propyla

They were generally placed in pairs at the entrances of temples, on each side of the propyla.

Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life

From a raised platform commences an avenue of Crio-sphinxes leading to the front propyla, before which stood two granite statues of a Pharaoh.

Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life

When I had traversed the “Hall of the Gods,” we came to a lofty two-leaved gate of brass, which stood between two sculptured propyla of Libyan stone.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Above the centre gateway, between the noble wings of the propyla which flank it, is a representative emblem of Osiris, in the shape of a splendid shield of the sun, a half-sphere of gold, from which extend wings for many yards, each feather glittering with precious stones.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Palaces, with gorgeous façades and triple stories of colonnades, composed street after street, while fountains and statues and propyla, temples, monoliths, andro-sphinxes and crio-sphinxes presented, as I rode along through this superb “City of the Sun,” an endless spectacle of architectural grandeur and marble magnificence.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Page view page image: where dwelt priests and nobles, illumined the propyla of the temples, burnished the lakes, gilded the obelisks, and flooded the whole City of the Sun with magnificence; — for there is a splendor and glory in the sunshine of Egypt unknown in other lands, the result of the purity of the crystalline atmosphere.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

This central temple, or pylon, was as massive and solemn in its aspect as the pyramids which formed its propyla.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Yet this massive aspect is relieved by shaping the stone and marble in the most graceful lines, and enriching with sculpture, either in relief or intaglio, the immense surfaces of their gigantic columns and enormous propyla.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Around this grand square with its central lake were arranged as follows: on the north side a superb colonnade of sculptured columns, forming the façade of the Temple of Mnevis, the sacred ox of On, at the gate or propyla of which crouched two sphinxes, with majestic human heads.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859

Still beyond this lovely island rose from the water the gardens, villas, palaces, temples, and propyla which lay between Memphis and the river; while the city of Apis, “the diadem of Egypt,” in all the glory of architectural majesty and beauty, reposed on the plain beyond; the mighty pyramids, with their winged temples and colossal dromos of sphinxes, filling the background of this matchless scene.

The pillar of fire, or, Israel in bondage 1859