39/78 30 .-- Plan of south-east gate, second fortress of Abydos.] [Illustration: Fig. 31 .-- Plan of gate, fortress of Kom el Ahmar.] The early Egyptians possessed no engines calculated to make an impression on very massive walls. They knew of but three ways of forcing a stronghold; namely, scaling the walls, sapping them, or bursting open the gates. The plan adopted by their engineers in building the second fort is admirably well calculated to resist each of these modes of attack (fig. 26). |