and again, with endless
inscriptions, telling of the great gifts which Pharaoh has given to the
temple.

Finally we pass into the Holy of Holies. Here no light of day ever
enters at all. The chamber, smaller and lower than either of the others,
is in darkness except for the dim light of the lamp carried by the
attendant priest. Here stands the shrine, a great block of granite, hewn
into a dwelling-place for the figure of the god. It is closed with cedar
doors covered with gold plates, and the doors are sealed; but if we
could persuade the priest to let us look within, we should see a small
wooden figure something like the one that we saw carried through the
streets of Thebes, dressed and painted, and surrounded by offerings of
meat, drink, and flowers. For this little figure all the glories that we
have passed through have been created: an army of priests attends upon
it day by day, dresses and paints it, spreads food before it, offers
sacrifices and sings hymns in its praise.

Behind the sanctuary lie storehouses, which hold corn and fruits and
wines enough to supply a city in time of siege. The god is a great
proprietor, holding more land than any of the nobles of the country. He
has a revenue almost as great as that of Pharaoh himself. He has troops
of his own, an army which obeys no orders but his. On the Red Sea he has
one fleet, bringing to his temple the spices and incense of the
Southland; and from the Nile mouths another fleet sails to bring home
cedar-wood from Lebanon, and costly stuffs from Tyre. His priests have
far more power than the greatest barons of the land, and Pharaoh, mighty
as he is, would think twice before offending a band of men whose hatred
could shake him on his throne. Such was an Egyptian temple 3,000 years
ago, when Egypt was the greatest power in the world.

But if the temples of ancient Egypt are wonderful, the tombs are almost
more wonderful still. Very early in their history the Egyptians began to
show their sense of the importance of the life after death by raising
huge buildings to hold the bodies of their great men. Even the earliest
Kings, who lived before there was any history at all, had great
underground chambers scooped out and furnished with all sorts of things
for their use in the after-life. But it is when we come to that King
Khufu, who figures in the fairy-stories of Zazamankh and Dedi, that we
begin to understand what a wonderful thing an Egyptian tomb might be.

Not