whatever glory it then possessed, and became merely the chief provincial city of Egypt. During the reign of Theodosius, a savage attack, the result of his edict, was made upon its temples and buildings by the Christians, and a few hundred years later the Muḥammadans carried the stones, which once formed them, across the river to serve as building materials for their houses and mosques. The circuit of the ancient city, according to Diodorus, was 150 stadia, or about thirteen miles.

THE COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMESES II.

This magnificent statue was discovered by Messrs. Caviglia and Sloane in 1820, and was presented by them to the British Museum. On account of its weight and the lack of public interest in such matters, it lay near the road leading from Bedrashên to Mît-Rahîneh, and little by little became nearly covered with the annual deposit of Nile mud; during the inundation the greater part of it was covered by the waters of the Nile. During the winter of 1886-87 Sir Frederick Stephenson collected a sum of money in Cairo for the purpose of lifting it out of the hollow in which it

forth Apis. This calf, which is called Apis, has the following marks: it is black, and has a square spot of white on the forehead; and on the back the figure of an eagle; and in the tail double hairs; and on the tongue a beetle. When the priests brought Apis, Cambyses, like one almost out of his senses, drew his dagger, meaning to strike the belly of Apis, but hit the thigh; then falling into a fit of laughter, he said to the priests, 'Ye blockheads, are there such gods as these, consisting of blood and flesh, and sensible to steel? This, truly, is a god worthy of the Egyptians. But you shall not mock me with impunity.' Having spoken thus, he commanded those whose business it was, to scourge the priests, and to kill all the Egyptians whom they should find feasting.

But Apis, being wounded in the thigh, lay and languished in the temple; and at length, when he had died of the wound, the priests buried him without the knowledge of Cambyses."-Herodotus, III, 27-29. (Cary's translation.)

lay, and the difficult engineering part of the task was ably accomplished by Colonel Arthur Bagnold, R.E. This statue is made of a fine hard limestone, and measures about fortytwo feet in height; it is probably one of the statues which stood in front of the temple of Ptaḥ, mentioned by Herodotus and Diodorus. The prenomen of Rameses II. Ra-usr-maat-setep-en-Rã, is inscribed on

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the belt of the statue, and on the end of the roll which the king carries in his hand are the words "Rameses, beloved of Amen." By the side of the king are figures of a daughter and son of Rameses. The famous temple of Ptaḥ founded by Menes was situated to the south of the statue.

SAKKARA.

The name Sakkara is probably derived from the name of the Egyptian god Seker who was connected with the resurrection of the dead. The tract of land at Sakkara which formed the great burial ground of the ancient Egyptians of all periods, is about four and a half miles long and one mile wide; the most important antiquities there are: I. the Step Pyramid; II. the Pyramids of Unås, Tetå, and Pepi, kings of the Vth and VIth dynasties; III. the Serapeum; and IV. the Tomb of Thi. Admirers of M. Mariette will be interested to see the house in which this distinguished savant lived.

I. The Step Pyramid is generally thought to have been built by the fifth king of the IIIrd dynasty (called , Tcheser in the Tablet of Abydos), who is said to have built a pyramid at Kochome (ie., Ka-Kam) near Sakkara. Though the date of this pyramid is not known accurately, it is probably right to assume that it is older than the pyramids of Gizeh. The door which led into the pyramid was inscribed with the name of a king colled Rā-nub, and M. Mariette found the same name on

one of the stele in the Serapeum. The steps of the pyramid are six in number, and are about 38, 36, 34, 32, 31 and 29 feet in height; the width of each step is from six to seven feet. The lengths of the sides at the base are: north and south 352 feet, east and west 396 feet, and the actual height is 197 feet. In shape this pyramid is oblong, and its sides do not exactly face the cardinal points. The arrangement of the chambers inside this pyramid is quite peculiar to itself.

