eir sorties.

[Illustration: Fig. 32.--Plan of the walled city at El Kab.]

The same system of fortification which was in use for isolated fortresses
was also employed for the protection of towns. At Heliopollis, at San, at
Sais, at Thebes, everywhere in short, we find long straight walls forming
plain squares or parallelograms, without towers or bastions, ditches or
outworks. The thickness of the walls, which varied from thirty to eighty
feet, made such precautions needless. The gates, or at all events the
principal ones, had jambs and lintels of stone, decorated with scenes and
inscriptions; as, for instance, that of Ombos, which Champollion beheld yet
_in situ_, and which dated from the reign of Thothmes III. The oldest and
best preserved walled city in Egypt, namely, El Kab, belongs probably to
the ancient empire (fig. 32). The Nile washed part of it away some years
ago; but at the beginning of the present century it formed an irregular
quadrilateral enclosure, measuring some 2,100 feet in length, by about a
quarter less in breadth. The south front is constructed on the same
principles as the wall at Kom es Sultan, the bricks being bedded in
alternate horizontal and concave sections. Along the north and west fronts
they are laid in undulating layers from end to end. The thickness is
thirty-eight feet, and the average height thirty feet; and spacious ramps
lead up to the walk upon the walls. The gates are placed irregularly, one
in each side to north, east, and west, but none in the south face; they
are, however, in too ruinous a state to admit of any plan being taken of
them. The enclosure contained a considerable population, whose dwellings
were unequally distributed, the greater part being concentrated towards the
north and west, where excavations have disclosed the remains of a large
number of houses. The temples were grouped together in a square enclosure,
concentric with the outer wall; and this second enclosure served for a
keep, where the garrison could hold out long after the rest of the town had
fallen into the hands of the enemy.

[Illustration: Fig. 33.--Plan of walled city at Kom Ombo.]

[Illustration: Fig. 34.--Plan of fortress of Kummeh.]

[Illustration: Fig. 35.--Plan of fortress of Semneh.]

[Illustration: Fig. 36.--Section of the platform at A B, of the preceding
plan.]

The rectangular plan, though excellent in a plain, was not always
available in a hilly country. When the spot to be fortifie