TAA i.3.26.1

                                 THE SECOND SHRINE (Plates ... No. 238.)

          The second shrine was fitted over so as to completely 

enclose the first innermost shrine <(No. 239)>. It is constructed of 

wood, and its external and internal surfaces are entirely 

coated with gesso, and overlaid with a thin layer of gold 

laid on as gold leaf. Structurally, it takes the characteristic 

Egyptian shrine-form, since it has the customary shrine-roof

with receding slope <towards the back>, otherwise, the essential parts of its 

crowning members and under-structure are precisely the same 

as those of the first innermost shrine. Its workmanship, 

however, taken as a whole, is the finer of the two, especially 

in the case of its overall decoration of incised figures and

texts.

          Like the former shrine, it is of rectangular oblong shape. 

Its slightly elevated roof with curved front, receding slope <towards the back>, 

<and with> vertical sides and end, rests upon an overhanging cavetto 

cornice. Beneath this crowning cornice is a plain roll 

moulding which is also carried down the external angles of 

the under-structure. These uppermost members of the en-

tablature surmount a chief beam or frieze. The under-

structure consists of four corner posts, broad side and end 

panels, and a dado. The corner posts fulfil a double pur-

pose, for while they form the styles of the side and end <wall> panels, 

they also act as the door posts of the front. The front of the 

shrine comprises, beneath the <crowning> cornice and roll moulding, a 

chief beam or over door frieze, two door posts, and a sill; 

to which are hung its folding doors.

          Its external dimensions, given in ‘mean measurement’, are 

as follows:- Base – 335.5 X 207 cents.; abutment of cornice 

– 330.5 X 202 cents.; extreme edges of cornice – 356.5 X 229

cents.

          From <ground> to maximum height of roof – 208 cents.; height to top