Wall decoration in sunk relief. Karnak, Egypt

"Temple decoration was carved in both raised (bas) and sunk (en creux) relief. The more time-consuming raised relief was often reserved for inner surfaces, while incised carving was often used on outer surfaces where shadows helped define its forms in bright sunlight. By Ramessid times the practice of usurpation of royal monuments had become so common that sunk relief -especially royal cartouches- was carved at great depth in order to discourage or make impossible the recarving of the stone by future kings." [Wilkinson R., 2000: The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson]. "A village on East bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt; with Luxor, Karnak is on the site of ancient Thebes; location of temple of Amen (Amun), considered one of the finest examples of early New Kingdom religious architecture; also has many Middle Kingdom remains." [The J.P.Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographic Names]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Institute of Architects, directing the Egyptian portion of the documentary on Ancient Egypt, March 1965 and September 1965.