by Osiris, with whom are Isis and Horus. The third sanctuary is dedicated to Isis, and the reliefs show the king worshipping her with Osiris and Horus. The four-columned hall with its three sanctuaries, which forms the east end of the Osiris Halls, is now so much ruined that it does not repay a visit.

One now returns to the second Hypostyle Hall, and enters the The list of passage at the east side, closed by an iron door. On the south wall kings. of this passage (54) is the famous list of kings. One sees Sety Ist holding a censer, and the young prince Rameses, afterwards King Rameses IInd, reading from a papyrus; and before them in two rows are the cartouches of a large number of the Pharaohs of Egypt, beginning with Mena and ending with himself. The third row of cartouches is a repetition of his own names. This list has been of great value to Egyptologists in fixing the position of certain of the less known Pharaohs; but it does not give the names of all the monarchs, and the spelling of some of the earlier names is defective.

A passage leading towards the south, and ending in a stairway, once led out to the desert at the back of the temple; and it seems to have been used at the festivals in which the processions visited the tomb of Osiris. The reliefs date from the reign of Rameses IInd. On the west wall (55) that king and his son, Prince Amenherkhepshef,1 are seen catching a bull for sacrifice; and farther along (56) the king drags forward the elaborate barque of Seker. On the east wall (57) he and four genii pull at a rope which is attached to a net in which many wild duck have been caught. These he and his son present to Amen-Ra and Mut. At the other end of the wall (58) he drives four sacrificial calves to Khonsu, and dances before a god whose figure is now destroyed.

Returning to the passage in which the list of kings is shown, Unfinished one may pass through the iron door at its east end into several chambers. ruined and unfinished chambers. One first enters a hall of ten columns, in which the reliefs have never been completed. Those at the south-west corner, showing the slaughtering of cattle, are of good workmanship, and especially one figure (59) is noticeable for its spirited action. It represents a man pulling at a rope attached to the hind leg of a bull, and one can well see the tension of his muscles. The other chambers are hardly worth visiting. One hall contains reliefs representing the sacred barques, and a bench or shelf running around the walls seems to have been the resting1 This prince, who was the heir-apparent, seems to have died early, for Rameses IInd was succeeded by another son, Merenptah.

place of the actual barques. Foreign inscriptions of the 6th century B.C., and later Coptic inscriptions, are scrawled upon the walls.

The richness and

beauty of the temple.

The Second Court.

THE TEMPLE OF RAMESES IIND

The temple of Rameses IInd, which was erected early in that king's reign, lies a short distance to the north-west of that of Sety Ist. It is very much ruined, and only the lower parts of the walls and the bases of the pillars remain; but even from this remnant one may learn how costly and beautiful was the original building. In describing the edifice, Rameses IInd states that he built this "august temple, established for eternity," for the god Unnefer; and that it had “portals of granite, the doors thereto of copper, wrought with figures in real electrum; a great sanctuary of alabaster set in granite"; and other costly features. He also states how "he established for the god permanent daily offerings. ... He filled the temple with everything; it was overflowing with food and provisions, bulls, calves, oxen, geese, bread, wine, fruit; it was filled with slaves, doubly supplied with fields, made numerous with herds; the granaries were filled to overflowing, the grain-heaps approached heaven. The treasury was filled with every costly stone, silver, gold in blocks; the magazine was filled with everything from the tribute of all countries. He planted many gardens set with every kind of tree, all sweet and fragrant woods, and the plants of the Land of Punt." One sees, then, in these ruins, the remains of a temple of exceptional richness and beauty. The few remaining reliefs upon the walls display a delicacy of workmanship far removed above that shown in most of the temples of this period; and the visitor will find it worth his while to devote some time to an examination of the ruins. The modern gate of the temple has been affixed to the doorway leading into the Second Court; and the Forecourt lies half buried in rubbish outside the protected area.

