temple was built in the likeness of the world, as the world was known to
the Egyptians. The earth, as they believed, was a flat and shallow plane,
longer than its width. The sky, according to some, extended overhead like
an immense iron ceiling, and according to others, like a huge shallow
vault. As it could not remain suspended in space without some support, they
imagined it to be held in place by four immense props or pillars. The floor
of the temple naturally represented the earth. The columns, and if needful
the four corners of the chambers, stood for the pillars. The roof, vaulted
at Abydos, flat elsewhere, corresponded exactly with the Egyptian idea of
the sky. Each of these parts was, therefore, decorated in consonance with
its meaning. Those next to the ground were clothed with vegetation. The
bases of the columns were surrounded by leaves, and the lower parts of the
walls were adorned with long stems of lotus or papyrus (fig. 96), in the
midst of which animals were occasionally depicted. Bouquets of water-plants
emerging from the water (fig. 97), enlivened the bottom of the wall-space
in certain chambers. Elsewhere, we find full-blown flowers interspersed
with buds (fig. 98), or tied together with cords (fig. 99); or those
emblematic plants which symbolise the union of Upper and Lower Egypt under
the rule of a single Pharaoh (fig. 100); or birds with human hands and
arms, perched in an attitude of adoration on the sign which represents a
solemn festival; or kneeling prisoners tied to the stake in couples, each
couple consisting of an Asiatic and a negro (fig. 101). Male and female
Niles (fig. 102), laden with flowers and fruits, either kneel, or advance
in majestic procession, along the ground level. These are the nomes, lakes,
and districts of Egypt, bringing offerings of their products to the god.
In one instance, at Karnak, Thothmes III. caused the fruits, flowers, and
animals indigenous to the foreign lands which he had conquered, to be
sculptured on the lower courses of his walls (fig. 103). The ceilings were
painted blue, and sprinkled with five-pointed stars painted yellow,
occasionally interspersed with the cartouches of the royal founder. The