Nile, and all was at a standstill.

The choicest materials, as diorite, basalt, black granite, porphyry, and
red and yellow breccia, which are only found in the desert, were rarely
used for architectural purposes. In order to procure them, it was necessary
to organise regular expeditions of soldiers and workmen; therefore they
were reserved for sarcophagi and important works of art. Those quarries
which supplied building materials for temples and funerary monuments, such
as limestone, sandstone, alabaster, and red granite, were all found in the
Nile valley, and were, therefore, easy of access. When the vein which it
was intended to work traversed the lower strata of the rock, the miners
excavated chambers and passages, which were often prolonged to a
considerable distance. Square pillars, left standing at intervals,
supported the superincumbent mass, while tablets sculptured in the most
conspicuous places commemorated the kings and engineers who began or
continued the work. Several exhausted or abandoned quarries have been
transformed into votive chapels; as, for instance, the Speos Artemidos,
which was consecrated by Hatshepsut, Thothmes III. and Seti I. to the local
goddess Pakhet.[9]

[Illustration: Fig. 49.--Quarries of Silsilis.]

[Illustration: Fig. 50.--Draught of Hathor capital in quarry of Gebel
Abûfeydeh.]

The most important limestone quarries are at Tûrah and Massarah, nearly
opposite Memphis. This stone lends itself admirably to the most delicate
touches of the chisel, hardens when exposed to the air, and acquires a
creamy tone most restful to the eye. Hence it was much in request by
architects and sculptors. The most extensive sandstone formations are at