One enters the Second Court through a pink granite portal, on which one sees the king offering to Osiris, while Thoth and Safkhet record his jubilee. Around three sides of this court ran a covered gallery, the roof of which was supported by rectangular pillars, having on their outer sides colossal figures of the king in the form of Osiris. At the fourth or northern side these figures were con

The Vestibule.

tinued, but here they stood upon a raised platform, and, together with a second row of square pillars, served to support the roof of a kind of vestibule. The reliefs in the Second Court are of considerable interest. At the east end of the north wall we see (1) a number of priests carrying flowers, and leading towards the temple a bull, fattened for sacrifice and bedecked with flowers, an oryx, and a gazelle. Coming from the temple to meet these sacrificial gifts there is (2) a procession headed by men clapping their hands, singing, blowing trumpets, and carrying festal banners. Behind them there is a chariot, the horses of which are held by a groom, while another holds the reins. Then follow a group of nobles, behind whom are soldiers with feathers in their hair who play upon castanets. Other soldiers, carrying shields, spears, and axes, follow; and more standard-bearers are then seen; while finally there are negroes, one of whom has a tom-tom slung behind him, and Asiatics clad in long robes. The scenes along the east wall show (3) a number of priests leading to the temple fatted bulls and a calf, while others carry offerings of geese, pigeons, bread, fruit, &c. Farther along this wall one sees only the lower part of reliefs, representing persons carrying offerings; but towards the end (4) the masonry is less ruined, and one sees the temple servants bearing dishes of food on their heads, the procession being led by one who carries on his shoulders a statuette of the king, preceded by a Ritual-Priest burning incense before it. The scribe of the temple, with pen and writing-tablet in hand, and a priest displaying his bâton of office, receive the offerings.

Turning to the other side of the court, the west wall is just high enough to allow of the lower reliefs being seen. Butchers (5) are shown slaughtering and cutting up the sacrificial bulls; and (6) servants are seen running forward with the joints of meat, each of which has been purified by the Libation-Priest, who carries the vase of holy water, and presents the offerings to the scribe whose business it is to record them. Bulls, antelopes, and geese (7) are brought to the temple, and (8) are received by a scribe who writes their number upon a tablet, a priest who burns incense, another who extends his hand, and a Ritual-Priest who holds the bâton of his office.

One now ascends the low steps to the raised Vestibule. On the east wall (9) nine captive southern tribes are represented, their names written in ovals, above each of which rise the head and shoulders of a typical negro. With the exception of Wawat, or Lower Nubia, these tribes are all located above the Second Cataract.

On the west wall (10) a similar scene shows nine captive Asiatic tribes. From this Vestibule four small chambers lead off. In the Room of Hathor there is a scene (11) in which the king is shown holding out the bâton towards a now damaged barque containing a statue of the cow of Hathor suckling a small figure of the Pharaoh. In the Room of Rameses IInd (12) the king, seated in a sacred barque which rests upon a sledge, is drawn along by six figures, representing the spirits of Eileithyiapolis or Nekheb (El Kab) and the spirits of Pe, a city in the Delta. The Room of the Union is too much damaged to be of interest; but in the Room of Sety one may distinguish the lower part of a barque which contained a figure of Sety Ist. These four rooms, then, which are dedicated to the father of Rameses IInd, to himself, to the Union, and to Hathor, the goddess of birth and of maternity, are evidently intended to demonstrate the fact of the succession of Rameses IInd to the divine rights of his father; and they are thus a fitting introduction to the scenes in the inner chambers, where he stands in the presence of the gods.

One passes now through a ruined grey-granite doorway into the First Octofirst Octostyle Hall, the roof of which was supported by eight style Hall. square pillars of sandstone. Only the lower parts of the walls remain, and here one sees a line of kneeling Nile-deities, each bearing a tray of offerings. A narrow stairway, once ascending to the roof, leads from the east side of this hall. On the west side there is a chamber (Room of Anhur) in which only the lower part of the reliefs can be seen.

Hall.

One next enters the much ruined second Octostyle Hall, from The second which three chambers lead on either side. The three on the east Octostyle side are for Osiris. In the Room of Linen a relief represents a number of priests carrying necklaces and a casket containing fine linen. The king walks behind, them, pouring out a libation. The Rooms of Ornaments and of Offerings are much ruined; but in the Room of Thoth a relief shows the king, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, offering a pot of incense to a seated figure of Osiris. In the Room of Min the king is seen pouring libations and burning incense before the sacred barques, while on the west wall he worships the god Min; but these scenes are much damaged. In the Room of the Cycle of Horus Gods one sees the king, wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, dancing before the gods, and holding in each hand a symbol composed of three vases. On the opposite wall he is given life by a damaged figure of Horus. Two once splendid, but now much ruined, chambers lead respectively from the