Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/103

The Arch. Si inches) above the ground. The bricks are thirty-one centimetres (about twelve-and-a -quarter inches) long, and the courses arc arranged in a long succession of inverted segmental arches." ^ Fig. 47. — Vaults iu the Ramesscum. Our figure has been compiled from the plans and elevations of Prisse with a view to making the arrangement easily understood Fig. 48. — Vault in the Ramesseum ; compiled from the data of Lep-ius. (Fig. 50) ; it represents the lower part of one of the walls in question. According to M. Viollet-le-Duc, the Egyptian architects ^ Peisse, Histoire de V Art Egvptien, p. 174. — Mariette {Voyage dans la Haute- Egypte, vol. ii. pp. 59-60) was struck by a similar arrangement. "Murray's Guide," he says, "tells us, in speaking of DajT-el-Medineh, that the walls which inclose the courts of this temple present a striking peculiarity of construction. Their bricks are laid in concave-convex courses which rise and fall alternately over the whole length of the walls."' This curious arrangement deserved to be noticed, but Dayr-el-Medineh VOL. TI. M