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Fig.1: Papyrus columns at Luxor (photo: Teynard 1851).
Luxor is located on the east bank of the Nile in Thebes. It is at the core of a vast zone of public and ceremonial buildings created during the 18th Dynasty (1550-1307 BC) when Thebes became the center of dynastic administration.
This early, 1851 calotype print by Teynard shows, in the midst of a temple's wreckage, a series of four standing columns holding the remnants of a lintel. The columns have the characteristic shape of papyrus plants with unopened flowers clusters (umbrels). Such papyrus columns formed the main structural supports for the (now vanished) roofs of the vast Hypostyle Halls at both Karnak and Luxor.Athena Review Image Archive™ | Guide to Archaeology on the Internet | free trial issue | subscribe | back issues
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