MEDINET ABOO.
"We stayed at the Rameseum as long as possible, and would gladly have ignored the whistle of the conductor summoning us to move on, had we not feared missing other important sights. We went next to the Temple of Medinet Aboo, or rather to the temples, as there are two of them together, one much smaller than the other. The small temple was the work of several kings, and some of the later ones altered the plans of their predecessors, so that the architecture is not altogether harmonious.
"Heaps of ruins lie all around, and there is a broken statue of Rameses II. much smaller than the one we saw at the first temple we visited. The sculptures on the walls are less interesting than in the Memnonium, and we did not spend much time over them.
"The great Temple of Medinet Aboo has a raised platform in front, and we were quite interested in the view from this platform of the plain where Thebes once stood, and the various objects scattered over it. From the platform we passed into the temple through a wide gate-way, and found ourselves in a large court-yard enclosed by broken walls. From the court-yard we went into what is said to have been the palace of the king. The conductor called our attention to the sculptures on the walls, which are quite peaceful in their character, and show that the place was more a private residence than a temple.
"The pictures represent the great ruler in his retirement; in some of them he is playing a game of draughts, similar to those at Beni-Hassan and other places; he is receiving garlands of flowers from the hands of the ladies of his court, or they are cooling him with fans; and in nearly every instance he is represented seated in a chair while all around him are standing. Nobody was allowed to sit in the presence of the king, if we may believe these pictures, and it is quite probable that he required all the rules of etiquette to be rigidly observed.
"In the front of the temple there are pictures of a different sort, where the king is represented sacrificing prisoners or making war on his enemies. In the large halls of the temple there is a series of battle pictures which reminded us of those at Karnak, and they show the captives brought from various countries so clearly that the conquests of the kings may be readily traced. In one of the pictures the right hands of the slain are cut off and piled up in order that the king may see them, and an officer counts them while a scribe notes down their number. Other pictures show the captured horses, and spears and other weapons piled up and counted, and we may believe the Egyptians were quite systematic in their mode of keeping accounts.
AN EGYPTIAN WAR-BOAT.