THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN and even in their decay are both picturesque and imposing. The general appearance of the ruins has changed perceptibly in recent years, owing chiefly to the rain-water which every summer now flows down from the hills round about, and washes out the foundations and makes the walls fall in places. The remains of the temples, especially some of the columns, were very interesting ; for they illustrate a kind of architecture in which we may see blended the characteristics of Egyptian, Ptolemaic, Roman, and ancient native Meroitic buildings. The stones which form the walls are almost puny when compared with those in Egyptian temples, and the details of the decoration of the columns, and their slenderness, gave the ruins of the temples a somewhat effeminate appearance. When in a perfect state the temples were, no doubt, pretty, but they certainly lacked the solidity which the architects of the Ptolemaic Period managed to give to their buildings in Egypt, without sacrificing too much of the beauty of form and design, of which they were such consummate masters. To me the ornaments on the bases and capitals of the pillars appeared too delicate for a country where nature is sometimes majestic, but always grim.

No one has as yet succeeded in arriving at a reasonable conclusion as to the use to which the buildings round about the temple were put, but the hypotheses on the subject advanced by Cailliaud, who maintained that the buildings were those of a college, and by Hoskins, who thought that they were the remains of a hospital, seemed to me untenable. Some parts of the ruins resembled those of a palace, and others reminded me of the fortresses which are found in Northern Mesopotamia, e.g., at Birejik, on the Euphrates, and on the plain of Dara, to the west of Mardin ; on the other hand, it was impossible not to think that a portion at least of the main building was at one time used as a fortified " khan," wherein the masters of caravans could rest themselves and their animals, and deposit their wares during the night in safety.

All suggestions on such points, however, must remain purely tentative until the site has been carefully excavated, and the remains examined by some competent architect who has studied buildings of the kind in other parts of the East. Meanwhile it is important that the remaining pillars should be removed to a place 328