94 .-- Crio-sphinx from Wady Es Sabuah.] [Illustration: Fig.

95 .-- Couchant ram, with statuette of royal founder, restored from the Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak.] Most temples, even the smallest, should be surrounded by a square enclosure or temenos.[20] At Medinet Habu, this enclosure wall is of sandstone--low, and embattled.

The innovation is due to a whim of Rameses III., who, in giving to his monument the outward appearance of a fortress, sought to commemorate his Syrian victories.

Elsewhere, the doorways are of stone, and the walls are built in irregular courses of crude bricks.

The great enclosure wall was not, as frequently stated, intended to isolate the temple and screen the priestly ceremonies from eyes profane.