Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Egypt. archæol., a temple or part of a temple, or a tomb of some architectural importance, as distinguished from a mere tunnel or syringe, excavated in the solid rock; a grotto-temple or tomb, as at Beni-Hassan (see cut under
hypogeum ) and Abou Simbel (Ipsamboul).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
tomb ortemple carved from the solidrock
Etymologies
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Examples
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Hewn out of the solid cliff-side and lined with blocks of the finest limestone, this little speos contains two bas-relief subjects representing Queen Hatasu, in the costume of a royal prince, kneeling beside the Goddess Hathor, who is represented as a large red cow.
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+ The Buddhist speos-temples -- so far as known the only extant halls of worship of that religion, except one at Sanchi -- are mostly in the Bombay Presidency, at Ellora, Karli, Ajunta, Nassick, and
A Text-Book of the History of Architecture Seventh Edition, revised 1890
knitandpurl commented on the word speos
"But the majority of the photos there on the desk were of the inside of the cave, its gloomy recesses lit harshly by an electric flash. Evidently the cave had many years earlier been transformed into a speos."
The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz, translated by Andrew Oakland, p 106 of the Dalkey Archive paperback
June 12, 2011