sures" which it contained to the presence of his master, and to
capture and carry off a herd of three thousand cattle.

It was through his sculptures and his architectural works that the first
Usurtasen made himself chiefly conspicuous. Thebes, Abydos, Heliopolis
or On, the Fayoum and the Delta, were equally the scenes of his
constructive activity, and still show traces of his presence. At Thebes,
he carried to its completion the cell, or _naos_, of the great temple of
Ammon, in later times the innermost sanctuary of the building, and
reckoned so sacred, that when Thothmes III. rebuilt and enlarged the
entire edifice he reproduced the structure of Usurtasen, unchanged in
form, and merely turned from limestone into granite. At Abydos and
other cities of Middle Egypt, he constructed temples adorned with
sculptures, inscriptions, and colossal statues. At Tanis, he set up his
own statue, exhibiting himself as seated upon his throne. In the Fayoum
he erected an obelisk forty-one feet high to the honour of Ammon,
Phthah, and Mentu, which now lies prone upon the ground near the Arab
village of Begig. Indications of his ubiquitous activity are found also
at the Wady Magharah, in the Sinaitic peninsula, and at Wady Haifa in
Nubia, a little above the Second Cataract; but his grandest and most
elaborate work was his construction of the great temple of the Sun at
Heliopolis, and his best memorial is that tall finger pointing to the
sky which greets the traveller approaching Egypt from the east as the
first sample of its strange and mystic wonders. This temple the king
began in his third year. After a consultation with his lords and
counsellors, he issued the solemn decree: "It is determined to execute
the work; his majesty chooses to have it made. Let the superintendent
carry it on in the way that is desired; let all those employed upon it
be vigilant; let them see that it is made without weariness; let every
due ceremony be performed; let the beloved place arise." Then the king
rose up, wearing a diadem, and holding the double pen; and all present
followed him. The scribe read the holy book, and extended the measuring
cord, and laid the foundations on the spot which the temple was to
occupy. A grand building arose; but it has been wholly demolished by the
ruthless hand of time and the barbarity of conquerors. Of all its
glories nothing now remains but the one taper obelisk of pink
granite, which rises into the soft sleepy air above