[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Walls of second fort at Abydos, restored.]

[Illustration: Fig. 28.--Façade of fort, from wall-scene, Beni Hasan,
Twelfth Dynasty.]

[Illustration: Fig. 29.--Plan of main gate, second fortress of Abydos.]

[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Plan of south-east gate, second fortress of
Abydos.]

[Illustration: Fig. 31.--Plan of gate, fortress of Kom el Ahmar.]

The early Egyptians possessed no engines calculated to make an impression
on very massive walls. They knew of but three ways of forcing a stronghold;
namely, scaling the walls, sapping them, or bursting open the gates. The
plan adopted by their engineers in building the second fort is admirably
well calculated to resist each of these modes of attack (fig. 26). The
outer walls are long and straight, without towers or projections of any
kind; they measure 430 feet in length from north to south, by 255 feet in
width. The foundations rest on the sand, and do not go down more than a
foot. The wall (fig. 27) is of crude brick, in horizontal courses. It has a
slight batter; is solid, without slits or loopholes; and is decorated
outside with long vertical grooves or panels, like those depicted on the
stelae of the ancient empire. In its present state, it rises to a height of
some thirty-six feet above the plain; when perfect, it would scarcely have
exceeded forty feet, which height would amply suffice to protect the
garrison from all danger of scaling by portable ladders. The thickness of
the wall is about twenty feet at the base, and sixteen feet above. The top
is destroyed, but the bas-reliefs and mural paintings (fig. 28) show that
it must have been crowned with a continuous cornice, boldly projecting,