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goat-headed god, generally referred to as the "Moulder of Men," is of a type already made familiar to us by the better excavated shrine of Hathor at Dendera; and from its present half-buried condition one may the more readily understand the plight from which Dendera was rescued. All that has been exhumed at Esneh is the pronaos, or vestibule, of the temple proper, so that it appears as a huge portico standing in a deep pit—a portico of handsome columns, the spaces between which on the front of the temple have been walled in to half their height, precisely as we saw them in Hathor's shrine. A long flight of steps led down into the pit, so that all might descend and inspect the building at close range. How much more of it may lie buried behind this explorable part I do not know; but doubtless it would, if entirely freed from the accumulated rubbish, resemble throughout the general arrangement of the Hathor temple. For architectural beauty the little that can be seen is, to my mind, superior to Dendera. The columns are, of course, not Hathor columns, but bear flowered capitals of much grace; and the whole is admirably decorated in much the same way that the other temples have been. But there is at best very little to be seen at Esneh that cannot be better seen elsewhere, and we were back at the ship in little more than an hour, anxious to forge ahead

to Edfû, where the temple was known to be vastly more worth while.

We reached the landing of Edfû shortly after lunch, and were greeted as usual by almost the entire population, en masse. To these we surrendered at discretion, took beasts, and cantered away through the considerable village-raising an enormous cloud of dust. The temple we knew could not be far away, for its pylons towered over the intervening roofs and were visible from the river as we drew in. And in the course of a few moments we came suddenly upon it a glorious great shrine, sacred to Horus, and by far the finest temple we have yet had opportunity to examine. As a matter of fact, it is almost as perfect as if recently built, and dates, as do all these better preserved buildings of the district, only from the time of the Ptolemies, though occupying a site hallowed by many centuries of religious use before their day.

We approached it from the rear, skirting along the outer girdle wall as massive as that of a fortress, and as perfect as one could desire. Freed from the accummulations of earth after many centuries of burial, the temple of Horus to-day is so complete in every part that it could be used for worship without the addition of a single stone.

To Horus we needed by this time no introduction, being well acquainted with the falcon-headed god,

FAÇADE OF TEMPLE AT EDFU

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