THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN top of the pyramid, and another half way down, there was no reason why there should not be a third at the bottom. We therefore turned on a numerous party of soldiers, and in about a week they cleared out the core down to the bottom of the broad base on which the pyramid stood. No trace of the existence of any chamber was found, but the work was instructive, and helped us to understand how one of the largest of the pyramids of Meroe was built.

The chapel of this pyramid is one of the most interesting of its class on this site, and the reliefs on its walls are important for the study of the art of the period to which it belongs. The first thing which strikes the attention of the visitor is the fact that the roof is arched, and that each stone in it has been so cut that it forms a well-fitting segment of the arch. The arch is comparatively broad and low, and has still much strength in it. The walls of the chapel which take the thrust are solid, and, at the place where the arch springs on each side, are ornamented with a cornice of uraei. The inside of the arch was painted blue, and traces of this colour remain in many places.

To the right of the door, on the flat surface of the outer wall of the pylon of the chapel, is sculptured the figure of the deceased queen, who is represented in the act of driving a spear into the bodies of a group of captives, whose necks are tied together with a rope held in the queen's left hand. She wears a tight-fitting cap with a streamer, over which is a bandlet that terminates over the forehead in an aegis with a ram's head surmounted by a disk and plumes. Above the cap is a hawk with outstretched wings. Round her neck is an elaborate necklace, on her wrists are bracelets with fringes, and tassels hang from the front of the garment which ends near her feet. The queen is large in stature, her limbs are massive, and she is a fine representative of the steatopygous queens of the Island of Meroe, whose descendants of similar stature are said to exist in the neighbourhood to this day. On the left of the door is sculptured another figure of the queen, but she wears a somewhat different head-dress, and a lofty crown with horns, plumes, disks, pendent uraei, &c. Her collar is elaborate, and attached to her necklace is a pendent figure of an Egyptian goddess. Before her are the representatives of seven conquered 2,7