TEMPLE OF TIRHAKAH series of reliefs in which the king is seen adoring and making offerings to the gods of the " Holy Mountain," i.e., Gebel Barkal, and in one of them we see Tirhakah's queen, who was called Amentakhet [[1 '~~' ~~ \ making an offering of a sistrum, that is to say, rattling this instrument in honour of the goddess Mut. The hieroglyphic texts leave no doubt as to the builder of the greater portion of this temple, but in one or two passages the words ' " making great the temple, renewing with stone," &c., appear to indicate that after all Tirhakah was only the restorer and enlarger of the temple. It is evident from the remains of colours which still adhere to the walls in places that this portion of the temple at least was painted, and though to modern taste the ornamentation would appear crude, there can be no doubt that it would appear pleasing to native artists. In looking at the colours in the temples and tombs of Egypt, the spectator forgets, in his admiration of the faded greens and reds and blues, that when those same colours were first laid on, from two to four thousand years ago, the effect must have been very startling.

The path now leads into the sanctuary, which is about 23 feet in length and 13 feet in breadth ; the walls are ornamented with a series of reliefs in which Tirhakah is seen making offerings to a number of Theban gods and goddesses, and to certain deities who belong to the company of Thoth of Hermopolis. This sanctuary probably contained a figure of Amen, or Amen-Ra, the god to whom, in conjunction with Mut, the temple was dedicated On the left is a chamber of similar length, but of less width by 5 feet than the sanctuary ; on the walls the king is seen making offerings to the gods. On the right of the sanctuary are two chambers, one behind the other ; the first is 17 feet long and 7 feet 7 inches wide, and the second 5 feet long and 7 feet wide. In the larger chamber the reliefs represent the king making offerings to the gods of the dead, but the smaller chamber is without ornamentation, and seems not to have been finished. The scenes and texts on the walls of the chambers tell us nothing of the history of Tirhakah's reign, but from first to last the whole building proclaims that it P51Qcfik>kk " TTTTTTTTr