Item 01: Irene Victoria Read letters from her husband, 27 November 1914-1 November 1915 - Page 159

[Page 159]

There are also in this temple several fine obelisks one 100 feet high formed of one piece of granite. Some of the colossal statues of ancient Kings are also very wonderful. In front of the principal pylon of one of the temples at Karnak is a row of sphinxes about 40 in number – this is the only remnant of the original avenue of sphinxes that lined each side of the road between Karnak & Luxor a distance of two miles. Traces of avenues of sphinxes exist all over the place – in the old times they seem to have had a mania for connecting up temples in different districts by means of avenues of sphinxes. After lunch we crossed the Nile in a fellucca (a sailing boat) & went by donkeys to the tombs of the Queens situated high up on a mountain range overlooking the Nile. This was a very hot trip & the glare from the white sandstone hills was very trying. I took the precaution of purchasing a pair of tinted glasses before leaving Cairo – they were a great success. Several of the tombs were very interesting – they consist of corridors & chambers cut out of the solid rock – the walls of the chambers are covered with hieroglyphics, in some cases carved in others painted, most of the paintings are in a wonderful state of preservation, the colours being as perfect as though done only yesterday.