II. The Pyramid of Unas, called in Egyptian Nefer-ȧs-u, lies to the south-east of the Step Pyramid, and was reopened and cleared out in 1881 by M. Maspero, at the expense of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son. Its original height was about 62 feet, and the length of its sides at the base 220 feet. Owing to the broken blocks and sand which lie round about it, Vyse was unable to give exact measurements. Several attempts had been made to break into it, and one of the Arabs who took part in one of these attempts, "Aḥmed the Carpenter," seems to have left his name inside one of the chambers in red ink. It is probable that he is the same man who opened the Great Pyramid at Gîzeh, A.D. 820. A black basalt sarcophagus, from which the cover had been dragged off, and an arm, a shin bone, some ribs and fragments of the skull from the mummy of Unȧs, were found in the sarcophagus chamber. The walls of the two largest chambers and two of the corridors are inscribed with ritual texts and prayers of a very interesting character. Unas, the last king of the Vth dynasty, reigned about thirty years. The Mastabat el-Far'ûn was thought by Mariette to be the tomb of Unȧs, but other scholars thought that the 'blunted pyramid' at Dahshûr was his tomb, because his name was written upon the top of it.

The Pyramid of Teta (29), called in Egyptian

Tet-asu, lies to the north-east of the Step Pyramid, and was opened in 1881. The Arabs call it the "Prison Pyramid," because local tradition says that it is built near the ruins of the prison where Joseph the patriarch was confined. Its actual height is about 59 feet; the length of each side at the base is 210 feet, and the platform at the top is about 50 feet. The arrangement of the chambers and passages and the plan of construction followed is almost identical with that of the pyramid of Unås. This pyramid was broken into in ancient days, and two of the walls of the sarcophagus chamber have literally been smashed to pieces by the hammer blows of those who expected to find treasure inside them. The inscriptions, painted in green upon the walls, have the same subject matter as those inscribed upon the walls of the chambers of the pyramid of Unȧs. According to Manetho, Tetà, the first king of the VIth dynasty, reigned about fifty years, and was murdered by one of his guards. The Pyramids of Tcheser, Unås, and Teta belong to the Northern Group at Sakkâra.

The Pyramid of Pepi I. or meri, son of the Sun, Pepi,' lies to the south-west of the Step Pyramid, and forms one of the central group of pyramids at Ṣakkâra, where it is called the Pyramid of Shêkh Abu Mansûr; it was opened in 1880. Its actual height is about 40 feet, and the length of the sides at the base is about 250 feet; the arrangement of the chambers, etc., inside is the same as in the pyramids of Unås and Tetả, but the ornamentation is slightly different. It is the worst preserved of these pyramids, and has suffered most at the hands of the spoilers, probably because having been constructed with stones which were taken from tombs ancient already in those days, instead of stones fresh from the quarry, it was more easily injured. The granite sarcophagus was broken to take out the mummy, fragments

of which were found lying about on the ground; the cover too, smashed in pieces, lay on the ground close by. A small rose granite box, containing alabaster jars, was also found in the sarcophagus chamber. The inscriptions are, like those inscribed on the walls of the pyramids of Unås and Tetȧ, of a religious nature; some scholars see in them evidence that the pyramid was usurped by another Pepi, who lived at a much later period than the VIth dynasty. The pyramid of Pepi I., the third king of the VIth dynasty, who reigned, according to Manetho, fifty-three years, was called in Egyptian by the same name as Memphis, i.e., Men-nefer, and numerous priests were attached to its service. Pepi's kingdom embraced all Egypt, and he waged war against the inhabitants of the peninsula of Sinai. He is said to have set up an obelisk at Heliopolis, and to have laid the foundation of the temple at Denderah. His success as a conqueror was due in a great measure to the splendid abilities of one of his chief officers called Unȧ, who warred successfully against the various hereditary foes of Egypt on its southern and eastern borders.

III. The Serapeum or APIS MAUSOLEUM contained the vaults in which all the Apis bulls that lived at Memphis were buried. According to Herodotus, Apis "is the calf of a cow incapable of conceiving another offspring; and the Egyptians say that lightning descends upon the cow from heaven, and that from thence it brings forth Apis. This calf, which is called Apis, has the following marks: it is black, and has a square spot of white on the forehead, and on the back the figure of an eagle; and in the tail double hairs ; and on the tongue a beetle." Above each tomb of an Apis bull was built a chapel, and it was the series of chapels which formed the Serapeum properly so called; it was surrounded by walls like the other Egyptian temples, and it had pylons to which an avenue of sphinxes led. This remarkable place was excavated in 1850 by M. Mariette, who having

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