eir el Bahari, in the Theban necropolis (fig. 92),[19] The
sanctuary and chapels which, as usual, accompany it, were cut about 100 ft.
above the level of the valley. In order to arrive at that height, slopes
were made and terraces laid out according to a plan which was not
understood until the site was thoroughly excavated.

Between the hemi-speos and the isolated temple, the Egyptians created yet
another variety, namely, the built temple backed by, but not carried into,
the cliff. The temple of the sphinx at Gizeh, and the temple of Seti I. at
Abydos, may be cited as two good examples. I have already described the
former; the area of the latter (fig. 93) was cleared in a narrow and
shallow belt of sand, which here divides the plain from the desert. It was
sunk up to the roof, the tops of the walls but just showing above the level
of the ground. The staircase which led up to the terraced roof led also to
the top of the hill. The front, which stood completely out, seemed in
nowise extraordinary. It was approached by two pylons, two courts, and a
shallow portico supported on square pillars. The unusual part of the
building only began beyond this point. First, there were two hypostyle
halls instead of one. These are separated by a wall with seven doorways.
There is no nave, and the sanctuary opens direct from the second hall.
This, as usual, consists of an oblong chamber with a door at each end; but
the rooms by which it is usually surrounded are here placed side by side in
a line, two to the right and four to the left; further, they are covered by
"corbelled" vaults, and are lighted only from the doors. Behind the
sanctuary are further novelties. Another hypostyle hall (K) abuts on the
end wall, and its dependencies are unequally distributed to right and left.
As if this were not enough, the architect also constructed, to the left of
the main building, a court, five chambers of columns, various passages and
dark chambers--in short, an entire wing branching off at right angles to
the axis of the temple proper, with no counterbalancing structures on the
other side. These irregularities become intelligible when the site is
examined. The cliff is shallow at this part, and the smaller hypostyle hall
is backed by only a thin partition of rock. If the usual plan had been
followed, it would have been necessary to cut the cliff entirely away, and
the structure would have forfeited its special characteristic--that of a
temple backed