ABSTRACT

THEmoderntownofLuxortakesitsnamefromthe ruinsofthetemplewhichstandsinitsmidst.Thecourse ofcenturiesbroughtruinanddecaytothegreatbuilding; itlostitssanctity,thevillageencroacheduponit,and graduallymoundsofdebrisroseroundandwithinit. Houseswerebuiltonthemounds,andwhenthesefell intodecaytheyaddedtotherisingheaps,onwhichfresh houseswereerected,tillatlastonlythetopsofthecolonnadesandthearchitraveswerevisibleabovetheaccumulationsofcenturies.Buttheimposinggrandeurofthe ancienttemple,seenhereandthereamongthesqualid houses,gavethevillageafictitiousimportance,andit wascalledbythehigh-soundingnameofElUksor(The Castles).Sketchesmadebytravellersintheeighteenth andnineteenthcenturiesshowtheruinsofthetemple hardlydiscernibleabovethesmallhutscrowdingupon them;butnowthetempleisclearofallmodernbuildings, withtheexceptionofthemosqueintheoutercourt.