TAA i.3.23.34

                       The Second Shrine – (Plates ……… N^o 238).

          The second shrine was fitted over so as to completely 

enclose the first innermost shrine (N^o. 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 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 in shape. 

Its slightly elevated roof – having a curved front, a receding slope 

towards the back, and vertical sides and end – rests upon an

overhanging cavetto cornice. Beneath this cornice is a 

plain roll moulding which is also carried <down> the external angles 

of the under-structure. These uppermost members surmount 

a chief beam or frieze. The under-structure consists of four

corner posts, two broad side <panels>, and one end panel, and a dado. 

The corner posts fulfil a double purpose, for while they form the 

styles of the side and end panels, they also act as the door posts