the great nave, which were
all that he had time to erect, were placed too wide apart to admit of being
roofed over; so they never supported anything, but remained as memorials of
his failure. Finally, the Ptolemies, faithful to the traditions of the
native monarchy, threw themselves into the work; but their labours were
interrupted by revolts at Thebes, and the earthquake of the year 27 B.C.
destroyed part of the temple, so that the pylon remained for ever
unfinished. The history of Karnak is identical with that of all the great
Egyptian temples. When closely studied, the reason why they are for the
most part so irregular becomes evident. The general plan is practically the
same, and the progress of the building was carried forward in the same
way; but the architects could not always foresee the future importance of
their work, and the site was not always favourable to the development