Ebek, the most northern of all the Theban monuments, is only remarkable because the plan on which it is constructed is very different from that of all other temples in Egypt. It has a single row of columns in front, and the rest of the building is distributed into a variety of comparatively small apartments.
MEMNONIUM.--The term Memnonium is used by Strabo to designate that part of ancient Thebes which lies on the western side of the river. The French _savans_, however, without sufficient reason, have restricted it to the magnificent ruin which we are going to describe. This beautiful relic of antiquity looks to the east, and is fronted by a stupendous propylon, of which two hundred and thirty-four feet in length are still remaining. The propylon stands on the edge of the soil; but the area cultivable, or space for the dromos behind it, is floored by the solid rock, on which the rest of the temple is erected. The eastern wall is much fallen down, and both ends are greatly dilapidated. Every stone in the propylon appears to have been shaken and loosened in its place, as if from the concussion of an earthquake, for no human violence seems adequate to produce such an effect in such an immense mass of building as that under consideration. A stair enters from each end, by which to ascend to the top of the propylon, from which passages go off in a number of chambers, as in the temples of Phylæ Edifore, &c.
This colossus measures six feet ten inches over the foot, and sixty-two or sixty-three feet round the shoulders. It has been broken off at the waist, and the upper part is laid prostrate on the back; the face is entirely obliterated, and, next to the wonder excited at the boldness of the sculptor who made it, and the extraordinary powers of those who erected it, the labour and exertions that must have been used for its destruction, are most astonishing. It could only have been brought about with the help of military engines, and must then have been the work of time. Its fall has carried along with it the whole of the wall of the temple which stood within its reach. It was not without great difficulty and danger that we could climb on its shoulder and neck, and in going from thence upon its chest, assisted by Arab servants.