pains nor expense in adding to and beautifying the temples there. In fact, it was as much a pleasure as a duty for a king to repair the old buildings of the famous shrine of Karnak, or to build new ones, for the walls and pylons of that ancient sanctuary constituted a book of fame in the best and greatest sense in the opinion of the Egyptians. The fury of the elements, the attacks of Egypt's enemies, and the yearly rise of the Nile have all contributed powerfully towards the destruction of these splendid buildings; but what has helped most of all to injure them is the weakness of the foundations of their walls and columns, and the insufficiency of their bases. So long as the columns were partly buried in earth and rubbish, very little strain. was put upon them, and they appeared sound enough; but when the masses of earth which surrounded their bases were removed, experts declared that a number of them would fall. In 1899 eleven of the columns in the Great Hall at Karnak did fall, and an examination of their foundations showed the reasons, viz., insufficiency of base, poor foundations, and to these may be added, as Sir W. Garstin said, unstable equilibrium of the soil caused by alteration of the levels of the Nile. Much injury has, of course, also been caused to the stones of the columns by the salts which were present in the masses of earth which formerly surrounded them. It is satisfactory to be able to state that funds have been found by Lord Cromer, and that the 11 columns have been re-erected to their full height. Each stone has been placed in its former position, and the work of replacing the capitals and the architraves is being carried out in such a way that the restored columns will not be over-weighted. This fine piece of restoration has been effected by M. George Legrain, who has been in charge of the work from the beginning. He has rebuilt the columns very skilfully, without accident or damage to a single stone, and his energy and devotion to the work deserve the gratitude of

all lovers of antiquity. Under his care, excavation and restoration have gone hand in hand, and, when his work is finished, the best result is to be anticipated. During the course of the work at Karnak, M. Legrain made a “find” of statues of unparalleled historical interest; as Sir William Garstin says, nothing like it has been made since Mariette Pâshâ's excavations at the Serapeum. It seems that in 1883 M. Maspero sank some trial shafts near the seventh pylon of the Temple of Karnak, and was rewarded by the discovery of a large number of pieces of statues, and architectural fragments of considerable size. In 1901 and 1902, M. Legrain began work at this place, and, among other things, found several fine reliefs of Amen-hetep I. Inasmuch as these reliefs showed no signs of the hammering out of the name of Amen which took place in the reign of Amen-hetep IV, it was clear that they had been cast down from their places in the reign of some earlier king of the XVIIIth dynasty. Subsequently monuments of the reign of Hatshepset and Thothmes III were discovered, and later a statue of the period of Seti I. In 1903, when the work was continued, M. Legrain discovered a vast pit literally filled with statues which had been cast into it by the order of some king who was about to repair or enlarge the Temple of Karnak. As a result of the excavations of 1903, M. Legrain brought up out of the pit 457 statues in granite, alabaster, calcareous stone, basalt, breccia, quartz, mother-of-emerald, sandstone, petrified wood, etc.; 7 stone sphinxes, 5 sacred animals, 15 stele in granite, etc.; 3 figures of Osiris in lead and 40 in stone; and 8,000 bronze figures of Osiris and other gods; in all 8,519 objects. Work was resumed in 1905, and 170 more statues were discovered, and 8,000 figures of Osiris in bronze, etc., in all 8,268 objects. The oldest statue found clearly belongs

to the period of Khã-sekhemui.

Of the XIth

dynasty was found the statue of a king called MENTHU

HETEP

Ră

, with the prenomen of Mer-ankh

†, and a portion of a statue of a king

called Se-ankh-ka-Rã (ofu).

Of kings of the XIIIth and XIVth dynasties the "find" at Karnak supplies the following rare names:—

fragment of a small obelisk also supplies the Horus name of SEBEK-EM-SA-F I

999 ḤETEP-NETERU, and a

portion of his prenomen. Statues of the XVIIIth dynasty are numerous, and the most important of them historically is that of Tut-ankh-Amen, which was usurped by Heru-emheb. The statues which belong to the XXIInd dynasty are of great value historically, and supply a number of important data, which enable us to fix the order of some of its kings with considerable accuracy. Of a later period the statues of king Tirhâkâh and the princess Ankh-nes-neferab-Ra are of special interest, and we learn that the prenomen

of the latter was MUT-HEQ-NEFERT

the circumstances under which these statues were buried we know nothing, but care appears to have been taken to prevent any breakage of them on a large scale, and honourable oblivion was afforded them. It is too early yet to attempt to summarize the results which the inscriptions on these statues will yield, and we must wait for the catalogue of them which, we understand, is in preparation by

M. Legrain. Meanwhile the facts given above* will indicate the importance of the "find," and show what a mass of new material awaits investigation by the Egyptologist.

The Temple of Amen-hetep II. at Madâmûd , about 6 miles from Luxor, is well worth a visit.

On the West Bank of the river the following are the most interesting antiquities :—

I. The Temple of Kûrna. This temple was built by Seti I. in memory of his father Rameses I.; it was completed by Rameses II., by whom it was re-dedicated to the memory of his father Seti I. Two pylons stood before it, and joining them was an Avenue of Sphinxes. This temple was to all intents and purposes a cenotaph, and as such its position on the edge of the desert, at the entrance to a necropolis, is explained. In the temple were six columns, and on each side were several small chambers. The sculptures on the walls represent Rameses II. making offerings to the gods, among whom are Rameses I. and Seti I. According to an inscription there, it is said that Seti I. went to heaven and was united with the Sun-god before this temple was finished, and that Rameses II. made and fixed the doors, finished the building of the walls, and decorated the interior. The workmanship in certain parts of this temple recalls that of certain parts of Abydos; it is probable that the same artists were employed.

II. The Ramesseum. This temple, called also the Memnonium and the tomb of Osymandyas (Diodorus I., iv), was built by Rameses II., in honour of Amen-Rā. As at Kûrna, two pylons stood in front of it. The first court had a single row of pillars on each side of

* See Legrain in Maspero's Recueil tom. xxvii, and a supplementary paper which is to appear in a forthcoming volume of the same work.

it; passing up a flight of steps, and through the second pylon, is a second court, having a double row of round columns on the east and west sides, and a row of pilasters, to which large figures of Rameses II. under the form of Osiris are attached, on the north and south sides.

B

Before

NORTH

A. Plan of the Temple at Kûrna.

B. Plan of the Ramesseum at Kurna.

the second pylon stood a colossal statue of Rameses II., at least sixty feet high, which has been thrown down (by Cambyses ?), turned over on its back, and mutilated. In the hall are twelve huge columns, arranged in two rows,