Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/165

The Ordonnance of Egyptian Colonnades. 143 proper to the column. ^ It was identical in form with that gorge or cornice which crowns nearly every Egyptian wall. Considering that the anta was really no more than a prolongation or momen- tary salience of the wall, such an arrangement was judicious in every way (Fig. 129). The width of the intercolumniations also varied between one court or hall and another, and, at least in the present state of the Egyptian remains, we are unable to discover any rule governing the matter, such as those bv which Greek architects were o-uided. We may affirm generally that the Egyptian constructor, especially in the time of the New Empire and when using columns of large u ir r% P P Fig. 127. — Ants, Medinet-Abou. Fig. 12S. — Ants?, Medinet-Abou. dimensions, preferred close spacing to wide. His tendency to crowd his columns is to be explained, partly by the great weight of the superstructure which they had to support, partly by the national taste for a massive and close architecture. The spaces between the great columns in the hypostyle hall of Karnak, measured between the points of junction between the bases and the shafts, is slightly less than two diamieters. The spaces between the smaller columns on each side are hardly more than one diameter. A better idea of the original character of these ordonnances may perhaps be gathered from the plate which faces the next page ' In this the Greek architects took the same course as those of Egypt