If the usual plan had been followed, it would have been necessary to cut the cliff entirely away, and the structure would have forfeited its special characteristic--that of a temple backed by a cliff--as desired by the founder.

The architect, therefore, distributed in width those portions of the edifice which he could not carry out in length; and he even threw out a wing.

Some years later, when Rameses II.

constructed a monument to his own memory, about a hundred yards to the northward of the older building, he was careful not to follow in his father's footsteps.

Built on the top of an elevation, his temple had sufficient space for development, and the conventional plan was followed in all its strictness.
[Illustration: Fig.