ABSTRACT
The most beautiful temple in all Egypt is the one which Sethy I of the XIXth dynasty built for the worship of his ancestors. The plan is peculiar, and is probably due to the fact that an underground spring of water made the foundations unsafe; this spring was afterwards enclosed by the building now known as the Osireion. The insecurity of the ground forced a change of plan upon the architect; and the chambers which should normally be at the back of, or round, the sanctuary were put to the side. The ground-plan is therefore like a capital L in shape, the head of the L pointing to the north, and the base running east and west. Another peculiarity of the temple is that, instead of only one shrine to the god or gods of the temple, there are seven; these are, however, more correctly described as chapels rather than shrines. The dedications in order from east to west are to the King, Ptah, Harakhti, Amon, Osiris, Isis, and Horus.
