And floods of light now enter through the gaps, into the very chapels where the men of old had thought to ensure a holy gloom.
Despite the disaster which has overtaken the ceilings, this is nevertheless one of the most perfect of the sanctuaries of ancient Egypt.

The sands, those gentle sextons, have here succeeded miraculously in their work of preservation.

They might have been carved yesterday, these innumerable people, who, everywhere--on the walls, on this forest of columns--gesticulate and, with their arms and long hands, continue with animation their eternal mute conversation.

The whole temple, with the openings which give it light, is more beautiful perhaps than in the time of the Pharaohs.

In place of the old-time darkness, a transparent gloom now alternates with shafts of sunlight.