aucher-Gudin, from a chromolithograph in Prisse
D'Avennes, _Histoire de l'Art Egyptien_.

Those of Khephren show us the king at different ages, when young,
mature, or already in his decadence. They are in most cases cut out of
a breccia of green diorite, with long irregular yellowish veins, and of
such hardness that it is difficult to determine the tool with which they
were worked. The Pharaoh sits squarely on his royal throne, his hands on
his lap, his body firm and upright, and his head thrown back with a look
of self-satisfaction. A sparrow-hawk perched on the back of his seat
covers his head with its wings--an image of the god Horus protecting
his son. The modelling of the torso and legs of the largest of these
statues, the dignity of its pose, and the animation of its expression,
make of it a unique work of art which may be compared with the most
perfect products of antiquity. Even if the cartouches which tell us the
name of the king had been hammered away and the insignia of his rank
destroyed, we should still be able to determine the Pharaoh by his
bearing: his whole appearance indicates a man accustomed from his
infancy to feel himself invested with limitless authority. Mykerinos
stands out less impassive and haughty: he does not appear so far removed
from humanity as his predecessor, and the expression of his countenance
agrees, somewhat singularly, with the account of his piety and good
nature preserved by the legends. The Egyptians of the Theban dynasties,
when comparing the two great pyramids with the third, imagined that the
disproportion in their size corresponded with a difference of character
between their royal occupants. Accustomed as they were from infancy to
gigantic structures, they did not experience before "the Horizon" and
"the Great" the feeling of wonder and awe which impresses the beholder
of to-day. They were not the less apt on this account to estimate
the amount of labour and effort required to complete them from top to
bottom. This labour seemed to them to surpass the most excessive corvee
which a just ruler had a right to impose upon his subjects, and the
reputation of Kheops and Khephren suffered much in consequence. They
were accused of sacrilege, of cruelty, and profligacy.

[Illustration: 198.jpg DIORITE STATUE OF KHEPHREN, GIZEU MUSEUM]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. It
is one of the most complete statues found by Mariette in the
templ