THE GREAT SUN TEMPLE AT KARNAK.
IN a recent lecture on “Upper Egypt—Karnak,” at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Prof. Albert L. Bickmore said, speaking of the great temple:— “The temple was dedicated to Ammon-Ra, and is by far the grandest religious structure of the globe. The cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, could be placed in its inner court, and the area of the temple is three times as great as that of St. Peter’s, Rome. Homer calls it ‘the hundred-gated Thebes,’ and the accuracy of the description is proved by the majestic ruins. The extreme length of the temple is 1,560 yards, or more than four-fifths of a mile; its breadth is 620 yards, and the circuit of its walls is two and a half miles. “A single obelisk remains, and it bears the statement that it was erected by Queen Hatasu, in the space of seven months. It was dedicated to Ammon-Ra, and was covered with gold, so that when the sun rose the rays of light were reflected for miles, and kept in memory the name and power of the god. The astronomer Lockyer has shown that the avenue of columns and sphinxes looked out toward the sun as it set during the winter solstice, and the records establish the fact that the temple was oriented with this idea in view. On one of the walls is the inscription of Sheshenk, or Shishak, who conquered Palestine in the time of Rehoboam, and a full description in pictures of the ancient processional of the priests of Ammon.”