lace remained with him
it is true, and performed religious ceremonies under the direction of
his worthiness Sera. But as the priests did not accompany the pharaoh
to meals, to dinners and suppers, their food was far from exquisite.

In vain did the holy men declare that they must feed the
representatives of nineteen dynasties, and a multitude of gods. The
treasurer, noting the intention of the pharaoh, answered that flowers
and perfumes were sufficient for gods and ancestors, and that prophets
like themselves, as morality commanded, should eat barley cakes and
drink beer or water. To support these rude theories the treasurer
referred to the example of Sem, the holy high priest, who lived like a
penitent, and what was worse, he told them that his holiness, with the
generals, had a military kitchen.

In view of this, the priests of the palace began to consider whether
they had not better leave the stinted house of the pharaoh and go to
their own dwellings at temples where their duties would be easier, and
where hunger would not twist their entrails.

They would have done this before, had not the worthy Herhor and Mefres
commanded them to remain in their places.

But the position of Herhor near the new pharaoh was not favorable. The
all-powerful minister, who had till of late almost never left the
chambers of the pharaoh, sat now alone in his villa, and frequently he
did not see the new ruler for ten days in succession. He was still
minister of war, but he gave out almost no orders. The pharaoh himself
settled all military questions. He alone read reports of generals; he
alone decided doubtful questions, while his adjutants took from the
minister of war the necessary documents.

If his worthiness Herhor was ever called before the sovereign it was
only to be reprimanded.

Nevertheless, all dignitaries acknowledged that the new pharaoh worked
with great diligence.

Ramses XIII rose before sunrise, he bathed and burnt incense before the
statue of Osiris. Immediately afterward he heard the reports of the
supreme judge, the chief scribe of the granaries and stables in the
whole country, the high treasurer, finally, the chief of his palaces.
This last dignitary suffered most, for there was no day when his lord
did not tell him that the court cost too much, and kept too many
persons.

In the palace dwelt several hundred women of the late pharaoh with a
corresponding number of servants and children. The chief of the pala