Papyrus columns 2: with multiple buds capital

In the Luxor temple, we find some of the most elegant papyrus columns. We start with this portico of Hatshepsut's bark station, now in the 1st court. Note the stark contrast with the heavy, plump column of Ramesses II to the left.

Perhaps the most harmonious series of columns ever build by the Egyptians is that of the 2nd court of this temple, build by Amenhotep III (18th dynasty).

Note the slight constriction at the lowest part of the shaft: a common feature in papyrus columns. Also, note the subtle play of light and shade on the double row of columns, bordering the court. The bases have a curved side.

On this picture of the same columns, you can clearly observe the function of the abacus (the square capstone on the capital). The construction demands that the point where two parts of the architrave meet, lies exactly above the center of a capital. Indeed, right above the 4 capitals that you see, such a point is / was in place. The abacus serves to protect the capital against the constructional stresses resulting from this. Or rather: an abacus would serve this end, if the column and its capital were still of wood. In stone architecture, the abacus is not really necessary any more. That it is nonetheless retained may either be for esthetic reasons, or out of conservatism.
(If you zoom in on the larger file of this picture, you can see how the name of Amun was chiseled away on the architraves during the Amarna period. If you take into account at what height above the ground these inscriptions stand, you get a good feeling for the zeal of this persecution.)
(Incidentally, Akhenaton was a/o removing part of the name of his father here: Amenhotep III.)

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