RAMESES II.

it ; finally they suggested that the king should ask his father the Nile to send water out of the mountains, for they were sure that if he did his command would be obeyed. Thereupon Rameses II. ordered a well to be dug, and we may be sure that water appeared, for otherwise the Stele of Kubban would not have been set up. The well was dug in the third year of the king's reign.

The greatest of all the works of Rameses II. in Nubia are, unquestionably, the Temple of Bet al-Wali, and the Temple of Abu Simbel ; but he repaired some of the buildings of his ancestors, or at least did sufficient work on them to enable him to add his name to those of their founders. He added to the temple on the Island of Elephantine, or perhaps built a new one, for in 1887 several large blocks of granite and sandstone inscribed with his name might be seen lying there. The temple of Bet al-Wali, on the west bank, consists of a vestibule and two small chambers, and is dedicated to Amen-Ra, Horus, Isis, Khnemu, Satet, and Anuqet.

The vestibule is the most interesting section of it, for on the north wall are sculptures representing the conquest of the Thehennu, or Libyans, and on the south wall we see the king engaged in conquering the people of Kesh. As illustrations of these are given elsewhere in this volume no further mention of them is needed here. The actual temple is hewn in the rock, and in front of it are two fluted Doric columns, similar to those at Beni Hasan ; on the architrave is an inscription which states that Rameses II.

renewed buildings and erected a temple in honour of his father's father, by which words he may refer to Amen-Ra, or to Khnemu, or to his grandfather, Rameses I. At Garf Husen, the Tutzis of the Itinerary of Antoninus, Rameses II. built a rock-hewn temple which has been generally known as the " Temple of Kirsh," because it faces the village of that name. This temple was called *' Pa-Ptah," i.e., the " House of Ptah,'" and was dedicated to several gods ; Rameses II. included himself among the gods who were to be worshipped here. When Champollion visited the site he saw the remains of a pylon, but these have since been washed away by the river. An avenue of sphinxes led to the large hall, and of these several are still in situ. The hall contained eight pillars with statues of Osiris on them ; it is about go feet wide, 633