Temple

IMG:file54.png: The Egyptian temple was not built as are Christian churches or Mohammedan mosques, for the purposes of public worship and instruction; its very arrangement at once precludes such po ibilities. It was generally erected by a monarch as a shrine for the tutelary deity first, and then as the personal monument raised by him to himself, on which may be seen his deeds of prowe , the slaughter of his enemies, his dedication of gifts to the presiding deity, . The earliest temples were evidently of wood or wattle, and were merely the shrines enclosing the symbols of the god; under the Old Empire they were built of stone, i.e. temples of the Second Pyramid at Gizeh, and of King Sneferu at Medum, but were severely simple; under the New Empire the temple became much more complicated, from the fact that succe ive kings enlarged their predece ors' buildings by adding halls of columns, chambers, . The e ential plan of every temple was practically the same—a crude brick surrounding wall, the pylon or entrance gateway, with flanking towers, before which generally stood two colo al statues of the king and two obelisks, and the *naos*, containing the innermost sanctuary where was kept the divine symbol. In course of time this simple plan became expanded into a most complicated structure, reached sometimes by as many as three pylons, separated by three avenues of sphinxes, and followed by columned courts, a hypostyle or columnar hall, and flanked by numerous chambers, where the books, vestments, and treasures of the temple were kept; all of which led up to the *sekhem* or holy place. The roof was always constructed of flat slabs of stone, while light was admitted either by stone gratings or by small shafts in the roofing slabs. Plan of very simple form of an Egyptian Temple: a, the Pylons; b, the Dromos flanked by Sphinxes; c, screen; d, the Pro-naos; e, the Adytum—which in this example is within the Naos. In some cases the Adytum or sanctuary fills the whole of the Naos.